Prologue to a Twins Blog

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Gone Picking

I did something for the first time in my life a few weeks ago - I went blueberry picking. Typically my idea of blueberry picking (or apple picking for that matter) is to head down to my nearest supermarket and pick through the cartons of fruit on display. Being able to pick the blueberries from each bush myself was a completely new experience for me. I suppose this is one of the benefits of living in New England, but I didn't even know what I was missing.

It definitely wasn't my idea to go blueberry picking either. My mother-in-law has been waiting her whole life for her grandkids to be old enough to take them blueberry picking. It's something that she enjoys doing and wanted to share with her grandkids. I couldn't deny her of her greatest wish in life!

I'm the type of person who has to get ready for everything. It may just be a trip to the mall or to the corner store, but I have to bring what I think I may need with me. That includes sippy cups, extra kids clothes, a travel potty, sunblock, snacks, band-aids, hats, blankets just to name a few things. So, getting ready to go blueberry picking was a huge and monumental task. Since I had never gone, I didn't know exactly what I would need so I pretty much brought everything.

We had to drive to the grandparents house first, which is an hour away, so I also needed to bring with me the things I needed for their house - slippers, toys, camera... I was ready to go back to sleep by the time I loaded up the car with all this stuff.

The weather was perfect and after picking up my mother-in-law, we headed over to the farm. Here is a photo of what the blueberries fields looked like. You can see my two little "blueberries" picking to their hearts content down the row.




Here is what the blueberries looked like on the bush. They were so ready for picking that when you just cupped your hand underneath them, they fell out right into them.



From the minute the twins started picking, they were like pros. I joked with my husband that they had their grandmother's blueberry picking gene because it certainly didn't come from me! They were very serious pickers too - they personally sorted out the ones that were unripe or overripe so that when it came time to dump them into grandma's larger container she didn't have to pick through them again. Here are the two of them in their "blueberry picking trance."




So, maybe now you are wondering what's the difference between store bought and self-picked blueberries. I wouldn't have known the difference before I had gone blueberry picking either. Here is a photo that shows you why self picked blueberries are better. The two huge berries were from a bush and the smaller one in the middle was from a store.


And, finally here is what I did with the berries. Everyone who knows me in "real life" knows that I am neither a baker or a cook, but these are some muffins I made with the blueberries. I call them my famous "Upside Down Muffins" the secret is to accidently flip them over when taking them out of the oven and have them land this way.




What about you? Have you ever gone blueberry picking? Share your story in the comments section - I'd love to hear from you.



6 comments:

  1. WOW! I have never gone blueberry picking, but you---or is that the twins' grandma?--have certainly inspired me!

    If you haven't already, now you HAVE to read the kiddos the classic "Blueberries for Sal." :)

    Great post!

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  2. I can attest..those were the best blueberry muffins I've ever had....I love the fact that you thought the kids needed boots to bo blueberry picking..as you can see from the pics-it looks super muddy out..lol!

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  3. How fun!!!! I was telling Tim earlier this summer that I was dying to take the kids cherry picking but we never seemed to make a day out of it. Your day looks like it was fabulous!!! I love that the twins took it very seriously!

    The muffins look SO good!!

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  4. Those look yummy!! I almost went BB picking this summer...never quite made it.

    I am also of the "bring everything for any and all scenarios" type of gal. In fact, I sent Sofia to PS with a backpack of her nap items and her PS teacher took me aside yesterday and handed me some tampons and a swim diaper and told me that she found them at the bottom of S's backpack (had been used for a swim outing during the weekend). Let's just say I turned 15 shades of red!

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  5. I am so jealous! I am a huge fanatic of fresh farm foods and this would have made my kids day too. How awesome! I do absolutely love the upside down blueberry cakes....very Martha if you ask me. I also have to say we should swap houses for a week in the summer. I can come enjoy New England (which I am dying to do!) and you can come warm up for a week here in Arizona.

    I tell you....outings with twins is a safari..hands down. All our gear!

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  6. Those blueberries look amazing- they are gigantic!!

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