This summer I kept seeing lovely photos of blueberries being preserved in honey on the Facebook fermenting pages I follow. Sadly somehow I missed blueberry season...well, the one place that I wanted to go and pick had some crop issues so for the few days that they opened up for pick your own, they did not allow kids so I couldn't go. I did pick up a small container at the farmers market but it was too small to really think about preserving so we just enjoyed them.
The other week, even with the awful weather, I was determined to stop at the small farmer's market down the street. Since we were not able to have a garden at home I have been relying on this market every week for our produce.
I don't want to get too off topic here, but I just have to comment that going to our small market with only one true gardener for most of the summer has been such a lovely experience! Week after week we went straight for their stand to see what we could find. Each week we would chat a little more, my kids became very comfortable with them, I shared some of my ferments...I am going to miss this!
Anyway, back to the blueberries. It truly was awful out this day, I think there were only four vendors that bothered to come out. It was cold, rainy, and windy...my kids wouldn't even get out of the car. I went to our regular vendor and then I decided to swing by a new stand. As I was feeling like winter was coming on too quickly I spotted a few containers of blueberries. I had to get them, I had to hold onto the last few moments of summer.
I also felt I really wanted to make these berries last! I am not going to lie, I totally hid them from my kids. I knew if they saw them they would be gone by the time I got home from work that evening. They sat in the fridge for a few days while I figured out how to make them really last and then I remembered those delicious photos! The process is so simple and the results are amazing!
This method can be used with almost any berry with the exception of strawberries as they do not hold up. I have read that frozen can be used as well but the texture may not be quite as nice. Pour the berries into a jar and pour raw honey over them to cover them by about 1/4-1/2". Cover with a lid and let them sit on the counter for 2-6 days. This is going to vary depending on the temperature of your home. It was quite cool those few days so I let them sit for 5 days. The berries are going to float above the honey so each day I tipped the jar around to cover the berries with honey. When you are ready, move the berry and honey mixture to the fridge where it will keep indefinitely. That's it! We are loving it and we can enjoy these in much smaller quantities so that we can really stretch it out. This is delicious drizzled over yogurt, pancakes, and oatmeal.
Have you ever tried this? I can't wait to try this with more berries next year, but for now I am so happy to have these little bites of summer to get me through another Wisconsin winter.
The other week, even with the awful weather, I was determined to stop at the small farmer's market down the street. Since we were not able to have a garden at home I have been relying on this market every week for our produce.
I don't want to get too off topic here, but I just have to comment that going to our small market with only one true gardener for most of the summer has been such a lovely experience! Week after week we went straight for their stand to see what we could find. Each week we would chat a little more, my kids became very comfortable with them, I shared some of my ferments...I am going to miss this!
Anyway, back to the blueberries. It truly was awful out this day, I think there were only four vendors that bothered to come out. It was cold, rainy, and windy...my kids wouldn't even get out of the car. I went to our regular vendor and then I decided to swing by a new stand. As I was feeling like winter was coming on too quickly I spotted a few containers of blueberries. I had to get them, I had to hold onto the last few moments of summer.
I also felt I really wanted to make these berries last! I am not going to lie, I totally hid them from my kids. I knew if they saw them they would be gone by the time I got home from work that evening. They sat in the fridge for a few days while I figured out how to make them really last and then I remembered those delicious photos! The process is so simple and the results are amazing!
This method can be used with almost any berry with the exception of strawberries as they do not hold up. I have read that frozen can be used as well but the texture may not be quite as nice. Pour the berries into a jar and pour raw honey over them to cover them by about 1/4-1/2". Cover with a lid and let them sit on the counter for 2-6 days. This is going to vary depending on the temperature of your home. It was quite cool those few days so I let them sit for 5 days. The berries are going to float above the honey so each day I tipped the jar around to cover the berries with honey. When you are ready, move the berry and honey mixture to the fridge where it will keep indefinitely. That's it! We are loving it and we can enjoy these in much smaller quantities so that we can really stretch it out. This is delicious drizzled over yogurt, pancakes, and oatmeal.
Have you ever tried this? I can't wait to try this with more berries next year, but for now I am so happy to have these little bites of summer to get me through another Wisconsin winter.
Sorry for the not so awesome photo...I have been putting off writing about this until I got a better one but that just never seems to happen.
RSS Feed