Berries!

[Mama Mangia]

Berries! Those oh-so-delicious (and good for you) berries.

It's berry season - have you picked yours yet?

Blueberries, raspberries, black raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, strawberries - and kind of berries - I love them all!

Have any favorite recipes to share with us??

Feel free to post!

[Mama Mangia]

RASPBERRY GRATIN

8 ounces raspberries

1/2 cup low-fat sour cream

4 tablespoons dark brown sugar



Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Divide raspberries into single layers in four individual, shallow, oven-proof baking dishes.



Gently spread 2 tablespoons sour cream over each portion of raspberries, completely covering them. Sprinkle dark brown sugar over sour cream, using 1 tablespoon for each dish.



Place dishes on a baking sheet. Bake in oven for 5 minutes. Serve immediately





Raspberry Glaze Pie

1 baked 9" pie cust
5 cups raspberries
1/3 cup sugar
3 Tbsp raspberry jam
1 Tbsp cornstarch mixed with 3/4 c water
1 cup cold heavy (whipping) cream whipped to soft peaks with 1/2 tsp almond extract and 2 Tbsp confectioners sugar

Cook 1 cup of the raspberries, sugar, jam and cornstarch mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly to dissolve the jam and sugar.

Bring to a boil, cooking just until the glaze thickens and becomes clear.

Strain into a bowl and coot to room temperature, about 1 hour.

Discard the seeds and any fruit in the strainer. Be careful to mix the berries gently with the glaze so as not to crush them.

Put remaining berries in large bowl and gently mix in the cooled glaze to coat the berries evenly.

Spoon the mixture into the baked crust.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Serve cold on day prepared.

Can be served with whipped cream.

[Mama Mangia]

4 Layer Strawberry-Banana Dessert


Heat oven to 350°. Lightly butter 9x13 inch baking dish.

First Layer:
1-1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup butter, room temp.
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour until small bean
size crumbs; stir in chopped nuts. Pour into prepared dish pressing
down with fingertips. Bake for 20 min. Cool completely.

Second Layer:
8-oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup Cool Whip topping
Mix and spread on cooled crust. Chill.

Third Layer:
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
pinch of salt
1-1/2 cups 7-Up, Sprite, or seltzer
1/2 cup water
1(3-oz pkg.) strawberry-banana Jell-O
1-1/2 to 2 quarts sliced strawberries and bananas

Combine sugar, cornstarch, carbonated beverage, salt, and water together in sauce pan and cook until thickened. While still hot, add dry Jell-O into mixture. ALLOW TO COOL COMPLETELY. Add strawberries and bananas. Mix. Pour over cream cheese layer. Chill until firm. Top with Cool Whip and chopped pecans and/or slivers of chocolate.

[Mama Mangia]

Berry Smoothie

1 cup Berries
1 cup Milk
1 tablespoon Honey

Place all ingredients in a blender - cover and blend on medium speed until well blended.



Wild Berry Smoothie

6 oz of Wild Blueberries ( Fresh or Frozen)
6 oz of Yogurt (Vanilla or Blueberry)
1 Tablespoon of Honey (if plain yogurt is used)
1/2 Cup Ice Cubes (3 Ice Cubes)

1. Blend well on high speed and serve Immediatley.
Serves 2 Enjoy

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

Thanks for the great recipes and ideas. Last week Maddy and I picked wild bluberries (huckleberries) and I made the Maine Blueberry Cake that was posted here. I love berries of all kinds, my favorite has to be Mulberries!

[chubbyalaskagriz]

Two short mulberry stories, Cathy...

1.) when we were little we lived near a patch of woods that was comprised mainly mulberry trees, and all summer long we used to run like wild banshees in and amongst those trees staining our bare feet a deep fantastic PURPLE. Mom allowed it, though she cringed all June and July everytime she saw the bottoms of our feet. I remember at bath-time come August there'd be a night she'd start srubbing the tar out of our soles and it took weeks of rough scrubbing to get those stains off our feet and return them to their original bright pink. Always that first scrub-night in early August she forbid us to go barefoot anymore the rest of the summer- said she'd be danged if she was gonna have any kids of hers returning to school with feet that looked dirty and bruised!

2.) Near the end of 5th grade, Coach Peterson, who was the 6th grade science teacher came in to give we students a quick summer-time assignment that we'd be turning-in a couple of short weeks after we started in his class-room the following Fall. We were to collect and identify leaves from 100 different trees- tape and display them into an album and write the name of the tree across the bottom of each leaf's page- as well as exactly where we found each leaf. I loved that summer-long project, as I learned how to identify alomst any tree- and had never given that sort of thing much thought before then. Anyway, that was the first time I became aware that mulberry trees are one of those very rare trees that have TWO kinds of leaves and that each looks distinctly different. One leaf is round and pretty with a saw-toothed edge, the other is oddly shaped like a mittened-hand (or like Michigan!). Fun Fact!

[chubbyalaskagriz]

Mama, I love berries of all kinds- but I beleive the BLUEBERRY is perhaps one of THE most underrated berries there is. I remember being SHOCKED to hear recently that the blueberry tops many folks' list of foods they dislike most. I just don't understand! Though I have to admit, I never felt the deep appreciation for them that I do now until I took part in that enjoyable berry-picking tradition all over Alaska. Wild berries of all sorts are quite bountiful up north and always after the first frost, blueberry pickers go wild because they taste sweeter after they've experienced one cold-snap.

One of my favorite meals ever is wild Alaskan salmon w/ wild blueberry salsa, sprinkled with toasted filberts, tomato-salad & steamed broccoli. Not only is this plate the most colorful ever- but it contains 5 of most doctors' top-ten healthiest foods: salmon, blueberries, nuts, broccoli and tomatoes! YUM!

My favorite simple ways to eat blueberries are: on cold cereal and oatmeal, scattered across a piece of peanut-butter toast, or on top of vanilla ice cream or vanilla pudding.

Lastly, STRAWBERRIES. Oddly, after eating and enjoying them my whole life, I am now sadly allergic to them! Can't even eat strawberry jam! I worked in a country club once and every summer buffet and brunch we had mountains of beautiful, huge, fresh stem-on strawberries displayed on the dessert table with crystal bowls of sour cream and brown sugar. Anyone who has never dipped a whole strawberry into sour cream then rolled it in soft brown sugar is denying themselves one of life's most incredible simple pleasures! Try it- I promise, you'll absolutely fall in love- mark my words!

[KYHeirloomer]

Many years ago, when there were wolves in Wales and snakes in Ireland, we had a white mulbery tree in the backyard. I had never even heard of white mulberries before we'd moved there, and have never seen one since.

My folks insisted they were decorative only, and not edible (turns out they were wrong ). So they just fell and rotted. Actually, they fermented.

Y'all ever seen a tipsey squirrel negotiating a telepone wire? Funniest thing you'll ever see in your life.

[sabixatzil1]

Cook Time: 50 min Prep Time: 20 min
Yield: 1 loaves

Ingredients:
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
3 or 4 mashed ripe bananas
1/4 cup water
1 2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup mixed frozen berries

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350. In large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar. Add eggs, bananas and water mix for 30 seconds. Combine dry ingredients and add to wet mix until blended. Fold in frozen berries. Pour mixture into a lightly greased loaf pan.
Bake until a knife inserted comes out clean, about 50 minutes, decrease by 10 minutes and 25 degrees for convection ovens. Cool in pan for about ten minutes.

Notes:
This bread also freezes well.

[sabixatzil1]

Cook Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:

* 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1 egg
* 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup milk
* 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, rinsed
* .
* Topping
* .
* 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation:
Cream 1/4 cup butter with 3/4 cup sugar; add egg and beat well. Into a medium bowl sift together 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt. Add sifted dry ingredients to butter mixture alternately with 1/2 cup milk, beating until smooth. Fold in blueberries. Pour into a greased 9-inch square baking pan. For topping, combine topping ingredients and blend well to form crumbs.
Sprinkle topping crumbs over batter. Bake at 375° for 35 minutes.