Faux-Berries

Dustin found some of these berries at a friends home a week ago.

We thought they were raspberries a'growin wild here in Philadelphia.  So we tried them.

They were a bit tart, but that was to be expected.  We just couldn't believe they were raspberries, so we asked some friends.  They too were stumped.

We did come to the conclusion that they were NOT raspberries.  Darn.

Still, edible..free...berries.  Too bad there weren't enough ripe ones. Actually there weren't that many at all.  Unless you wanted to crawl through some poison ivy and brave the snakes and spiders.

Nope.  Not me.

A few days later, after walking Dustin to his train stop,  I ventured home and took a detour to visit a local reservoir/park on our block.  I was secretly on the hunt for more berries.  I figured if these berries grow wild, all I need to do is find some wild.

Where I'm from in Georgia, I wouldn't have to look very far to find a patch of wild berries somewhere...most likely they would be blackberries.  Heck, I could just stop on the side of the Highway 27 bypass and pick all day long.

Unfortunately, wild-ness is scarce in these parts.  The closest thing to wild we've got is venturing into the wrong part of North, South or West Philly at any time of the day.  Not the kind of wild berries grow in.  At least not the kind you would or should eat.

Sidetrack...sorry.

I did a google search for berries in Pennsylvania and the first thing that popped up were my faux-raspberries!  They are actually called "wine berries".  If you want to read more about them, like I did, go here.

Anyways, at my local 1/4 acre park, I found a LARGE, HIDDEN patch of these berries!!  Whoopee!

I didn't collect any then, I wanted to let Dustin in on the fun.

Next morning we got up with the chickens and went on a berry hunt.  We didn't want to galavant our early morning activities and thus give away the location of the treasure we had just discovered, so we hid our mason jars in market tote and casually walked a few blocks to the spot.

Dustin had to leave for work at 8 so we only picked for a little while so he could shower before leaving.  However we did gather a jar full of berries and managed to escape any contact with poison, snakes or local thieves.

Aren't they just beautiful!

Of course I had to make something with them.  I don't usually just eat berries straight off the bush.  While there aren't many "wine berry" specific recipes out there, most people say to use them just like you would raspberries.  Great!

So I made a cobbler.  What better way to celebrate the 4th of July and summer time than with a cobbler.  (I know Erin Miller, Apple Pie is yours and America's favorite, but people like cobbler too!)

We went camping at a local state park for the 4th and I cooked the pie over some coals in our Dutch Oven.  What a treat.  I would like to make a shout out to Nathan and Danna who first introduced Dustin and I to the art and science of Dutch Oven cooking.  It's incredible.  We also made a Mountain Man breakfast in it.  So good!

If you want the recipe, travel on over to Ree Drummond's site.  I just used different berries and baked the cobbler in a Dutch Oven over coals.

Here's a peek at our campsite...

and a cute Chipmunk nearby....

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the rave