Thursday, July 19, 2012

Blackberry Season

Greetings Friends,
I have something a little different to share today, a bit of an experiment for me, but it turned out so well that I just have to tell you guys about it!

 A couple of nights ago we went for a walk by the river to look for blackberries, and boy did I score! Last year I didn't get any so I've been keeping my eyes peeled this year.
(This picture incidentally is, I believe, the best photo I've ever taken. I love it so much I'm thinking about marrying it. Click the picture to bask in the blackberry glory)
Loads of delicious, sweet blackberries.

After washing them, and eating my fill, I sought out my favorite place for inspiration to find something to make with these dark beauties, once again, Pinterest to the rescue! I found what I wanted to try right away, blackberry syrup! I've never made syrup before, but it looked simple enough, so I decided to give it a go. I used this recipe.

The recipe called for two cups of berries, as you can see I had a little more than that, meh... I went with it. It couldn't have been easier, gently boil the 1/4 C water, juice from a lemon and 1/2 sugar for 10 minutes,  to make a simple syrup. Pour the syrup over the cleaned & rinsed berries which I'd put in the Cuisinart, and give them a whirl. Since I had more than 2 cups of berries, I also blended in some of my favorite local honey for a bit more sweetness.

Mmm, messy! Time to sieve, seeds are yucky! As I'm sure you already know, blackberries are slippery, and they stain. Sorry about your shirt, Mom.

Ta-da! Blackberry syrup! I got almost a pint out of that small gathering of berries.

I couldn't wait for the weekend to try this yummy stuff, so we made pancakes for dinner tonight. Do you guys ever have breakfast for dinner? Isn't it the best? I must confess that I don't make the pancakes in this house, Sean does. He makes the best pancakes in the world.  I'm a lucky girl.
Oh yeah! Dark and sweet and just a little bit tart and oh, so wonderful. Thank you mother nature, your berries are divine.

The blackberry bramble down by the river is heavy with these berries, and many, many of them are just starting to turn black so there's probably going to be a lot more where this came from this summer (if my neighbors don't get wise and find my secret patch!). I need to get myself some 1/2 pint jars so I can can some of this heavenly nectar.

This was really so easy and tastes so lovely, I'd encourage anyone to try it. You'll be so happy you did. So! What else can I use this yummy stuff for? I'm thinking it'd be great in some kind of a fizzy cocktail, on ice cream, maybe over cream cheese on crackers? What else? Do you guys have any suggestions? Do tell!

I love it when an experiment works out so well it keeps me smiling for an entire day! 

Let me leave you with a parting shot of some more beautiful, blackberries.

Have a great day, my dears!
oxo,
Lisa

11 comments:

Bex said...

Holy heck, that looks so good! Way to go! I wonder if all berries work for this. Hmmm....

Bonnie said...

Wow, that syrup looks absolutely amazing! I just received some blackberries last night...they were from a friend's backyard and he has been so sweet to share them with our family! Now, you've got me tempted to make this syrup...and I'm dieing to have some pancakes! Hmmm, maybe that will be our dinner tonight! Recently on my blog I made blackberry crumble pie...using blackberries from the same person...he brought us some about 2 weeks ago. Anyhow, that is the only thing I have made so far with the berries. By the way, I do love your photo of the berries in the colander on the pretty red checked table cloth...it is gorgeous!!

giddy99 said...

Thanks for the idea! My husband gets blackberries whenever he sees them and our freezer is filling up. A syrup will make a nice change from jam. :)

CardinalCrafts said...

Thanks so much for this recipe! Can't wait to try it!

Christina

cardinalcrafting@blogspot.com

Beedeebabee said...

OMG, this looks so darn yummy Lisa...and so do those pancakes! I need to try this, but I have to search out some blackberries, probably at the farm stand, but that's okay...not as fun as the secret bramble you've got going, but farm stands are good too! :) AND, I love, love, love breakfast for dinner any day cause breakfasts are my favorite foods! Hugs to you my deary, and you're right, that picture is fantastic! They all are! xo :)

Melissa said...

drool

Margie said...

it IS a great picture! i love your tablecloth in the background and the color of your colander! all your pics were beautiful and made my mouth water ... i haven't had blackberries for a VERY long time! i must go out and hunt for a blackberry patch ... must be one around here somewhere!!!

parTea lady said...

Nice pics! The blackberry syrup looks delicious and the yummy pancakes too. I wonder if you could put it in tea? :-)

Bits of Stitching! said...

Nice bounty! I too think the sauce/syrup will b nice for flavoring and sweetening tea, also as cheesecake topping ... yummy!

Micupoftea said...

*drool*...you have me hankering for pancakes now! :)

Melissa said...

I just made some, can't wait to try it!!!