Pickin' and Jammin'

It's summer and it's berry pickin' time - strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, I pick them all.  I don't know when I got so hooked on picking berries because I know I used to buy them already picked a few years ago, no more of that for me, maybe I'm more frugal now, why pay somebody else to pick them when I'm perfectly able to do it myself!

The season started off with strawberries.

Then it was the raspberries..

Both of those were picked at farms.  But the blueberries, now, that's another story, blueberries grow wild in these parts, you don't have to drive far to find some of these delectable morsels.  I've been picking twice and if the sun shines today, I might go pick some more.  I love to have a surplus of frozen blueberries and I just might pick some for my kids too!

I looked up when I was picking last week and this is the sight I saw..

Blueberries galore...

All those berries mean jam - jam to keep and jam to share..

Last night I SMASHed a jammin' page...

Homemade jam is the best!!!

Blueberry Cake, Blueberry Jam

This is what I did yesterday - picked blueberries.  When blueberry picking season rolls around, I can't wait to get out, I get obsessed about it and I can't stop picking - blueberries grow wild everywhere around here, you don't have to drive far, I started picking at 9:45 and left about 1:30 - the blueberries were everywhere and like always, I couldn't stop.  I picked a basket and a half, a basket holds 3 litres.  The blueberries are so plentiful that you will see people selling the baskets of berries all over the roads and in parking lots, there's good money in blueberries, I guess - I know they're not cheap to buy.  But, I am too cheap to buy them, I'll pick my own, thank you! It is hard on the back though and the terrain is sometimes not the best, but all in the name of the blueberry!! 

Blueberries are classed as superfoods - they're filled with nutrients to keep you healthy and feeling great.  Personally, I don't care for any other blueberries but these, the wild ones!

Last night I made a blueberry cake - it's Mom's old recipe, it's fast, it's easy and it's good.  Notice it's sitting on a Pyrex Delphite plate!

1 c. white sugar

1/2 c. margarine, it called for shortening, I substituted

3/4 c. milk

1/2 tsp. salt

2 c. flour

2 eggs

3 tsp. b. powder

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. blueberries

TOPPING

1/2 c. white sugar

1/4 c. flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 c. butter

Blend together margarine and sugar, then add the rest of the ingredients, stir until moistened, pour into 8x8 greased pan.  Sprinkle topping .  Bake at 350 for approximately 40 minutes or until tester comes clean.  

This morning I made a batch of blueberry jam, I just used the recipe in the Certo box.  I missed out on blueberry jam last year because it was so hot and the blueberries were not plentiful, I only was able to freeze one bag which we used throughout the year for pancakes.  

We had a bowl of blueberries last night for dessert, I had another bowl for breakfast.  I'll have to pick again as we're heading to Darcy's and he loves them too, so I have to give him some. 

There's still plenty more to ripen!

I'm linking my blueberry post up with Thursday Favorite Things and Weekend Potluck at The Country Cook