Blackberries Picking & Cooking

Well.... I officially have 1 Green Pepper!!! I did not take pictures of it this week because, quite frankly, it is the saddest green pepper I have ever seen.

With the plant only reaching 11 inches high the green pepper is just pushing 1 inch in diameter and did not look overly delicious on camera! Although my garden has not produced a bountiful harvest this year I could not have been more tickled to see this tiny vegetable beginning to grow!

While I was out inspecting my garden I came upon a large cluster of wild blackberries just waiting to be plucked from the vine! The more I looked around the more aware of these plants I became, until I was stumbling across them in every thicket and hedgerow on the property. After picking for about an hour I had gathered about 4 cups of delicious blackberries with a few late blooming raspberries thrown in.

 I decided to whip up a small recipe to test them out and I froze the other half for future uses. 

**A great tip for freezing any vegetables or fruits that tend to clump together: Flash freeze them first in a single layer on a cookie sheet (I use a plate) before putting them in a bag. This allows you to dip in to however much you need per recipe!

For the other half of my blackberries I made an Arkansas Traveler's Cake. 

This recipe was Extremely easy and tastes delicious served warm with a large dollop of Vanilla ice cream! 

Naturally because this cake was so good I have no pictures to share-It really did not last long out of the oven! If you want to give it a try I have included the recipe below! 

Arkansas Traveler Cake-Megan's Version

Ingredients

1/2 cup Butter (Less is absolutely fine!)

1 cup Sugar

1 cup Flour

1 cup milk

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

2 Cups Blackberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place 9x13x2 pan inside with butter. (I used a 9x9 pan and came out with a slightly thicker cake although it takes some changes to the cooking time). Allow butter to sizzle; generally 2-3 minutes.

2. Mix flour, sugar, milk, and baking powder until creamy; No lumps!

3. Pour blackberries into mix, stirring lightly. (The original recipe called for blackberries to be placed in the middle but I have had better luck mixing them into the cake batter before pouring in).

4.Pour the batter into the hot prepared pan.

5. Allow to cook for 1 hour until crust is golden brown on top.

6. Serve warm with Vanilla Ice Cream.

Happy Cooking!