The heat.....the thorns....the purple stained fingers....oh, and let us not forget the bugs!!! All of this means it is blackberry pickin' time here at the farmette. We have plenty of wild blackberries all around our property. Some of them are easily located and then again, some of them are not. But, that is all a part of the experience and charm, is it not?!
The June Bugs are wild about them and we have a bumper crop of the bugs. I think they must get a little hot after eating the berries because I keep having to skim them out of the pool.
Blackberries are known to be rich in antioxidants and were used in Appalachia to treat minor stomach upsets. So....if you eat as many as you pick, it will still turn out okay.
This time I am getting adventurous and making some Blackberry Sorbet. I can't wait to hear the chiclets enthusiastic response to something that looks like ice cream, but isn't really :)
If you are feeling adventurous here is the recipe.
Blackberry Sorbet
4 cups fresh blackberries
1 cup water
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons Chambord (optional)
2 tablespoons Limoncello (optional)
Rinse blackberries and allow to dry on paper towels. Add berries, water, and sugar to blender and puree until smooth. Pour this mixture through a chinois or fine sieve to remove the seeds. You will have to work the berries through the sieve. Stir lemon juice into mixture, along with Chambord and Limoncello, if you are adding them to the mix. Using an ice bath lower the temperature of the mixture to 45 degrees and pour into an ice cream maker. Freeze according to your maker's instructions.
*If, like me, you do not have an ice cream maker you can place the mixture in the freezer and whisk it every hour until it freezes.
My mom used to make blackberry cobbler that was to die for. That remains my favorite dessert ever. Hot cobbler with melted ice cream, yum! Of course picking the berries in the morning and eating the pie in the evening was part of the fun!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea to just whisk it in the freezer - I don't have an ice cream maker either. Yum!
ReplyDeleteThe sorbet sounds wonderful. Loved your pictures.
ReplyDeletestraight off the thorny bush or whipped into sorbet. either way a big YUM!
ReplyDeleteThe sorbet sounds wonderful/refreshing. YUK on the June bugs. (I'm a hater.)
ReplyDeleteIt is funny...we live relatively close yet my wild blackberries are VERY, VERY green at this moment. JUST took photos of them over this past weekend. I ADORE blackberries.
We have an abundance of June Bugs this year, too. Yuck! I love the tip on wisking in the freezer...will give this a go.
ReplyDeleteI love blackberries..they're free! Ours won't be ready for many more weeks, they are just setting fruit now. Please let us know how the little ones like it and maybe we can have a 'peek' too!
ReplyDeleteNo liquors. No ice cream maker. Can Just pour whiskey over the berries and enjoy?
ReplyDeleteThere just starting to come out over here, I can see apple and blackberry pie ;) like the look of your Blackberry Sorbet one for the dinner party
ReplyDeleteHave a good week
See Yea George xxx
I remember picking blackberries...the reward was the eating!
ReplyDeleteThis may be one of the very few times I'm liking living on the West coast...bug free summer.
ReplyDeleteThe berries look wonderful, no doubt the family will enjoy every bite!!
I'm sending you some cooler weather and a day free of bugs from sunny Southern California.
beautiful. i adore blackberries - they are the essence os summer.....
ReplyDeleteAh, one of the delights of farmette living.
ReplyDeleteYou just reminded me of the blackberry picking, atypical ceremony for our family when we were kids. It was fun and sometimes painful, but I still remember it fondly, and I am not even crazy for those berries!
ReplyDeleteBlackberries. We have been at war with blackberry bushes that have been trying to overtake our farmette in Oregon for years. They come up through all the shrubs and plants and are just awful here. I do admit to eating a few of them, but boy the invasiveness of them here in Oregon is bad.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, your sorbet sounds DELISH!
((hugs)), Teresa :-)
No doubt about it, wild blacberries are delicious....I think I must be spoiled to the thornless berries...Arapaho, Navaho, and Apachie are super good with NO thorns...
ReplyDeleteThe sorbet sounds like a must try...
VP - I am not too crazy for the berries myself. I like the sorbet because it gets rid of the seeds....my least favorite part!
ReplyDeleteTeresa - They are reallly thick in parts of the woods here on our farm. Cannot imagine if they were closer to the house.
ReplyDeleteBirdman - Whiskey on the berries does sound adventurous.
ReplyDeleteOoh that sounds delish! I want some right this second!
ReplyDeleteI'm giving this recipe to my daughter who makes sorbet all the time. She, unlike me, has an ice cream maker. I gave it to her! What's wrong with me that I didn't buy myself one???!!! Isn't that always the case??
ReplyDeleteI love the color of them!
ReplyDeleteI made blackberry preserves last week. They were the best!
Enjoy!
Oh wow...those berries look sooo good! The sorbet looks great too. Hope you can stop on over at my farm and say hi too. :)
ReplyDeleteTHIS is a WONDERFUL idea!!! These berries are my top favorite...although I don't get the adventure of picking...I have to buy them from the grocer. But just bought some today....going to give this a try:)))
ReplyDeleteMmmmm...I love all berries! Sadly, the only picking I can do is chosing what container of them looks the best in the supermarket.
ReplyDeleteOurs around the farm aren't completely ready to pick yet. When they are, I'll have to try this. Sounds yummy. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteOh this looks so good I cannot wait for ours to ripen I can try your ideas. B
ReplyDeleteI looooooooove blackberries!!!! I make jelly every year with ours. One year, I made a delicious dessert which was an experiment, sort of. I made a New York style cheesecake and then wanted a blackberry sauce/glaze to pour over the top. I cooked the blackberries until soft and juicy and then added sugar and cornstarch and simmered until the perfect consistency for cheesecake. In my opinion, it was out of this world!!! Wish I had a piece right now.
ReplyDeleteI have some chambord that NEEDS blackberry sorbet. Can't wait to make it. My 3 yo's fav fruit are blackberries!
ReplyDeleteI agree blackberries are seedy! This sounds like a great way to use them. I have made jelly from them too-they are so nice and big so you don't have to pick a lot.
ReplyDeleteI remember picking them when the children were little. Lots of wasp trying to run us off that day. And you're right, sore fingers from the thorns!
I just became a follower today. Loved your blog!
Hi dear,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the visit, but what the hay is "puffy heart?"
Love and thanks for the sorbet recipe. We'll get to Maine when things are ripening.
Love,
Sharon
The sorbet sounds delicious!!!
ReplyDeletedid you get and ticks and chiggers while picking?
Mmmmm. Hope you saved some for me. :)
ReplyDeletechiggers... blackberries here mean chiggers and black snakes. Kills me. I love blackberries.
ReplyDeleteCailinMarie - I went a picked some tonight that were ready. No chiggers and no snakes! I did take the dogs with me....they do the snake hunting :)
ReplyDeleteNanny - No ticks or chiggers yet, but there are more berries to pick.
ReplyDeleteI love blackberries, of course. Mine are just coming on, I have picked 2 quarts and put them in the freezer and had some in my oatmeal this morning. The sorbet sounds pretty good. They are also good sprinkled on your vanilla ice cream.
ReplyDeleteDelicious looking post and I can't gain a pound by reading it. That's a plus!
ReplyDeleteI would love the time spent with the kids picking them best! So much fun to be had in the country!!
ReplyDeleteLove blackberries. Had some but took them out as they are very very very very invasive.
ReplyDeleteYum. We pick lots and lots of wild blackberries too but we usually make wine and jam with them. I might have to save out a few for this! Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteMy grandma used to take us all out picking blackberries to make preserves and jelly which she put up and stored in the root cellar. As kids my cousins and I were capable of eating about 9 gallons to every gallon we brought back to the car. The only thing better in the summer was watermelons stolen from the old grouch down the road.
ReplyDeleteumm I'm trying that blackberry sorbet... sounds great and I love blackberrys!!
ReplyDeleteI've picked lots of blackberries this summer, but haven't yet ventured into the woods to see if the wild thorny ones are ready. We have ticks and chiggers in our woods, so it's not exactly my favorite thing to do because I have to slather myself with bug spray. The taste of the wild berries though, is really superior to the cultivated ones. That sorbet looks good and I may try it with the ones I've picked so far. :)
ReplyDelete