Being a Primitive Gourmet

I heard, through a friend, about the wine berries and black raspberries growing wild in a local park, just waiting to be picked. Even though temps had reached the 80's by 8 am, I considered this to be a low cost, high yield adventure to take my daughter on. The bushes did not disappoint.

Upon arriving at the park, we found the grass was dewy and undisturbed. We kicked up a lot of bugs, sweated profusely, collected hundreds of tiny burrs that bejeweled our play clothes and got scratched numerous times traversing the brambles for the best berries. We had a great time. We're tough women. Our Pennsylvania Dutch foremothers have been delivering babies while picking potatoes for centuries. Between the lively conversation and delicious snacking, we didn't even notice the conditions.

We took with us our gallon-sized Easter bucket that has a plastic handle. We filled it half way, giving us a yield of 2 quarts, or 8 cups.

I learned this about being a Primitive Gourmet: I believe that a certain satisfaction was removed from food preparation when full-on grocery stores became prevalent. My whole day was filled of thoughts regarding these berries; getting them, treating them (I gently placed them in a metal colander in a sink full of water, twice and gently swished to remove as much debris and bugs as I could), using them and then eating them. We take our food for granted nowadays.

Profoundly Satisfying Turnovers

4 cups of berries, 1/2 cup honey, 1/2 cup sugar, juice of 1/2 lemon, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch. Mix together.

1 package puff pastry dough, cutting each sheet in 4 or 8 pieces (squares). Using a slotted spoon, put a spoonful of the berries on the lower half of each square. Fold top over bottom and seal with the tines of a fork. Brush with beaten egg and bake at 450 degrees until golden and puffed. We topped ours with leftover icing while still warm.

Juicy, rustic, fantastic. Slow down and love your food.

Put Your Eggs in One Basket

I would eat them in a box. I would eat them with a fox. I would eat them here and there. I would eat them anywhere. Yes, those eggs are green. They come from my sister, Carol's hens in Indiana and they were delicious.

Eggs are the perfect food and they are even more perfect in the summer. Simmering them does not heat up the whole kitchen and they come in their own container. Egg salad makes a terrific summer dinner, cool and creamy, packed with protein. Deviled eggs make you the popular guest at any picnic.

Here's the basic recipe, which can be increased easily:

Deviled Eggs

6 peeled, hard-cooked eggs, cut in half ,lengthwise, with the yolks removed. Mash yolks with fork. Stir in 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 tsp. ground mustard. Salt and Pepper to taste.

We gas up our eggs at home with vinegar, horseradish and sometimes Wasabi. We top them with freshly chopped parsley or crisp, homemade bacon bits, as seen on the photo on the left.

What's the secret to those pretty piped eggs? Mashing the yolks when the eggs are freshly cooked, still at room temperature. Also, using a large pastry tip will prevent any yolk lumps from getting lodged in the tip's decorating edges. We've never seen pre-cooked, cold eggs produce lump-free filling.

One more tip: Keep the whites clean by placing the garnish in the palm of one of your hands and sprinkling the garnish with your other fingertips, like fairy dust.