Berries. More of them.

We've entered phase 2 of Oregon berry splendor, which marks the arrival raspberries and blueberries to the party. In celebration of this, I went berry picking for the first time, and it was sooo much fun. What took me this long, I have no idea. It combines some of my favorite pastimes: standing in fields, touching berries, sunshine, and thrift.

After spending a couple of hours at the Sauvie Island Farms U-Pick, we ended up with over 5 pounds of blueberries and raspberries. (For $10!) I've got big plans for these little fruits.

I froze most of them, laying them out on a cookie sheet in the freezer for a few hours before bagging them up, but set aside some blueberries to use right away to test drive a recipe from a new cookbook that I'm really excited about: The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook. During the epic camping trip I went on earlier this year, I got to experience this place in the flesh, and it blew my mind.

So far, the cookbook has delivered the same results. I followed their scone recipe, and whipped up some of the blueberry variety. They were fantastic, if you like butter. And if you don't, you really don't have any business reading this blog.

Scones via Big Sur Bakery:

1 cup fresh berries
1 cup (2 sticks!) cold, unsalted butter, cubed
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tb. baking powder
2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t kosher salt
2 Tb. vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup turbinado sugar

About 2 hours before making the scones, scatter the berries on a cookie sheet and pop them in the freezer. Put the cubed butter, flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl, and but this in the freezer too, for 30 minutes. Put your baking rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Using a pastry cutter, work the chilled ingredients together in the bowl until the butter cubes are the size of peas, and make a little well in the center. Combine the vanilla and buttermilk together in a separate bowl, then pour it into the well. Mix this up with a wooden spoon to form a shaggy mass, then add the frozen berries and gently mix them in, trying not to crush them.

To shape the scones, place a 3-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter on one corner of the baking sheet, then take a handful of dough and press it into the cutter, patting it down so the top of the scone is flat. Pull the cutter off the sheet, leaving the scone behind, and repeat, keeping the scones well-spaced; they just about double in size. Sprinkle the tops with the turbinado sugar and bake for 15 - 20 minutes - until they're golden brown along the sides but still tender inside. Transfer them to a cooling rack and wait 10 minutes before gobbling.