A Gift...

It's easy to forget how blessed Handsome and I are to live where we do. Then, one day, you find a veritable bounty right outside your door. Such was the case this weekend. 

I was walking around the yard with my leashed Corgi at my side. He'd been dragging me all over tarnation and I was beginning to get a little cross with him. He really wanted to run, but the leash kept him in check. I figured the least I could do was let him explore to find just the right spot. He pulled me over to the old apple tree, and I'm so glad he did!

I've been neglecting the planting area between the apple tree and the large lilac bush for the past few years. I tell myself I need to cut back the weeds and tidy it up, but now I'm happy about that. If I'd been keeping it open, the birds wouldn't have planted seeds of their own, and I wouldn't have a volunteer black raspberry patch! It's abundant, too!

I stopped to pick and taste a few berries and found them to be very tasty, so after Tag was through with his meanderings, I took him back to the house and grabbed a bowl. I proceeded to pick until the bowl was full, and then went inside to see about a recipe for preserves.

I have a great cookbook I've told you about before called "Preserving By The Pint" by Marisa McClellan. I was tickled to find that she, indeed, had a small batch recipe for Black Raspberry Preserves. Based on the weight of the ripe berries I'd harvested, I can make two half-pint jars of preserves.

They've been cleaned and dried, so this morning, I'll make up the small batch while I'm waiting for my bread dough to rise. It won't take that long to make the preserves and I can water bath the jars between "stretching and pulling" my dough. Handsome has a concert in the park tonight, so I'll get everything done with time to spare.

By the end of the day, I'll have fresh loaves of bread, and preserves to spread on a few slices! The best part is that there are still lots of berries to ripen, and I'll be able to make more jam, while still leaving some behind for my feathered friends. After all, it's because of them that we have these beautiful berries in the first place.