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SUMIKO TANIUCHI / MELLOW-STUFF DESIGN
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JuliKellner
Juli Kellner
Mom says it was three quarters of a mile, I say it was more like a mile and a half. That’s how far we walked to the best blueberry patch on earth.
It’s not that the entrance to our blueberry picking grounds was a secret. The secret is that only tourists stopped to fill their buckets a block from the dusty country road in Toivola, Minnesota, near the Sax-Zim Bog revered by birders. We – and I mean almost the whole family plus cousins – kept walking.
On that twisting path through swamp spruce thickets and rustling birch islands then swamp again, we were loaded with the tools of our trade. Gallon-sized ice cream buckets with firmly snapped on lids, water jug, sandwiches and mom’s handgun just in case she needed to scare off a bear. Soda pop? No, heavens, wouldn’t even consider lugging the weight. We had our hands full with the four silver-toned, five-gallon cream cans with nice hefty lids.
After walking farther and deeper into the endless swamp, we emerged from a spruce stand next to an extremely deep ditch cut through the middle of nowhere.
“OK, anywhere along here,” Mom would say. Then we’d drop our load, strap a single ice cream bucket onto our belts and fan out to start competitively picking. The faster we filled our buckets, the faster we could empty the buckets into the five-gallon pails and the sooner we could get out of the swamp.
The only things that slowed us down were the blueberries – big juicy handfuls of ripe goodness that would practically fall into our buckets. Naturally, part of the time meant picking and eating. Those berries ran as big as grapes.
The best patches were next to cool islands of trembling aspen. My cousin Robyn and I picked together, talking and laughing. Mom, Grandma and other cousins circulated nearby, picking or studiously searching at the ground.
Every once in a while squabbles erupted over whom had encroached on whose prime blueberry stand. Sometimes the Supreme Authority, otherwise known as “Mom” – would intervene. Usually that meant both parties had to move elsewhere. After all she was the only one packing heat.
Mom never did need her gun. Over the years, we ran across only a couple of bears. They left when they saw us. I could have sworn I heard one bear grumbling “tourists” as it left for a patch of berries deeper in the swamp.
When we got home with the spoils of a day, perhaps 25 gallons of berries, the work had just begun. The berries needed to be cleaned. That’s when we would discover which cousin had supplemented their gallon of berries with a heap of leaves hidden in the center.
But then there would be the unbelievable fresh blueberry pie, blueberry jam and blueberry sauce. At the end of the season, there would be a year’s worth of frozen blueberries for muffins and other goodies.
I can’t offer you the smell of cedar in the swamp or the thrill of popping handfuls of huge fresh-from-the-bush berries into your mouth, or the joy of sitting on a relatively dry hump laughing and eating salami sandwiches while listening to aspen leaves rustle in the wind. But I can share my family blueberry recipes.
Juli Kellner hosts the “WDSE Cooks” series.
Matt Kellner’s Blueberry Muffins
- 2 c. sifted flour
- 3 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 1 egg, well beaten
- 1 c. milk (any kind)
- 1/2 c. shortening
- 1 c. blueberries
- 1 Tbsp. cinnamon sugar (that’s a blend of the two, you can make yourself)
Preheat oven to 400° F. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Combine egg, milk and shortening and add all at once to the flour mixture. Stir until dry ingredients are moist but still lumpy. Fold in blueberries. Fill greased muffin tins two-thirds full. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar. Bake about 25 minutes. Makes one dozen muffins.
This recipe comes from my dad, circ. 1971.
Blueberry Strata
- 12 slices good white bread (preferably Italian or French, crusts removed)
- 1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese
- 1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
- 12 eggs
- 1-1/2 to 2 c. 2-percent milk
- 1/3 c. real maple syrup
Preheat oven to 350° F. Cube bread and arrange ½ of it in the bottom of a greased 13 x 9-inch pan. Slice cream cheese into manageable bits and drop over the bread cubes. Top with blueberries and remaining bread. Beat eggs, milk and syrup together, then pour over the bread, cream cheese and blueberries. Chill 8 hours or overnight. Remove from the fridge at least half an hour before baking. Cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes then uncover and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes. Serve with blueberry sauce and maple syrup.
Double Blueberry Pie
- 3/4 c. sugar
- 2 to 3 tbsp. cornstarch
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1/4 c. water
- 4 c. blueberries
- 1 Tbsp. butter
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- Prebaked 9-inch pie shell
- Whipped cream or ice cream for serving.
Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in saucepan. Add water and 2 c. of the blueberries. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until blueberries pop and mixture comes to a boil becoming thickened and clear. Remove from heat and stir in butter and lemon juice. Cool until just warm but not HOT. Pour remaining 2 c. of blueberries in pie shell. Top with cooked berry mixture. Chill 2 hours.
Thank you Harriet Kellner for your signature pie.
