This is it. The money shot. It’s what tells you that it’s game on at the farmer’s market.

Our farmer’s market runs year-round. The winter months are pretty bleak. Meat, milk, a dwindling supply of winter squash. March and April – kale and other leafy greens that I become instantly sick of. Some of the good stuff starts sneaking in around late April and early May. But July is really the month that you know summer’s here.

BOOM! The peaches arrive from orchards in Alabama and South Carolina. The tomatoes in Eagleville are ready to pick. Cucumbers just begging to be pickled and canned are in abundance. We’re still a few weeks away from corn, watermelon and canteloupe, but it’s coming and soon. So Saturday I stocked up and found a brand new offering I had never heard of. I was at my egg guy’s stand and he had these teeny tiny bell peppers, a variety they call “chocolate peppers” because of their deep purple color. “What do you do with these?” I ask. He tells me that he goes over to the Bonnie Blue Farm stall and gets some goat cheese to stuff them with. Sounds like a fine idea and that is exactly what I do. The peppers come home with me and I think that I will have days to consume them as the boys are not fans of goat cheese. But they apparently are fans of Bonnie Blue Farm goat cheese because in ten minutes my entire stash of petite peppers are gone. I need more of these peppers immediately but I’ll have to wait until Saturday, alas.

The real prize were the blackberries. They are only in season for about three weeks and if I do not make a blackberry cobbler every year for Mark I fear my marriage will be in jeopardy. I pay six bucks a quart for these things, which totally goes against my cheap nature, but it’s worth it to save my marriage.

Blackberry cobbler

4 cups fresh blackberries

½ cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

½ teaspoon lemon juice

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup whole milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 egg, beaten


Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spread blackberries in an ungreased two-quart casserole. Mix sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice with berries.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add milk, butter and egg. Mix until the batter is just blended.

Pat batter over blueberries. Sprinkle with additional sugar.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until the crust is nicely browned.




2 Comments

  1. Dee
    July 4, 2011 at 7:36 pm

    I picked enough blackberries for a cobbler once when I was a kid, and it was so NOT worth it! Swore I’d never do that again.

  2. the south in my mouth
    the south in my mouthReply
    July 5, 2011 at 10:23 pm

    Too many thorns!

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