BLUEBERRIES!!!

This year I have discovered how many wild blueberries we have around here! I have been picking and eating them in between our trips. I would guess that I've picked over 30 cups of blueberries so far and plan to go out picking again today. I've made two blueberry pies, a big pan of blueberry cobbler and have frozen 4 or 5 cups. The rest we've just eaten plain. The kids love to snack on bowls of them. I want to make some blueberry muffins and maybe blueberry bread. I definitely want to freeze some more to have in the winter.

I'm going blueberry crazy! During my blueberry picking outings, I've come to realize that this blueberry picking thing makes me happy in so many ways. First and foremost, I love the taste of blueberries and the things I can make from them. Second, with the big emphasis on organic produce today, I can be happy that these have not been sprayed with chemicals! Thirdly, they are free! I am a cheapskate at heart and love the feeling of a good deal. What's better than free?!? Finally, I've read that blueberries are very good for you health wise. I happily tell my kids, "go ahead, eat some more"!

When I was a kid, one of my favorite books was "Blueberries For Sal". Its a story of a little girl who goes picking wild blueberries with her mother. A mother bear and her cub are also in the patch eating blueberries. Somehow, Sal gets separated from her mother at the same time that the cub gets separated from its mother. Sal starts following the sounds that the bear is making thinking its her mother. Likewise, the cub follows Sal's mother thinking she's the mother bear. Eventually everyone gets back to there rightful mother without anyone getting eaten. They live happily ever after, with plenty of blueberries.

So when you see me in the blueberry patch you can know that I'm happy. I'm probably thinking happy thoughts about those friendly bears in "Blueberries For Sal"!