Pick 'n Edom!

Last Monday we made our annual trip to Edom, Texas to pick blueberries. Edom is about 19 miles southeast of Canton and is a great destination for a day trip! This was Michael's fourth year to pick blueberries and even though he had to get up quite early, he was really excited!

We arrived at Blueberry Hill Farms about 9:00 a.m. and picked until about 10:30. This year the blueberries were plentiful and very sweet. If you've never picked blueberries, it's a lesson in patience. Unless you find several berries in a cluster, they have to be picked one at a time and you only have one hand to pick with because the other one is holding your basket. Our first year, we were a little overly enthusiastic and took the biggest baskets into the field to pick. After about 30 minutes we brought them back to the barn and traded them for the smaller size! It's a lot more fun to finish with a small basket that's loaded rather than a big basket partially full. I know that's purely psychological, but it works when the temperature is close to 100 degrees and you're pondering whether Edom is big enough to even have an ambulance service or if they would just let you die in the field if you were overcome with heat exhaustion.

After picking, we enjoyed one of the heavenly blueberry muffins baked by the owner's daughters. Blueberry Hill Farms is a family owned business and the whole family chips in. The farmer, his wife and three daughters run a little store on site that sells muffins, ice cream, pies and lemonade all made with their delicious berries.

After cooling down and changing to dry clothes, we headed on down the road to the Edom Bakery, where Mendy and I enjoyed a great lunch of quiche and salad, while Michael feasted on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and entertained us with songs about picking blueberries.

Wow, it's awesome to view excitement from a four-year-olds perspective!

Then, it was back home to wash, dry and fill baggies for the freezer. FYI: We've found that

if you put blueberries away dry, they won't clump together and it's easy to remove just the right amount needed for a recipe.

Here's our favorite Blueberry Smooothie recipe. It makes enough for two.

Blueberry Smoothie

Ingredients:

one banana

one-half cup of blueberries

one-half cup of fat-free vanilla yogurt

one cup of skim milk

one packet of Equal

one cup of crushed ice

Directions: Combine all ingredients in blender and mix until blended. Pour into two glasses and enjoy! This is a great lowfat treat for breakfast or an afternoon snack.