Oh Cherries!

Cherries! Oh how I love thee,
plump and juicy, still clinging to a pip
with a perfect little green stem for holding
slightly warmed by the sun
sweet nectar
Cherries!

Okay, so poetry about food isn't really my gift! Making poetry with food is more like it. I was tickled...cherry red to take advantage of the super cherry sales this last week. I bought about 25lb of cherries. I ate about 10lbs while pitting (do the british call it pipping?) the rest. FYI don't eat 10lbs of cherries while pipping/pitting the rest unless you plan to stay real close to home the following day!

I canned cherries in white grape juice to use in cooking. I made Black Forest jam which is cherries in a chocolate amaretto sauce (see photo above) I dehydrated cherries and I ate cherries. I even saved all the pips, boiled them clean of any remaining flesh and dried them to use in a Pip Pillow that can be heated in the microwave.

I know George Washington did not chopped down a cherry tree, who would do such a thing?

Silkies and a BBQ

Well, they aren't much to look at. Two silkies are about enough to feed 4 people on a diet! If I were planning a meal around bantams and everyone was going to be eating at home I think 4 birds would be good. There are 6 of us and two of us are teenage boys!



The brining was a hit. The meat was very flavorful and not tough or stringy at all. The darkness of the meat didn't seem to change the taste. I was expecting the stronger taste of thigh meat or something similar to dove. The bones were black. Coal black. Very strange.

Since we were going to have the BBQ going I made an apple cobbler and set it out on the grill to cook while we ate. I did it the same way as I did the blackberry cobbler. 12 coals on top and 12 underneath. It took about 30 minutes. It was very easy. I cheated on the crust because I used a homemade gourmet mix. I think it was Texas Cobbler. For the apple filling I just sliced up some apples and cooked them in a skillet with some brown sugar, coconut oil and cinnamon. A pinch of salt and a splash of lemon juice and a few minutes to let the sugar get syrupy was all it took. We had left cobbler so we will have it with a dollop of plain yogurt for breakfast. Yum!

Blackberry Cobbler

I have been wanting to try my hand at cast iron cookware for a while. I finally took the plunge. I picked up this dutch oven for under $10 at the sporting good store. It is Lodge Logics and came pre-seasoned. It does not have feet like some dutch ovens so to get heat on top and bottom it needs to be on a rack. I used my BBQ pit.

I prepared my coals just like when getting ready to BBQ. I placed 10-12 coals under the grate and another 10-12 on the lid. I let it cook for about 35 minutes. It smelled wonderful. The best part was that it didn't heat up my kitchen!

EASY BLACKBERRY COBBLER

1/2 c. butter

1 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

2/3 c. milk

1 (16 oz.) pkg. frozen blackberries, thawed

Melt butter in casserole or dutch oven. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and milk in a small mixing bowl, mix well. Pour mixture over melted butter, do not stir. Spoon blackberries over batter; do not stir. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until golden brown. If you are cooking over the fire place 10 or so coals under the dutch oven and 10 or so on the lid of the dutch oven. After 35 minutes carefully lift the lid with lid lifter and see if it is bubbly and golden brown. Be careful, the dutch oven and handles get very very hot. Also be careful not to drop any coals onto your feet!

After we devoured the cobbler I washed the pan in hot water, towel dried and rubbed with a little beef tallow and set it back out on the cooling grill to season.