Huckleberrying

It's huckleberry picking time here. We went "Huckleberrying" in the woods with some friends.   We had bear spray with us, but didn't see any bears thankfully.  It's probably because we made enough noise to keep them away. We did buy some Huckleberry Gummy Bears at the local grocery store however to taste. As for real huckleberries, the rule was you could eat one for every 10 you picked. She was caught eating them! This guy was determined to fill his bucket with huckleberries before he left, but after 4 hours of picking, each family had just a gallon. Don't tell any huckleberry purists, but we broke off a limb full of huckleberries to take to Mummo, so could see, smell pick and taste them fresh from the woods:) And you can see , we had a nice break to eat our sandwiches in the woods too. It was so beautiful there.

My husband has been carefully sorting washing, drying and freezing our huckleberries.  He's been reminiscing about picking blueberries in Labrador Canada and I remember picking them in Finland this time of year as well.

Picking raspberries is a whole lot easier than picking  huckleberries is.   One neighbor's raspberries have grown under our fence and they've also given us permission to reach over the fence and pick some as well. Another neighbor has also invited to pick at their house.  After picking huckleberries all afternoon our kids picked raspberries at the neighbors house.  We've enjoyed huckleberries and raspberries alone, on waffles, in syrup and so forth today.  We could substitute them for the blueberries in the Cardamom Cake I posted earlier or in anything else which uses blueberries, but huckleberries are used sparingly, since they are so hard to get.  Maybe we'll make a cheesecake to sprinkle some on.  We'll freeze almost all of our huckleberries and bring them out on special occasions, like the first day of winter to remind us of our enjoyable outdoor summer adventure.  

Here is a link to some huckleberry recipes I found online. http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/uma/hucklebe.htm

As for the raspberries, I think I'll try what our neighbor served the recipe exchange the other night.  It's much like the strawberry rhubarb soup (kisseli) I've posted the recipe for before, but it made with berries, this time of the year, raspberries.  Yummy!

Maria's Swedish Berry Cream Dessert Soup

1 quart berries (straw, rasp, goose, blackberries or currants)
3 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
2 TBSP potato flour or corn starch

Clean berries. Bring water to a boil, add berries and sugar and boil several
minutes. Mix potato flour with small amount cold water, stir in and bring
again to boiling point. Cool covered and serve with cream or milk.

Aunt Beth's Soup Recipes

There are 2 soups I remember Aunt Beth serving me. She gave my husband both of those recipes. Since we served minestrone at RS, I also want to include her version of it and her other soup recipe -- tomato and cheese. Here they are:

Title: Aunt Beth's Minestrone Soup

Description:
Aunt Beth said, "I make this when I have a beef roast left overs."

Ingredients:
Use large kettle. Saute in 1/4 cup oil:
1 c (or more) chopped onions
1 clove (or more) garlic
add 2 1/2 qts. water
1 can beef broth undiluted
1-12 oz. can tomato paste, not sauce
1 pkg. frozen mixed vegetables
1 c (or more) shredded cabbage
2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/2 t Italian Herbs seasoning
1-2 1/2 can Italian style tomatoes
1-15 oz. can red kidney beans

Directions:
Cook above for about 1/2 hour, then add 1 cup small elbow macaroni. Stir often. Add 1 c or more roast beef. Simmer together about an hour. One friend of Aunt Beth's used to use chopped spinach or any other left over vegetable.


Title: Aunt Beth's Tomato & Cheese Soup

Directions:
Saute 1 chopped onion in oil and garlic. Add tomatoes, green pepper - diced, and celery. Cook until pepper and celery are "al dente". Then add diced cheese either Monterey Jack or Mozzarella. Aunt Beth said, "When you have fresh tomatoes, this is good, but can also be made with canned."

What has Relief Society done for you?

Tonight was our Relief Society Birthday Celebration!

It's always so much fun to get together with other women to share good food and good conversation and be entertained.

We celebrated the contribution the Relief Society has made to so many lives, so much so that the average Laurel would never realize its impact.

Table SettingsDon't you just love these centerpieces. I think she did such a beautiful job with them!

I'm thankful they shared the recipes of what we made and brought with us. So I have them handy for my use from any internet connection, any day, I'll share them here too. We served minestrone soup, rolls, and key lime pie.

Minestrone Soup
1lb hamburger, browned
2 chopped onions
2 T. green peppers
4 stalks celery chopped
2c. potatoes, diced
3 c. carrots, diced
2 c. diced tomatoes
1/4 c. barley
1 1/2 qt. water
1 c. tomato or V8 juice
6 whole allspice
1 bay leaf
1 t. sugar
2 T. parsley
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
salt, pepper, season salt, garlic salt to taste
Simmer 3-4 hours or put in crockpot for 10-11 hours on low or 5-6 hours on high.

I'd suggested sorbet to cleanse the pallet and they decided to serve it this fun way.

Frozen Key Lime PieFrom "Favorites" Crust: 1 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs 2 tablespoons sugar ¼ cup butter, melted Mix together and press into a 9 inch springform pan. Freeze for 15 minutes. Filling: 1 pint lime sherbet 1 pint Haagen-Dazs zesty lemon sorbet 1 pint vanilla frozen yogurt 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice Soften and mix together in mixer. Spoon into crust. ¼ cup coconut, toasted Fresh limes for garnish Sprinkle with toasted coconut. Freeze for at least 4 hours. Let stand 15 minutes before slicing. Serve with sliced limes on top.

Favor
Easter colored candies served as the take home favor in fun carrot shaped boxes.

Program

Our program was two part -- first a play about the role of Relief Society and then 3 sisters shared how RS stepped in to help each of them. I know I've been helped by the Relief Society organization. It doesn't matter where I've lived or visited, I've found instant friends, enrichment and consistency.
I'm so grateful for Relief Society in my life.

Idaho Baked Potato Soup

Well, tonight I'm going to serve fruit soup, of which the recipe is posted here in July 2007, but I was considering making a Potato Soup.

First, my husband made a fun potato soup recipe with our Vita Mix last week. The Recipe is:
(oops, gotta find it again)
Then at my request, my sister-in-law shared how she makes potato soup.
boil cubed potatoes, mash half the potatoes somewhat, add cream, run the other half of the potatoes in food processor, add bacon bits and green onions, salt and pepper.

And finally my Mother wants me to make "Idaho Baked Potato Soup" for her on the recommendation of a long time friend who sent her the recipe on a postcard.

Idaho Baked Potato Soup
2/3 cup butter or margarine
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
7 cups milk
4 large baking potatoes, baked, peeled, and cubed (about 4 cups)
(When I make baked potatoes next, I'll just bake 4 extra ones in the oven and then make this.)
4 green onions, sliced
12 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled (so nice to keep a bag of bacon bits on hand)
1 1/4 cups shredded cheese
1 cup (8 oz.) sour cream
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper