It’s that too cool moment, while playing a game of gin–at a picnic table–in a blueberry patch, when I realize how good we’ve got it.
Blueberry scones with lemon zest, blueberry ice cream with white chocolate, and a blueberry sky above row upon row of bushes ornamented in blue. It’s quiet; serene. Muffled voices in the afternoon breeze. We’re sipping elderberry and apple lemonade with permission to just…be…lazy, and it feels glorious.
This is one of the greatest joys of Ontario. It’s the one in which you can tell the point of the season by what’s in season, and then immerse yourself in the bounty of that moment.
Right now, it’s blueberry season. August is National Blueberry Month in Canada. Canada is the world’s second largest producer of these sweet jewels, and at this Berrylicious Fruit Farm they boast seven different kinds: Duke, Blue Ray, Blue Crop, Blue Jay, Jersey, Nelson and Patriot.
Sampling each varietal while filling my bucket, my imagination and my palate engage in a culinary collabo: Blueberry-cinnamon pancakes? Blueberry and lavender jam? Blueberry, honey and graham cracker ice cream? Blueberry and toasted coconut smoothie? Blueberry pie? Or how ‘bout a blueberry barbecue sauce?
Oxford County is renowned as the Dairy Capital of Canada with a lip-smacking Cheese Trail, and liquid assets of beer, coffee, ambrosial chocolate, wellness retreats to day-spas, as well as goat-cuddling and goat yoga, but the other epicurean experience—a must-try-experience for every Ontarian and visitor to Ontario—that is so rewarding as an afternoon getaway, family trip or romantic escape, is a visit to one of Oxford County’s U-Pick Farms, like Berrylicious Fruit Farm, to immerse oneself in the most authentic, quality, taste-of-Ontario which, right now, is a sweet and juicy symphony in blue!
(From the archives of DINE’s Cooking With Asher series, our resident child-chef visits Berrylicious to collect the best blueberries for making blueberry jams as well as blueberry barbecue sauce to lacquer a smoked chicken:)
