We awoke this morning to a blue sky, a slight breeze, and much lower humidity. It was a perfect day for berry picking!
There were so many wild black raspberries to pick, and this is only the beginning of the season. It's probably the best crop I have seen since we moved back up to the Alleghenies.
I could only persuade the youngest two to help me today.
They were troopers though, and they braved the bugs, the barbed wire, and the prickles.
This was after half way through the berry patch. We left a lot behind.
We saw these amazingly beautiful fungi growing on a stump. Each was about the size of a softball. I'm not sure what these are called. I need to look them up in one of our field guides.
We were doing great and filling our containers until my six year old dropped hers and lost them all.
This is just one of our filled bowls. We ended up with about three of these after 40 minutes.
Our plan is to turn them into one of these delicious raspberry pies that our 13 year old daughter routinely makes. She has taken over as the official pie and cake baker of our house.
Black Raspberry Pie
1 cup sugar
1 quart fresh raspberries
2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup shortening or lard or coconut oil
6-7 tablespoons cold water
Combine sugar and raspberries in a bowl and let soak overnight. For the crust: In a bowl, stir together flour and salt. Cut in shortening or lard till pieces are about the size of small peas. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of water over part of mixture and toss with fork. Repeat with water until all is moistened. Form dough into 2 balls. Roll out 1 dough ball on a floured surface, forming a circle. Fit into pie plate and trim at rim if necessary. Roll out remaining dough the same way for the top crust. Fill pie crust with the berry/sugar mixture. Slice the top pie crust into strips and weave onto top of pie in basket weave fashion. If you decide not to do this and choose to place the entire crust over the top, then pinch seams together and cut slits in top to allow steam to escape. Cover edge of pie with foil to prevent burning and bake in 375 degree oven for 20 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake another 25-30 minutes or until golden. Cool.
