Blackberry Blitz

While riding bikes around my new town, Hood River, Hilary and I discovered miles and miles of blackberry bushes-- first we found them on May St, but once we started looking around we realized they're ALL OVER town, including at the dead end a block and a half from my house.  It's newly August, so the berries are pushing each other out of house and home to find space to ripen on their vines, and of course Hil and I were there to relieve them of their housing crunch with as many bowls and tupperwares as we could find in my kitchen.

If you are as lucky as I am, and live in a place profuse with blackberries, here are a couple recipes to put the berries to good use.  The first is a simple jam-- we brewed up over five quarts of the stuff (using, also, some of the many pounds of rhubarb Adam's co-worker forced upon him the other day).  See my strawberry jam recipe for details on how to make it.

The other recipe, for Blackberry-Basil Crumble, I'm taking right out of Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  So, I give all credit to Ms. Kingsolver for making this recipe so shamefully easy.  But I will take a small slice of credit for the specific one executed by me, and photographed here.  We must gloat over our desserts when we can.

Blackberry-Basil Crumble

2-3 apples, chopped (I peeled them first)

2 pints blackberries

2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 large handful of basil leaves, chopped

1/4 c. honey (or more if your fruit is not so sweet)

Preheat the oven to 400F.  Combine the above ingredients in a casserole dish or pie plate; mix, and set aside.

5 Tbsp. flour

3 heaping Tbsp. brown sugar

1 stick cold butter

Cut butter into flour and sugar, then rub between your fingers to make a chunky, flaky substance-- uniformity not necessary here.  Sprinkle over the top of the fruit and bake for 30 minutes or so, till golden and bubbly.  And, of course, be sure there is vanilla ice cream in the freezer.