I hadn’t intended to write up two dewberry posts, but other than a couple of fun bird sightings (dickcissels and Eastern kingbirds!), the dewberries were the nature highlight of the weekend for me.
This week there were way more of them than last week. I picked three quarts in just a five-yard stretch along our arroyo. Some of them were as big as fancy blackberries. They must have liked the rainy winter a lot.
From those berries, I made yet another cobbler, and also a really interesting sauce, from a recipe by Jess Pryles for blackberry sauce. There are many interesting ingredients in that there sauce (star anise, whole cloves). I served it with delicious venison backstrap roast, and both my sister and spouse declared it a gourmet triumph. I’m glad the neighor recommended this recipe, because just the salt/pepper/nutmeg rub on the beef made it worth checking out. Her new cookbook, Hard Core Carnivore is available now, so check it out (she’s also been on lots of book tours lately).
It’s great to eat food right from where you live! Soon I’ll have tomatoes and okra and other veggies. I also planted some little baby asparagus from the neighbor’s garden.
Mandi and I visited the nearby Walker’s Honey Farm and Dancing Bee Winery, so I could get some more of their very interesting types of honey (winterberry, gallberry, sesame, and others) and some of their ginger mead (mmm). We had lunch there, and we had fun observing some beautiful lizards (one of the whiptails, not sure which) and a very perky snail. There’s nature everywyere, ya know.
I plan to write more on bees and honey. I’m hoping to interview one of friends who keeps bees (yes, I have multiple beekeeper friends) about the fun she’s having at her rural property.
The Hermits' Rest 