Edible Seasonals - Berry Frenzy
Check out Janie Hibler's information-rich book, The Berry Bible: With 175 Recipes Using Cultivated and Wild, Fresh and Frozen Berries (Morrow Cookbooks, 2004).
BERRY FRENZY
By Janie Hibler
For June-July 2006
Berry season in the Pacific Northwest always puts me in a frenzy, like a rabbit caught in a brier patch. I devour Oregon’s magnificent berries throughout the summer, but I’m equally adamant about stocking my freezer with fresh berries for winter use.
After living in Portland for more than 30 years, I’ve grown used to eating marionberry cobblers in the dead of winter and smelling the heady aroma of freshly baked raspberry muffins when the frost is on the pumpkins. I know fresh imported berries are available much of the year, but I won’t settle for inferior fruit when I can have our local berries — internationally recognized for their intense flavor and color — year-round.
The fertile Willamette Valley produces the greatest variety of berries in the world and the thought of gathering and freezing all of them causes me some angst. Over the years I’ve learned how to take charge of this daunting task to keep it from becoming a full-time job.
By the end of May I clean out my freezer, and make jam or syrup with last year’s berries. I dust off my over-the-sink colander, which I use for rinsing berries, and I stock up on assorted sizes of self-sealing freezer bags. I’m feeling better already.
