USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Foxfyre]

Had some fresh blackberries. Made a blackberry upside down cake.......

How did you get the blackberries on the sides on an upside down cake? If you like blackberries, I don't know if it is a seasonal thing or regular, but Cracker Barrel up there at San Antonio and Pan American makes blackberry pancakes to die for. Makes my mouth water just thinking about them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

How did you get the blackberries on the sides on an upside down cake?

My question did you get chiggers when pickin the Blackberries?

 

[Foxfyre]

How did you get the blackberries on the sides on an upside down cake?

My question did you get chiggers when pickin the Blackberries?

LOL. When we lived in the corner of southeast Kansas, that was strip coal mining country and the enormous strip pits--the size of one to four football fields or so and probably 40-50 feet deep or so would fill up with ground water as soon as the mining companies pulled their pumps out of them. The ground was suitable for neither farming or ranching so the state allowed them to remain and the habitat quickly developed to support game fish, and the state regularly stocked them making them a popular recreational site--hundreds of them scattered through the area.

So, when Hombre's parents came to town from Texas, we of course took them fishing. MaMaw didn't want to fish so she spent her afternoon with a bucket picking the wild blackberries that were profuse; probably had a couple of gallons full when we went back to the house. In the process of picking she was eaten alive by the chiggers plus got a case of poison ivy. She was one miserable lady for a couple of days. But man did she make great blackberry cobbler and stuff.

 

[Foxfyre]

We did get home evening yesterday about sundown, but we were exhausted. A good night's sleep does wonders for a body though.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You haven't lived until you have had a dose of chiggers... My mother always painted the bites with finger nail polish...

 

[Ringel05]

Had some fresh blackberries. Made a blackberry upside down cake.......

How did you get the blackberries on the sides on an upside down cake? If you like blackberries, I don't know if it is a seasonal thing or regular, but Cracker Barrel up there at San Antonio and Pan American makes blackberry pancakes to die for. Makes my mouth water just thinking about them.

The blackberry "topping" is more liquid than pineapple topping, the batter tends to push the blackberry mix to the sides.

 

[Ringel05]

How did you get the blackberries on the sides on an upside down cake?

My question did you get chiggers when pickin the Blackberries?

Let's hope there were no chiggers in the containers at the grocery store........... They were on sale for .88 cents a third of a pint.

(The blackberries, not the chiggers........)

 

[gallantwarrior]

Spring progresses, but it's a messy process. The surface melts first here, including all the accumulated snow. It takes a bit longer for the subsurface ice to thaw, trapping all the melt water on the surface. We've now reached the stage where you will be wading through ankle deep mud and puddles and will break through the rotten ice underneath, plunging almost to you knee into the muck. I hate the mess, the goats hate the mess, the dog won't even come out of her pen! On the other hand, the chickens seem unaffected by the mess. They are taking their free-range status way too seriously. Yesterday, only one red hen greeted me when I came home. The other four were MIA. So, I start listening and watching. These gals talk constantly so I can usually locate them by listening for their chatter. Silence. I start tracking them through the mud and finally locate them a couple hundred yards up the road, in the woods. Herding chickens is somewhat like herding cats. Damned things go ever which way, just not the direction you want them to go. I finally got them safely home and settled into their usual place. I'm thinking free-range might incorporate a large, fenced area.
Wishing all a grand, good morning. This one's going to be sunny and (relatively) warm. Hope the ice goes out soon.

Are chickens even smart enough to notice the mess very much?

Apparently, it doesn't bother them. They don't sink into the mud and are enjoying digging around in the dark loam under the spruce trees. I'm not sure what they find there, but they do it a lot. At least two are smart enough to recognize that when I come home, fresh food is distributed. I have encouraged their enthusiasm by giving them meal worms when I arrive. Meal worms seem to be a favorite snack treat. Chickens will eat almost anything, though. Later, I'll give them some apple and grated carrots.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Had some fresh blackberries. Made a blackberry upside down cake.......

How did you get the blackberries on the sides on an upside down cake? If you like blackberries, I don't know if it is a seasonal thing or regular, but Cracker Barrel up there at San Antonio and Pan American makes blackberry pancakes to die for. Makes my mouth water just thinking about them.

I love blackberries and have been researching varieties that might be hardy enough for my location. Raspberries grow well, but blackberries require a warmer climate and longer season, I think. Some places, blackberries are so prolific, people earn money renting goats to eat the canes and clear them out. I've also discovered that some fruit trees can do OK if grafted onto winter-hardy root stock. I'm thinking a couple of apple trees might be nice to have.
How's the journey going, Foxy? You all should be close to home by now.

 

[gallantwarrior]

You haven't lived until you have had a dose of chiggers... My mother always painted the bites with finger nail polish...

Fingernail polish or Crisco work because they cut off their air supply. They'll back out. Same thing works for ticks. When we were kids, my mom would inspect us at bath time each evening when we had spent a day out in the woods, dispensing with the critters as soon as she found them.

 

[Foxfyre]

Had some fresh blackberries. Made a blackberry upside down cake.......

How did you get the blackberries on the sides on an upside down cake? If you like blackberries, I don't know if it is a seasonal thing or regular, but Cracker Barrel up there at San Antonio and Pan American makes blackberry pancakes to die for. Makes my mouth water just thinking about them.

I love blackberries and have been researching varieties that might be hardy enough for my location. Raspberries grow well, but blackberries require a warmer climate and longer season, I think. Some places, blackberries are so prolific, people earn money renting goats to eat the canes and clear them out. I've also discovered that some fruit trees can do OK if grafted onto winter-hardy root stock. I'm thinking a couple of apple trees might be nice to have.
How's the journey going, Foxy? You all should be close to home by now.

We got home last evening about sundown. Just vegging today to decompress and rest up a bit. May do Old Town and Dynamax Theater et al with daughter tomorrow. She has to fly home on Wednesday.

 

[Ridgerunner]

each evening when we had spent a day out in the woods

Those were the days my friend...

 

[saveliberty]

Thanks all, I never had my skin crawl in the CS until now.

 

[Ringel05]

each evening when we had spent a day out in the woods

Those were the days my friend...

 

[gallantwarrior]

each evening when we had spent a day out in the woods

Those were the days my friend...

For me, those are the days every day since I moved up here to my homestead in the woods. Of course, I'm not running around, building forts with my brothers now, but it is quiet and the work is honest and fulfilling.

 

[gallantwarrior]

each evening when we had spent a day out in the woods

Those were the days my friend...

I see you've been to one of my campsites in the Brooks Range in August. Clients tended to ask if it had snowed overnight. I'm not sure what they expected...

 

[Ringel05]

each evening when we had spent a day out in the woods

Those were the days my friend...

I see you've been to one of my campsites in the Brooks Range in August. Clients tended to ask if it had snowed overnight. I'm not sure what they expected...

The Colorado Rockies in spring.......... Mostly melted by mid afternoon.

 

[gallantwarrior]

each evening when we had spent a day out in the woods

Those were the days my friend...

I see you've been to one of my campsites in the Brooks Range in August. Clients tended to ask if it had snowed overnight. I'm not sure what they expected...

The Colorado Rockies in spring.......... Mostly melted by mid afternoon.

August in the Brooks snow is usually melted, too. It just surprises so many people that it would actually snow in August.

 

[Ringel05]

each evening when we had spent a day out in the woods

Those were the days my friend...

I see you've been to one of my campsites in the Brooks Range in August. Clients tended to ask if it had snowed overnight. I'm not sure what they expected...

The Colorado Rockies in spring.......... Mostly melted by mid afternoon.

August in the Brooks snow is usually melted, too. It just surprises so many people that it would actually snow in August.

I've been in a snow storm in June (high rockies) but never August.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Those were the days my friend...

I see you've been to one of my campsites in the Brooks Range in August. Clients tended to ask if it had snowed overnight. I'm not sure what they expected...

The Colorado Rockies in spring.......... Mostly melted by mid afternoon.

August in the Brooks snow is usually melted, too. It just surprises so many people that it would actually snow in August.

I've been in a snow storm in June (high rockies) but never August.

We'll still get snow up high, I've seen fresh snow as late as mid-July, even this far south. I've not been in the Rockies, except to drive over them periodically, so I'll trust your word. It wouldn't surprise me, though, snow in June.