Yesterday I talked to a neighbor who reassured me that exploration of the ridge was not out of line for those who live here. I described where I had explored, and he explained that the property in question was actually on the original homestead of my great-Uncle Ben Dickson, Ina's brother. That farm is now owned by friends, a family with whom we have an established relationship. Feeling more confident, today I gathered my husband and my dog and headed back to "pie cherry heaven." Yes, I picked a few cups of cherries -- enough to make a cobbler for supper -- and Mike discovered the best vista of Dworshak Dam and reservoir to date. Here are the photos.
Note the clouds. A cold front moved through during the night leaving us with a cool day. I wore a sweatshirt all day.
I was just thinking that ordinarily we would feel the excitement of a pending harvest in the air, but not this year. The fields are brown and barren due to the cold, wet spring.
Where we stood today, however, on the edge of a field, the grain is ripening. I don't think any planting was done this spring on this end of Russell Ridge, so this field must have been planted last fall. (Sorry -- I'm not a great identifier of grain. Perhaps I'll get better.)
I hope you enjoy these pictures and that you can see the dam as well as the reservoir.
Now my next goal is to locate Russell Ridge from the dam. KW
How was the cobbler?
ReplyDeleteThis weekend, Nick and I took a break from painting and went out and picked the first of the blackberry crop. It was mid-day and the blackberries were getting a little soft in the bag so I froze all of them.
I enjoyed some frozen blackberries with my yogurt and granola this morning. It was tasty, but I think I'm going to put a few in the refrigerator this evening for the tomorrow morning. I'll let you know how it compares. :)
The fresh pie cherry cobbler was delicious -- a recipe I found at allrecipes.com. I wished I had read comments first because I discovered later that raters were modifying the recipe -- doubling the cherries and decreasing the sugar, adding vanilla and spices -- all of which I had crossed my mind. But it was good. At bedtime we had whittled away about half of it.
ReplyDeleteWe also saw some bramble berries in there -- not blackberries but some sort of red berry. The seeds are less defined. Not able to identify, I didn't taste, but Mike did, and he's still alive this morning.
I'm glad you got some blackberries. Enjoy!
I find that recipe ratings are misleading for that exact reason. People will rate 5 stars and then comment: I added this and changed that and it was the best thing I ever had!
ReplyDeleteNick thinks that the blackberries became more tart since I froze them. They did lose a little color...do you experience that with your frozen raspberries?
Comparing blackberries & raspberries is hard. They are similar, but very different. Blackberries are bigger (oval shaped) and very juicy. Black raspberries (or red) are globe shaped and compact. Blackberries are not as sweet as raspberries. They might be cousins, though.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think blackberries and raspberries are cousins, both are brambles. Blackberries must be managed or they just take over. I believe the City of Seattle struggles to keep the blackberry brambles at bay. Raspberries are less invasive but still need care.
ReplyDeleteI carefully washed the raspberries in a bowl of water, lifted them from the water with a slotted spoon, and laid them on a kitchen towel to dry -- about 10 minutes. Then I laid them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and slid the tray of berries onto the quick freeze shelf for an hour. Then I packaged 2-3 cups in freezer bags. I haven't tried them since freezing. Their texture will have changed if not their flavor.
Nick and his sensitive taste buds! -- LOL