Our small piece of earth in the city of Syracuse doesn't allow much room for growing food, other than herbs and some vegetables in pots. So we're lucky to have a selection of farmers markets and roadside stands selling the season's bounty in Central New York.This has been a wet summer, but I took advantage of overcast skies Tuesday to do something I had never done before: Pick blueberries.
I headed out to Abbott Farms, on Route 370, between Liverpool and Baldwinsville, and filled a flat-full of them (about 10 pounds worth) in a couple of hours.
This is what a field of blueberry bushes looks like, in case you've never seen one. The berries grow in clusters on the bushes, and are easy to pick -- with no pesky prickers, unlike raspberries. Yes, your back will ache a bit after bending and stooping to get to them, but think about the things you'll be able to do with those berries!
The photo above shows a combination of ripe and unripe blueberries. You want ones that are smooth and firm, with a silvery frost -- not soft ones, especially if you're not going to use them immediately.
Most of these blue-black beauties have been stowed in the fridge for Thursday's project (blueberry jam) and in the freezer for a taste of summer in the middle of the winter: in muffins, crisps, pancakes, coffeecakes, etc. I also shared some with my sister and my neighbors, and a quart of them made it into a pie.
The recipe (on Epicurious.com) for Open-Faced Blueberry Pie is a winner, originally printed in Rose Levy Beranbaum's "The Pie and Pastry Bible." The filling is not one of those gloppy, goopy pie fillings.
A cup of berries is cooked in a half-cup of water, before adding sugar, lemon juice and a mixture of cornstarch and water. The remaining three cups of berries are folded in and not cooked, so the fresh berries you labored to pick retain their fresh character.
I'm sorry I don't have a photo of plated pie slices, topped with vanilla-infused whipped cream, to show you. But after letting the pie set for more than two hours, we just wanted to grab a fork -- not the camera. :-)
Besides blueberries, you can also pick raspberries at Abbott Farms; call ahead to see which fields they have open on the day you want to visit.
This year, the farm is also offering U-pick tomatoes in a small hothouse off the country store, for $2.49 a pound.
Sweet! Sweet summer.
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