What are you going to do with all those berries?

Yes, I love berries. I love them fresh for a snack, frozen for smoothies, growing on a cane, hanging from a bush...there is just something about a berry that makes me want to eat it!

On our way through to Babylonstoren last week we popped into Hillcrest Berries to get an order I had placed earlier in the week. This included fresh raspberries and strawberries, frozen blueberries, raspberries and strawberries and 5 plants which were two Misty blueberry bushes, 2 raspberries and 1 blackberry.

The prices are exceptionally good particularly if you tend to buy those tiny pallets of them from PnP or Woolies. I wouldn't drive all the way just for berries, but it fitted into our round trip well and was a huge savings for us, petrol included.

Blueberries

Raspberries

I have planted the bushes and canes in the garden already and our raspberries have a little shade cover as they are in a very sunny spot and during summer will need a little relief. The blueberries are in a spot under our struggling olive tree (got to sort it out!) and we have two other cultivars in pots close by from a previous purchase. The black berry is in a large pot, I need to find a spot for it, I think I have, but until I am certain it will be happy in its current situation.

Blackberry

As for the rest, between the 6 of us we will use the 10kgs fresh and frozen up in no time. My eldest daughter has turned into a real foodie - you can follow her blog where she is doing restaurant reviews and recipes or her Instagram feed to see her DELICIOUS breakfasts that we all stand in line to lick the bowls after she has prepared it!

Here are two of my favourite breakfasts using berries.

Spelt, banana and blueberry muffins - From Gordon Ramsey's Healthy Appetite

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas, mashed
300g wholemeal flours (I grind my own spelt for this recipe)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch sea salt
100g light Muscovado or brown sugar (I use the same quantity Coconut Blossom Sugar)
1 carton of buttermilk
2 large eggs
75g melted butter
200g frozen blueberries

Mix the wet ingredients, mix the dry, mix together adding the blueberries at the end for a quick stir, then put in greased muffin tins and bake for 20 - 25 minutes on 180.

Blueberry Hotcakes - from the Real Meal Revolution

Ingredients:

2/3 cup almond flour

1/3 cup coconut flour

1 1/3 cups ricotta cheese

3/4 cup of milk

1 tsp baking powder

4 eggs

180g frozen blueberries

50g butter for frying

Smooth cream cheese & fresh berries & honey for serving

Mix the wet ingredients, mix the dry, mix together adding the blueberries for a quick mix at the end. Melt butter in a frying pan and fry large spoon fulls of the mix until well cooked before flipping over. Put honey in between two, to with honey, cream cheese and fresh berries.

Last laugh - so right after I took this photo, I dropped my iPhone into the batter!!!! :O