Berries: A Pilgrimage.

In an effort to make up for lost time, I went berry picking on Saturday with two of my favorite people at Sauvie Island Farms. I'm going to go ahead and call it an "annual visit" since I've done it twice now. It's a pilgrimage. Technically.

Last year I went a couple weeks earlier, and although the pickin' was a good time, it was work finding the ripe fruit. This year I think we went on the best weekend possible - the early blues were plentiful, and although we were probably a week ahead of optimal marionberry harvesting, we hit the raspberries at their prime. Those little suckers were plump and juicy, just begging to be plucked from their stems. I happily obliged them. Between the three of us, we went home with 22 pounds of fruit, for something like $30. Amazing. Stay tuned for a report on the delicious pie I made from our bounty. One gigantic, 25 pound pie. Just kidding. But not by much.

Never too early for Lipitor.

In news that makes my heart sing but causes my arteries shriek in terror, Pine State Biscuits, the amazing southern sandwich outfit that started out as a vendor at the Portland Farmer's Market, opened up their location on Alberta Street this morning, dangerously close to our house. It's a 6 minute walk. Oh. Shit.

Why all of this cholesterol-related anxiety, you ask? Let me introduce you to the Reggie:

A piece of fried chicken, bacon, a slice of Tillamook cheddar, and homemade sausage gravy in a buttermilk biscuit. I know, it sounds absurd, and it sort of is. But sweet Jesus, is it delicious. I'm not the only person that thinks so - every Saturday the line at the farmer's market is at least 25 people deep, and the sandwich has been featured on the Food Network, in Esquire, etc. And this isn't even the end of the story - you can make your Reggie "deluxe" by adding a fried egg.

The new restaurant space is really well-done, and I'm so excited to add it to my neighborhood loop. Maybe once every two weeks. The 2.5 Reggies per month plan. Good thing it's close to my gym, too. Feel free to hold an intervention if you notice I've transitioned to elastic waistbands and support hose.

Lemon Blueberry Buckle Up

It's been a funny summer here, and by funny, I mean totally lame. Unseasonably cold and wet, by far the most disappointing one since I moved to Portland five years ago. The weathermen called last month "Juneuary." That pretty much sums it up.

Because of this, I haven't been out and about as much as I have in the past, less farmer's markets, no berry picking, and I keep putting my winter clothes away, only to angrily dig them back out again a couple days later. Anyway, in years past I'd spend every weekend whipping up some kind of baked berry goodness, starting with rhubarb in April and chugging along until the last round of blackberries at the end of the summer. But this year, it's like I emerged from my cave and all of a sudden it's blueberry time. Sorry strawberries. See you next year. Maybe.

Today I picked up a couple pints of blueberries from the farmer's market, and made what might be my favorite recipe yet from my stained, sticky copy of Rustic Fruit Desserts: the Lemon Blueberry Buckle. Oh yes. It's everything you'd dare to hope.

Lemon Blueberry Buckle

Crumb topping:
1/2 c flour
1/3 c granulated sugar
pinch salt
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 c butter, room temp, cubed

Cake:
1 1/2 c flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
pinch salt
1/4 t nutmeg
6 T butter, same drill as above
3/4 c granulated sugar
zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
1/2 c buttermilk (I used heavy whipping cream, it turned out well)
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

Lemon Syrup: (You read that correctly. Lemon. Syrup.)
1/3 c granulated sugar
juice of 2 lemons

Preheat the oven to 350, and butter a 9" baking pan. Make the crumb topping, mixing all of the dry ingredients, then add the butter and mix with your fingers until it's... crumby. Toss it in the freezer.

To make the cake, whisk the dry ingredients together. Using a mixer (paddle attachment if you have it), cream the butter, sugar and eggs, adding them one at a time. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then half the cream, repeat, and then toss in the last of the flour. Fold in half of the blueberries, and spread the mixture into the pan. Put the remaining blueberries on top, and then add the crumb topping. Bake for 45 - 50 minutes, until lightly golden - take it out when you can stick a knife in it and it comes out clean.

About ten minutes before you take it out of the oven, mix the lemon juice with the sugar, and heat in a small saucepan on medium until it turns thicker and syrupy. Pour if over the cake right after you take it out of the oven. But wait a few minutes before you lick the syrup out of the pan. A mistake you only make once. Or twice.

I'm alive! And I made some placemats.

Oh hello there! I apologize for my prolonged absence. Instead of delve into an explanation riddled with excuses, I'm going to attempt to distract you with this dazzling picnic placemat. Oooooh! Placemat.

I've been itching to make these since I spotted them awhile ago in one of my favorite sewing books, Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter, and it just so happened that some friends of mine got married last weekend, and they're probably the only people that I know who are cute enough to go on legitimate picnics and actually use these things. Sorry, everyone else, but Nick and Sally take the trophy for unbridled adorableness. They couldn't harness it if they tried.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun making these fabric vehicles of whimsy, and had a good excuse to use more of those Moda 1930's fabrics I'm still enamored with. I'm also pretty excited about the bamboo flatware I found to tuck in the pocket. Seriously. Wooden forks!

And in other crafty news, I'm going to be an aunt in a few months! Prepare to be bombarded with sickeningly cute baby projects. I warned you.