Tis the season... for BLACKBERRIES!

Proverbs 31:15 "She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens."

Summer is here--full, beautiful, and plenty hot! Now, I must state up front that I'm not the biggest fan of summer--I hate being hot... BUT I love summer cooking! There's plenty of fresh from the garden veggies and bright summery fruits.

One thing that screams summer to me is fresh, picked in the back yard, blackberries. Just look at these beauties! Thanks to my wonderful husband, who braved the insects, briars, and poison ivy, I have tons of blackberries and LOTS of big plans for them!

First on the list was something I had been craving since last summer--some Blackberry Quick Bread! It is so moist and yummy. It's made with cornmeal, which adds so much to the texture. I LOVE THIS STUFF! And so does my family... It's most definitely a southern delicacy (my most favorite kind!).

But, before I could jump into the bread--I had prep the berries. So I cleaned up the sink, filled it with cool water, and dipped the blackberries in. This chases out the bugs... Which my husband then chases out the door... Next is destemming and rinsing (and tasting a few just for good measure).

So here's the recipe:

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour 2 large eggs

1 c. blackberries** 1/2 c. milk

1/4 c. yellow cornmeal 1/3 c. butter, melted

2 tsp. baking powder 3 Tbs. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 c. sugar

(**You can use any berry for this recipe! So versatile, so good!!)

1) Heat oven to 375*F. Coat bottom and sides of an 8.5" x 4.5" loaf pan with nonstick spray.

2) Place flour in a medium bowl. Remove 1 Tbs. flour and toss with blackberries in a separate bowl. (This keeps the berries from sinking to the bottom of the batter in the pan! Neat trick if ever I saw one!!)

3) To remaining flour, add cornmeal, baking powder, and salt--mix well.

4) In another medium bowl, whisk sugar with eggs, milk, melted butter, and lemon juice.

5) Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just blended; gently fold in blackberries.

6) Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 45 min or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

7) Cool quick bread in pan on wire rack 5 min, remove pan and cool completely.

And that's it!! This is bread is so delicious. But now, I must confess something to you... Ok, here goes...

I rarely follow steps 3-5. I mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, then mix them well. Then I dump in the wet ingredients straight into the same bowl, then mix that well. Then I throw in the berries. The batter is very thick. And just for fun, I'll sprinkle and press in a handful of berries on top of the bread... Sometimes, I'm just in a hurry (and don't wanna dirty 6 million bowls)!!

Well, I'm glad I got that off my chest. Sometimes, a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do! : )

And finally, the end result:

I really do love this stuff, and it's pretty to look at, too!! I hope you enjoy!!

The cliffhanger: I've got plenty more blackberry recipes to come! I can't wait to share! Come back soon!

~ Page