Summer has never had time limits for me. The clock ticks and tocks throughout the long warm days of the Solstice. The progressing of seasons has felt timeless at moments. This last year, my babies have been growing, I’ve been lucky enough to be at home with them. Watching them grow in front of me is such a weird thing. You don’t notice it until you look back at pictures and say, ‘Wow, How did that happen?’ ‘How have they grown that much right in front of my face?’ Little babes into little people.
This feeling continues as we enter August. We are over halfway through the year…Holy Cow!! How did that happen?! It’s that time of year again when our blackberry bushes are in full bloom. Our second summer in Washington has us growing produce in abundance. And it’s so much fun!! The blackberry picking has become my time of meditation and prayer in the evenings. When the kids go to bed, my husband and I grab a bowl and walk out to the back to pick until we get tired or our bowls are full. The pricks, the sticks, and the scratches all over my arms are such a beautiful symbol of being a gardener. And I love it so much.
I’ve been trying to pick enough for freezing and for jamming, but I’ve been trying out some new recipes as well! This week’s Play on Project pairing is Half Baked Harvest’s Blackberry Peach and Ginger Cobbler. Probably the easiest and yummiest summer dessert to make!!
Ingredients
· 5-6 peaches, cut into 8 wedges
· 3 cups fresh blackberries
· 1 cup light or dark brown sugar
· 2 tablespoons maple syrup
· 1 stick (8 tablespoons) salted butter, cubed
· 1 cup all-purpose flour
· 2 teaspoons baking powder
· 1 teaspoon ground ginger
· 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
· 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
· 1 cup milk
· 1/4 cup candied ginger pieces
· 1 tablespoon vanilla
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 375° F.
2. In a 9×13 inch baking dish toss the peaches and blackberries with 1/4 cup brown sugar, maple syrup, and butter. Bake for 10 minutes.
3. To make the batter. Stir together the flour, 3/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, and salt. Add the milk, candied ginger pieces, and vanilla. Mix until just combined.
4. Pour the batter over the peaches and blackberries, do not stir. Bake 50-55 minutes, until the center is just set and the edges begin to brown.
When I was living in LA, all I did in my minimal spare time was go to concerts. I loved how much live music there was to see on any given night. And I was lucky enough to go to all the historical spots in and around town… The Roxy, The Troubadour, The Wiltern, The Hollywood Bowl, The. El Rey. One of my favorite shows was at The El Rey. Architecture in Helsinki. In 2007, Heart It Races was featured on their new album Places Like This. It became what is now, and is still, one of my favorite songs. AND my little babes favorite too! It’s the, ‘I got the windows down and the song blaring high’, kind of song. It truly makes my Heart Race! LOVE IT!
My son is starting Kindergarten this fall and my daughter will have her first couple of days of Preschool soon. I’ve given away over half of their closet this summer because nothing fits them anymore…Their shoes, Their clothes, Their coats. In my 43 years of life, I have never appreciated the essence of time passing. Or maybe I never paid attention to it. But for some reason this summer, with the new life of our garden, and watching it all grow from nothing… time has begun to have a new meaning. And in this current moment, I am trying to embrace each prickle from the blackberries and each little giggle from my babies… In hopes that I can slow it down just a little…
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