Fresh berries! The Fun is in the Pickin’

I love picking fresh berries in the summer so when I stopped by Tangerini’s farm in Millis, MA this weekend, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had red ripe raspberries ready to pick and big blueberries too!

Picking raspberries is somewhat nostalgic for me as we had raspberry bushes in my yard growing up.  We scored on these berries because really my neighbor Mr. Hubbard planted  the bushes but some creeped over the rock wall onto our property.  Mr. Hubbard introduced me to gardening. He was the kindest man, a Southern gentlemen who always had a moment to lend a listening ear, share a stick of gum, or teach me a thing or two about gardening.  So pickin’ raspberries reminds me of my great neighbor, Mr. Hubbard, my childhood and warm summer days.

Look at these beautiful raspberries…

Of course, I had to pick some blueberries too-

Fresh berries are great on yogurt, oatmeal, in a smoothie or of course, my favorite, on top of shortcake!   So I made some cornmeal biscuits, fresh whipped cream and added the delicious berries for our July 4th dessert.

Fresh whipped cream is so scrumptious! To make it,  I use 8 ounces of  organic whipping cream,  1 TB. super fine sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla extract whipped using electric beaters in a cold stainless steel bowl (just place in freeze for short time to chill).

You don’t need to make a lot, even though you may be tempted, just a dollop on each shortcake is plenty.  I used the cornmeal shortcake recipe in this july/august issue of martha stewart’s everyday food magazine-although you can find lots of different cornmeal shortcakes online too! 

I hope you enjoy berry pickin’ at a local farm this summer. Support local farming and enjoy berries at their best!  July is prime blueberry pickin season in Massachusetts! Berries are rich in antioxidants, Vitamin C, fiber and only about 60 calories per full cup!