Blackberry Syrup!

We've been really enjoying pancakes lately...for breakfast AND supper, so I decided to try making blackberry syrup with the berries from our bushes! We used this recipe from All Recipes. We had to half everything because we didn't have THAT many berries, but this is definitely one to add to the canning book!

Here are some pictures from the process:







In the interest of keepin' it real...after all this hanging and dripping, I was not satisfied with the amount of juice, so I sent the whole slurry through the Champion Juicer and got LOTS more juice! The juicer is fantastic for jellies, jams, and now....syrup! And all those pesky blackberry seeds went right out to the chickens! I never imagined all the uses for my juicer! Who'd have known?

I'm hoping to find some blackberries at the farmer's market to buy in bulk and make up a big batch of this syrup to can and put away for winter. As good as it tastes now, I can imagine that it will be heavenly in the middle of a long cold snap!

One handful at a time....

Our blackberry bushes seem indestructible. They always look good, don't seem to have any pest problems, and just keep getting bigger. I really wish we'd planted more this spring, but now Atwoods is all out of them, so I'll just wait till next year.

Right now we're getting a handful of blackberries each morning and I'm keeping a bag in the freezer...just throwing them in a handful at a time. If any of you have wonderful blackberry recipes, please share them! I'm looking forward to these lovely berries becoming a bigger part of our summer diet every year!



Next time, I'll share a bit more about the ladies in the coop...stay tuned!