Some of my fondest childhood memories involve blueberries. This is because where I grew up, on Canada’s east coast, they grow wild.
In late July and early August, they are ripe for the picking and found along the edges of the forest. When I was little, I spent a lot of time with my aunt Joan and uncle Allister, who farmed down the road. Uncle Allister’s mother, Annie, also lived with them and would spend hours teaching me things like how to knit and play cards.
In high summer, she and Aunt Joan would take to the back roads of our community and I would tag along. We would bring 2 litre ice cream tubs – the ice cream long since eaten – and go to our usual blueberry-picking spots, in the same way many Irish kids go blackberry picking. While picking, I’d gobble as many berries as would make it into my tub. Once we had gathered enough, we would return to the farm for some blueberry muffins. The remaining berries would be frozen, to use throughout the year.
My Aunt Joan is now 86, lives on her own and is still my favourite person to visit. Last summer, when I was home with my daughters, I asked my dad to drive to our old blueberry-picking spot in his pickup truck. What I found was not the same place.
Decades of growth had transformed the old back road. The trees have gotten so thick; the blueberry bushes are no longer producing fruit. I found one bush down the lane and was able to pick enough berries to fill a coffee cup. I brought this measly harvest to Aunt Joan afterwards.
Summer is a great time for revisiting old family food traditions, and for eating outdoors
“You might be able to get one muffin out of this,” I said, and we both laughed, but I was a bit sad, too.
I am lucky to come from a culture rich in recipes and food customs. I thought of this while visiting Fallon Moore for our Taste Tradition. I was completely enamoured by her collection of old, handwritten family recipes.
There is so much history at our fingertips, we sometimes forget they are there – the ghosts of our grandparents and great-grandparents, living on in these handwritten notes; sharing food customs from the great beyond.
Summer is a great time for revisiting old family food traditions, and for eating outdoors. In this edition of Irish Country Living Food, you’ll find plenty of inspiration for summer recipes which take very little effort. After all, who wants to spend all day in the kitchen when the weather is fine?
Ciara Leahy provides perfect wine pairings with her summer sip guide and Rosalind Skillen tells us about the art of fermentation through Co Monaghan-based Bia Cultures.
I cheekily included a little taste of my food culture in this edition, and I hope you will be tempted to try my blueberry buckle. One slice takes me back to the hot summers of my youth. Food is transformative like that.
Read more
Women have key roles ‘feeding and nurturing rural communities’
We need to buy Irish now more than ever
Some of my fondest childhood memories involve blueberries. This is because where I grew up, on Canada’s east coast, they grow wild.
In late July and early August, they are ripe for the picking and found along the edges of the forest. When I was little, I spent a lot of time with my aunt Joan and uncle Allister, who farmed down the road. Uncle Allister’s mother, Annie, also lived with them and would spend hours teaching me things like how to knit and play cards.
In high summer, she and Aunt Joan would take to the back roads of our community and I would tag along. We would bring 2 litre ice cream tubs – the ice cream long since eaten – and go to our usual blueberry-picking spots, in the same way many Irish kids go blackberry picking. While picking, I’d gobble as many berries as would make it into my tub. Once we had gathered enough, we would return to the farm for some blueberry muffins. The remaining berries would be frozen, to use throughout the year.
My Aunt Joan is now 86, lives on her own and is still my favourite person to visit. Last summer, when I was home with my daughters, I asked my dad to drive to our old blueberry-picking spot in his pickup truck. What I found was not the same place.
Decades of growth had transformed the old back road. The trees have gotten so thick; the blueberry bushes are no longer producing fruit. I found one bush down the lane and was able to pick enough berries to fill a coffee cup. I brought this measly harvest to Aunt Joan afterwards.
Summer is a great time for revisiting old family food traditions, and for eating outdoors
“You might be able to get one muffin out of this,” I said, and we both laughed, but I was a bit sad, too.
I am lucky to come from a culture rich in recipes and food customs. I thought of this while visiting Fallon Moore for our Taste Tradition. I was completely enamoured by her collection of old, handwritten family recipes.
There is so much history at our fingertips, we sometimes forget they are there – the ghosts of our grandparents and great-grandparents, living on in these handwritten notes; sharing food customs from the great beyond.
Summer is a great time for revisiting old family food traditions, and for eating outdoors. In this edition of Irish Country Living Food, you’ll find plenty of inspiration for summer recipes which take very little effort. After all, who wants to spend all day in the kitchen when the weather is fine?
Ciara Leahy provides perfect wine pairings with her summer sip guide and Rosalind Skillen tells us about the art of fermentation through Co Monaghan-based Bia Cultures.
I cheekily included a little taste of my food culture in this edition, and I hope you will be tempted to try my blueberry buckle. One slice takes me back to the hot summers of my youth. Food is transformative like that.
Read more
Women have key roles ‘feeding and nurturing rural communities’
We need to buy Irish now more than ever
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