Blueberries!

Saturday morning we decided to pack up the kids and go blueberry picking at a local "pick your own" berry patch. This was our fist family trip to pick blueberries... what a great time! We went with my brother and his family as well as my Mom. We all had a great time and picked 6 pails of blueberries between us.

Aaron and I froze most of our berries on Sunday by laying them on trays in a single layer (keeps them from freezing in a clump in a bag).  Once they were frozen we transfered them to freezer bags.  We also made some fresh blueberry leather which turned out amazing; the kids really like it. We also plan on making some blueberry vinegar and then some..... blueberry cheesecake ice cream... MMmmmm!

Fresh Berries!

Leather.

For the blueberry leather simply wash and de-stem the berries.  In a pot add 1/2 cup water to 4 cups of berries (feel free to use any fruit you'd like).   Bring to a boil then reduce to low, cover and let simmer for 10-15 minutes (until fruit is soft and cooked).    Remove lid and mash the fruit.  Then taste.  Add sugar to desired sweetness, 1 tbsp at a time (optional).  Then add lemon juice, 1tsp at a time until the flavours are brightened.  Feel free to add other spices or flavourings.  Some people may like some vanilla, honey or even some aged balsamic vinegar (if using vinegar you may want to hold off on lemon juice).  I am a bit of a purist and wanted to keep it simple so we just used a bit of lemon juice and opted out of adding adding sweeteners.  Now preheat oven to 140 degrees.  Continue cooking until mixture is thickened, about 5-10 minutes more; sugars should all be dissolved.  

Once the mixture has thickened, coating the spoon, remove from heat.  Run the mixture through a food mill or blender.  Puree should be thick and smooth.  Line a baking sheet with parchment be sure to cover sides.  Pour out puree onto the baking sheet.  Place sheet in preheated oven for approx. 8 hours (if using convection cut time in half).  The leather is ready when it is smooth and no longer sticky.  

Once the leather is cool, peel from the parchment and slice into desired pieces and store in an air tight container in the fridge (about 2 week) or freezer (3 months).