Berry Pickin'

My brother was between appointments and visiting, July 4th, so we took him blueberry picking with us. I couldn't remember having ever picked blueberries before. He said we had two bushes by the pond when we were kids but teased: he wasn't surprised I don't remember; picking blueberries was probably just one more responsibility he had, growing up, that I didn't. (There may be some truth to this, but at the same time, if my brother ever scrubbed a toilet or tub at our parents', it was only after I'd left for college.)

What I remember very well, I told him, is a particular day of blackberry picking. The five of us (my parents had guardianship of another young man during these years) piled into Dad's brown Jeep and drove deep into the mountains on a dirt road in search of blackberries. We came upon a mighty patch of blackberries and, in no time, filled our buckets and even the console of the Jeep. Still, the bushes were dotted with gobs of ripe berries.

All five of us hated the thought of leaving the berries behind to rot when, instead, Mom could be folding them into bright, delectable cobblers, but what could we do? We were too far from home (or civilization, in general) to leave and return with more containers.

Just then, Dad said enthusiastically: "I have an idea! If B.R. (Thats me!) takes off and lets us fill her bra, we'll be able to take the rest of these berries with us and any others we might find, too!" Of course, my brothers hooted and hollered, and I can assure you that--while I see the humor in the situation, now--I was mortified, as a young teenager.

***

Whether you have blueberries or blackberries, I recommend baking Christina's Somethin' or Other. (She calls it a cobbler, but it's more like a crisp, in my humble opinion, because it doesn't involve dough.) I doubled her recipe, which made enough to fill one 9x13 dish and one 8x8 dish. I used blueberries/walnuts instead of blackberries/pecans. 

I made a pie, also, using Betsy Groff's recipe for basic pie dough and this recipe, from Allrecipes.com, for the filling.

 

The Pie (I didn't photograph the Somethin' or Other!)

{How to Make} Trailer Park Pancakes

It's snowing, again, in the Greater Richmond Area. Can you believe it? Isn't this supposed to be springtime? In the South?

 

Jim had missed the weather reports, and--let's get real--the man's never been particularly clairvoyant, so he left me in charge of dinner while he drove out into the blizzard to fetch his laptop from work.

When I'm in charge of dinner, we eat things like Trailer Park Pancakes. You've probably never eaten a Trailer Park Pancake, since I think the Galaxy Diner in Carytown might be the only place in the world where you can buy one. But, best I can tell, here's how to make them:

Ingredients (Makes 3 Trailer Park Pancakes):

• 6 pieces of bread
• creamy peanut butter
• a banana
• an egg
• some milk
• 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla
•  some butter or margarine for frying
•  syrup and/or confectioner's sugar (optional)

Step 1: Smear creamy peanut butter on 6 slices of bread.

Steps 2 and 3: Slice up a banana and divide it among 3 slices of bread. When you're done, make 3 peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches.

Step 4: Melt a little bit of butter or margarine in a skillet.

Step 5: In a shallow pan, mix together an egg, some milk, and a teaspoon of vanilla. If you have vanilla from the hills of East Tennessee, as I do, you might want to use two teaspoons of vanilla and have yourself a healthy swig of vanilla, to boot.

Steps 6, 7, and 8: Dip both sides of each peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich in the egg mixture. Fry until golden brown on both sides, and enjoy with syrup, a sprinkling of confectioner's sugar, or both. (We like ours plain.)