Huckleberry Time!
Chocolate Box Cottage Diary, Volume 2
Week 33: August 20, 2022
The huckleberries are ripe and berry-stained fingers tell the story of a good day’s picking. Western huckleberries are one of the jewels of our part of southern Oregon, along with Lost Creek Lake, numerous waterfalls, mountains robed in pine and fir, and winter snow.
I packed a simple picnic of cold chicken, homemade bread, and cheese, and we treated ourselves to nature’s dessert. You simply cannot improve on fresh-picked berries!
Huckleberry bushes grow 18-36 inches (45-90 cm), which means a lot of bending over. The berries are half the size of blueberries, or less, and painstaking to pick without squishing!
The thought of sourdough huckleberry pancakes, muffins with pebbly streusel tops, cobblers mixed with blackberries, and winter oatmeal makes the effort worthwhile.
Sam and I have a friendly competition when it comes to picking berries. I nearly always win, and he eats most of the berries, so maybe he wins after all.
I spread the small bounty of berries out on 3 large cookies sheets to tray freeze, all the while remembering the spectacular sight of a goldenrod meadow ringed by pine trees.
Tray freezing is simple – spread berries out in a single layer on a rimmed cookie sheet and freeze, uncovered, until solid. Once frozen, transfer berries to labeled freezer bags or freezer containers and get them back into the freezer asap.
Psst! If you’d like to receive my scrumptious recipe for Crumb Cake Muffins, which are a perfect vehicle for berries, visit my home page. Scroll to the bottom and request the recipe by signing up for my newsletter. I’ll send you a worksheet to walk you through choosing a name for your home and give you the recipe as a gift.
New video
Are you suffering from zucchini overload? Whip up a big batch of Zucchini Velvet Soup! You can serve part of it for dinner tonight and freeze the rest for future meals. Zucchini Velvet Soup tastes fresh and buttery and comforting all at the same time – you’re going to love it! Even people who think they don’t like zucchini like this soup! It’s easy to make and freezes beautifully.
Printable recipe for Zucchini Velvet Soup.
Here are a few more zucchini recipes for you: Spiralized Zucchini Butter Spaghetti
Cooking from the garden
Pesto Party basil, a favorite that blooms very late. This means more leaves…more pesto. Adding basil generously to a Chicken Rag-out and just about everything else I cook!
Nasturtiums skirt the perimeter of the garden teepee. Their cheerful blooms arrest my gaze every time I visit the garden and both leaf and flowers are edible!
Small town festival
Great fun to be had at the annual Prospect Jamboree and Timber Carnival in August each year! The event begins with a pancake breakfast sponsored by the Lioness women’s group, proceeds with a parade, then a carnival at the park with a beer garden and timber carnival events all day.
Pearl bids you farewell. Thank you for visiting!
Blessings,
Michele
