First bananas then even more blackberries

Over the weekend we picked about ten pounds of blackberries, ate our fill of tamales, lounged at the river, had a wonderful dinner with friends we have not seen in too long, and spent as much time as we could enjoying our family and what's quickly becoming the end of Oregon's summer.

 Neil's birthday was wonderful. We had all the kids home and had a big breakfast before heading out early to pick as many berries as we were able ( it was nice to have hands a little bigger then Kiki's to help!) Gwen did a wonderful job probably picking and eating equal amounts of berries. I am almost positive Kiki ate every single berry she picked, spending more time working her way around the thorns and running up and down the path then actually picking. And Neil out-did us all easily picking an equal amount to the rest of us combined! After heading home and once all the berries were washed, spread and stored in the fridge, we decided it was time to head to the rive.

Being early in the day still ( not yet noon)  Dodge park was less than full and we were able to get our favorite spot a bit of sand big enough to cover with a blanket surrounded by rocks. There is a huge rock shelf at this point in the river, giving the kids a mellow and shallow area to run around in. Even little Mia enjoyed walking around (with daddy's help). Kiki has gotten over her fear of the river and could not seem to keep up with herself. Her favorite activity was to sit on each and every different rock she could find. Kiki spends a lot of time sitting on different things in general. And if given the chance will insist that anyone and everyone near her also sit on or near where ever she is. I spent most of my time in the shallow water with the smaller girls chasing fish and pointing out the water bugs for Kiki to follow. Neil and Gwen ventured out to where the river was a bit deeper and the current a bit stronger trying to convince one another and themselves to plunge into the cool water. I've spent more than one afternoon watching my husband's head and shoulders bob in and out of the water as he floats down the river. Always with his Baja 500 hat, and often with a gin and tonic.

No one was quite ready to leave the river but after a few hours our tummies got the best of us. All the girls slept as we headed back to town. Tamales were a birthday treat for everyone, Neil even managed to win a free tamale by hitting the bulls eye on the dart board. By early afternoon we were tuckered out, full of tamales, and happy to be home. We never got around to making cake, but a batch of blackberry chocolate chip pancakes finished out our evening and we all went to bed a little messier and in Neil's case, one year older.

Sunday was spent at home, making lots of things out of blackberries and visiting with friends we had not seen in such a long time. For as hot as it was outside my kitchen was worse. I should know by now that August is not the time for baking or marathon cooking days, but with all those berries and the company of my husband I wanted to be no where else (plus I wanted to be able to see the inside of my fridge again.)

This morning we woke up to the work week, Neil headed out, I got the girls fed and comfortable and then got going on all those chores I ignored while we enjoyed our weekend. All that's really left to do now is add a couple recipes below and look forward to the end of the work day when my whole family is home and ready for dinner.

Blackberry jam with Rosemary

With all those blackberries taking up most of my fridge I decided to use a fair amount of them on a rather large batch of jam. Personally I don't like Jam quite as sweet, but if you disagree you might want to at least double the amount of sugar.

To start with:

6-7 cups blackberries
5 sprigs of rosemary
zest from 1 lemon
1 1/2 cup sugar

In a large-ish pot mash all of the blackberries, add in minced rosemary, the zest of one lemon and the sugar. Mix well and let come to a low boil over medium heat. Once it begins boiling do not stir the jam just let cook about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and pour into pre-paired jars. The jam will thicken as it cools.

Its a nice quick recipe that is easily done while the girls nap.

Also my Absolute favorite cake recipe this summer my version of the lemon polenta cake. (I'm looking forward to some with the jam once its cooled)

Lemon Polenta cake

To start with:

3/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup corn meal
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup lemon juice

First whip the eggs with the sugar till a bit fluffy. Next slowly drizzle the oil into the egg mixture which should give you a nice creamy texture.

In a different bowl sift flour,cornmeal, and baking powder together. Combine well with egg mixture. Lastly add the lemon juice. Stir just enough to combine everything.

Grease a 10 inch cake pan and pour in batter. bake at 375 degrees for 45 or so minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool completely before removing from pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Its wonderful with berries in many different ways!

This week is bringing more friends and family here to visit and Next Sunday Kiki turns 2! And we are taking a small trip down to Independence!So the birthdays, cooking and time spent with people we love will continue in the following weeks.

Oh! And Baby Mia has started eating little bits of real food! She was somewhat confused with her first encounter with bananas, but papa was persistent and managed to get at least a bit or two to stay inside the baby.