So, it’s that time again, already (following along with Heather for This Week in My Kitchen), and there was a week of radio silence in between. Hmmm…reasons for that:
1) Loss and heavy feelings to process these last few weeks, mainly on the periphery of intersecting circles of friends, but it brings up some emotions I had no idea were still so raw. It makes anything I might want to share seem pithy and it becomes easier to just shut down.
2) Working on the launch of a new project somewhat related to Luminous Traces, which has become the Luminous Traces Collective so that I can use the former name as my new business name. Confused? I’ll clear that up soon.
3) I have to put in odd hours at the day job because of this Summer Vacation nonsense. Year-round school makes so much damn sense. At least in my little family, the dreaded SV requires a monumental rearrangement of routine and much less time with each other as I have to make up working hours at night or on weekends.
But, we managed to make delicious things and eat them, together and apart:
It’s blueberry picking season in the northeast, so every week there will be berry projects. Each time we go, I try to just pick one thing to make with the fresh berries, and store the rest in the freezer for winter. The first excursion yielded one blueberry pie, one quart jar of fermented berries in honey (which is as easy as the name suggests: fill jar with berries, pour raw honey in to cover, give it a little stir every day, and when it gets bubbly, use the berries and the syrup to make tasty things even tastier), and a little over two gallons of berries in the freezer, about 15 pounds total.
Fermented berries seemed like the perfect way to use some of the “extra” honey we ended up with after extracting. This is how much was left in the bucket and filter when we set to cleaning them!
There is now enough milk every day to keep milk kefir grains happy. I love its effervescence, and it’s great for smoothies, salad dressings, or anything in which I would use yogurt. It also makes amazing ice cream.
We followed this recipe for Lemon Kefir Ice Cream, which was pretty exciting because the two main ingredients, kefir and honey, came from our own backyard. We didn’t stop there, though. You see, we had leftover blueberry pie. I know, I know…how does one have leftover blueberry pie? You must understand that we are a family of merely three, and our entire extended family is all 3,000 miles away. They cannot come help us eat pie at the drop of a hat. We often freeze half a pie when we make one, but I didn’t this time, and why not have pie and ice cream at the same time?
Yeah, I felt pretty brilliant.
Basically, we just followed the ice cream recipe (quadrupled, because why make 1/2 quart of ice cream when you can make 2 quarts?) and when it came to the point in the ice cream churning when it was thickened up and nearly done, I chopped up the leftover pie into bits, crust and all, and C churned just a wee bit more to blend it all in.
The texture is perfect, as is the pairing of lemon and blueberry pie. Make this, please.
In other news, I was here yesterday (speaking of Luminous Traces Collective). Our theme this week is Parallel Lines.
What’s happening in your kitchen?
Thespunmonkey's Blog 
Honey and blueberries and home-made ice cream. Um, can I come over by you?
Oh, and I read more carefully now and wanted to add: good luck processing those feelings, and dealing with summer vacation. I’m in the midst of a lot of the same myself this summer! (Though my kids are 9 & 12, making it easier in some ways.)
Sure, come on over! And thank you. 🙂
My son is 9, but it’s still challenging, and he really dislikes coming to town with me when I have no choice but to bring him to work. I don’t blame him…it’s not safe to play outside there, and it’s terrifically hot and steamy when we’re running dye pans! Oh, well, the big picture is that it’s only a handful of weeks, really, and we’ll get through it and try to make the most of it. It’s too bad he doesn’t enjoy the idea of keeping watch for chipmunks in the garden. Ha.
Your blueberries look wonderful – I am looking forward to collecting them, it will be in the end of August I think when they are ready. We have to go high up in the mountains to find them but it’s always a wonderful feeling there.
Do you have a good recipie for the blueberrie-pie? I’d love to know something new 🙂
Greetings from rainy and cold Austria,
maria
Hello Maria! Pie is one of those things I find it best to keep as simple as possible. I don’t really use a recipe, just several cups of blueberries, a splash of lemon juice, just a little bit (maybe 1/2 cup per 6 cups berries) of sweetener (we use maple syrup here), and a few tablespoons of starch (I use arrowroot or potato starch). I don’t like to complicate it with spices…I just want to taste the blueberries! For other types of baked goods, however, I like to add lavender or vanilla to blueberries.
So much going on in your life and kitchen, some quite intense but so many creative things. I love that everything is on your doorstep. We’re moving soon and the plan it to keep bees…maybe one day soon I will be able to ferment berries with my own raw honey as you do. For now I can just dream. I hope that you have some time for yourself with all that’s going on in your life.Take care.
debx