KimmyKokonut

Before

This summer has been a busy one and my garden has not had the care it deserves. Luckily, my new little blueberry bush provided about a cereal’s topping worth of berries. It’s still better than my blueberry bushes I had in Seattle, which never produced anything except leaves, and those were sad to behold. I adore berry season, especially lately because I’m on a green smoothie kick and we go through berries like they are free. Understandably, my garden crop of berries wasn’t enough to satisfy my blueberry desires this year and I headed out to the other side of the river to a small town in Washington to do some blueberry picking with a friend. My friend was much more ambitious than I was but the enthusiasm was contagious. We ended up with just over 4 flats of delicious juicy berries between us. These berries are much better than any blues I picked on Sauvie Island. I actually read an article once that discussed why Sauvie Island does not have ideal blueberry conditions. I really want to visit Armstrong’s but they are not open every day. Perhaps next year? By the time we got home and got ready in the kitchen, we only had time to jam one flat of blueberries and the sun was down. At least we know for next year that picking should be a separate day than processing so we don’t go insane. At least with this amount of berries. What’s a girl to do with all that extra fruit on the counter?

Berry lineup

I froze about half of it, using the same iqf method I use when I freeze strawberries. I kept 2 pints in the fridge, fresh for granolas and cereal. I made 2 dozen muffins, one lemon blueberry the other blueberry lavender. I made a blueberry crisp, but I realized I was out of oats so I did the coconut crisp topping from VWAV. I made a cobbler using the lemon poppyseed topping from Veganomicon. I made a big batch of syrup for pancakes and the like (oatmeal!) which was basically a simple syrup. And of course I had to make Isa’s amazing berry BBQ sauce. Mine was a little spicier than I desired because I didn’t have chipotle powder, just whole chipotles that I ground in my coffee grinder. I cried immediately after taking the lid off the grinder. I didn’t grow up with a lot of barbecue flavors but it really does make bland food taste amazing. I acquired some blah seitan for free, which was unseasoned and after a quick saute and a toss in the bbq sauce it was instantly tasty. I tended to simmer the sauce a lot longer than the stated time and it didn’t thicken up much. I think if it was blended it would help but I like the pieces of little blueberries scattered on my food. It’s really nice on grilled tempeh as well. I would never have thought to use blueberries in a savory dish, but Isa helps me push beyond my food boundaries. Not only is it possible, but it’s delicious!