Berry Picking

When I was a kid, one of our neighbors had a raspberry bush. I loved raspberries and she was always telling me to come over and pick them, but I was an awkward preteen uncomfortable around random adults so I avoided her, and her raspberries, like the plague. I was stupid.

Spencer's is a pick-your-own farm about 15 minutes from us. Last week we took Ethan to pick strawberries. Guess what? Strawberry season is in June! So we picked raspberries instead.

Towards the end of our adventure, Ethan sneaked a just-picked raspberry into his mouth and promptly spit it out in disgust. "Mommy," he said. "That one was tastes funny." And that was when we learned Ethan hates raspberries. He still had a blast.



After our day (or half hour) of raspberry picking, I made homemade raspberry syrup, which we liberally poured over vanilla ice cream. It was divine and the perfect end of summer treat.


I like how the syrup makes pink swirls in the ice cream. I didn't follow an actual recipe, instead I let the creative muses flow, tasting as I went. Here's the jist of what I did.

Raspberry Sauce
Puree raspberries in blender with a couple of spoonfuls of water. Strain raspberry puree through a fine-mesh sieve. Mix with a few spoonfuls of sugar and a squeeze of lemon. Heat over low heat until slightly thickened. Let it cool until warm, not hot, and serve over ice cream with extra raspberries.