Raspberry Vinegar

With many raspberry bushes pumping out tons of berries, every summer I try to find new, delicious ways to use the rasppies. Summertime brings raspberry ices, buttermilk cake, smoothies, etc.

I used to buy raspberry vinegar for salad dressing, but couldn't find it here (Portland). Last year, I decided to make my own. Easy. Delicious. Fresh. Genius! Simply fill a jar about half way with fresh berries, fill the jar with white wine vinegar, place in a dark spot, and patiently wait two or three weeks. Voilà!





Once you pour off the vinegar, you are left with a mess of mushy, vinegar soaked berry bodies. I hated to throw them out. To me, the most logical application would be a raspberry vinaigrette. I threw the berries into the blender with olive oil, garlic, dill, and a little black pepper. Again, voilà!

The pink concoction is very tangy and, weirdly, has the taste of balsamic vinegar. I haven't tried it yet on a salad, but think that once diluted over a pile of lettuce will be wonderful. (I hope so. I have a lot of it!)

Big Ass Raspberries from the Backyard

Raspberry Sorbet Fail

Heap o' raspberries.

I'm thinking the cuby part
isn't supposed to be sitting
directly on the base.

It's been a bumper year for raspberries at Le Jardin du Curly Girl. Koko and I have been eating as much as we can right from the bushes and I've been harvesting the rest. This week I decided to try making sorbet. I borrowed an old ice cream maker from the-best-neighbor-in-the-world since I didn't have one and just learned that you need one to make sorbet. TBNITW had never used it as it was handed down to her and had been since sitting in her basement. I even found the user manual online, read up on what I needed and I thought I was good to go.

I love this juicer! It's from my mother's
house and goes perfectly with the
color I painted my kitchen.

I don't even know why I have paper cups
in the house, but I'm glad I do.

I went out and picked a heap o' raspberries, juiced an orange (ok, it was a Cutie, but since I only need a couple of tablespoons it would more than suffice), zested a lemon and combined all the prepped ingredients in the freezer bowl of the maker. I then layered the ice and salt in the maker to the top like the instructions said. Turned it on and zippo, immediately realizing that there was some major piece of the ice cream maker that was missing. I think it needs the blender bottom part between the base and the maker cube. TBNITW wasn't home and wouldn't be for the rest of the day. What's a Curly Girl to do? I broke out the paper cups I happened to have in the house and the bamboo skewers I happened to have in the house and (hopefully) rescued my failed sorbet by making popsicles. It'd be a damn shame waste of a quart of lovely, fresh-off-the-vine, organic raspberries if they don't work out. We'll see in a few hours...  Next up: Raspberry Buttermilk Cake!

I've Been Waiting All Year For This

This photo was taken moments after they were picked from the backyard
and seconds before they were eaten for my breakfast. Ah, summer.

Berries In The Garden

Berry Berry Exciting

The woman whose house I bought was a canner. She had loads of raspberry bushes (and I'm told they are really good berries). Well, spring is springing and the berry bushes have started to bud.









There is also a currant bush that was way overgrown and had a lot of dead wood. I chopped it way back - almost to the ground - and it's come back with gusto.



I've since put in two blueberry bushes, because I love me some blueberries. I was told you need at least two bushes to cross pollinate. I got two different kinds, one that fruits mid-season, and one that fruits later. And in a strawberry pot... strawberries. As it's been so warm in Portland, all the plants are budding and flowering. I'm very excited about the potential bounty this summer!

Berry Berry Wonderful

The day was stunning and sunny. Not too hot. I was picked up (by Leah /Leah Pellegrini Glass and Amanda/Bread and Badger) and whisked off to the fun of berry picking on Sauvie Island. The strawberries were already done for the season, so we went for the blueberries and the raspberries. One in the basket, one in my mouth. Plump and bursting with sweet juiciness. Two for the basket and one for my mouth. Oooo, look a ladybug. Basket, mouth. The bushes were so laden with fruit we could be very, um, picky about what we picked. On to the raspberries. Basket, mouth. Mouth. Mouth. Loves me some raspberries. After we'd gotten our take at Kruger's Farm, we went off for some unbelievable cherries. The trees dripped with fruit. Basket, mouth. Some we could pick standing on the ground, and some fun was had on the orchard ladders. I took so much that I thought I wouldn't be able to eat it all myself, but it's gone. (and my camera batteries died and I finished them before I got any pictures...) You know they taste even better when you've picked them yourself. None of this silly pie/tart/smoothie making for me either. I've finished it all off straight from the basket. To my mouth.