Boisenberry Cobbler

Now I don’t know about you but there is nothing like Mom’s homemade cobblers.  My favorite is “all the above”.  Actually apricot is about the best because Mom’s was sweet but a little tart with lots of crust.  Now that I think about it I have written a cook book years ago and I might start adding recipes to this blog.  Anyway back to PIE.

First thing is you need to know how to say PIE.  Basically it has two syllables, PI (long I) a little dip in your voice then “I” (long).  So it should be spelled PII but we have to keep Mrs. Head, Mrs, Harris, Mr. Morris, Mrs. Shumate, Mrs, Cassleman, and Aunt Geneva (Givi) and for the rest of you the list was long and included Mrs. Stebler, Mrs. Wade and a slew of others.  Now that you know how to say PIE you wonder why we call it cobbler when it is a pie.  Well, Pie are round and cornbread and cobbler are square, get it.

Now back to Boisenberry.  One of my favorite things to do was eat and particularly sweet things.  We will talk cinnamon rolls and chili on another occasion.  One year during the canning season (remember that is putting food up for the winter in glass jars and in the freezer) I decided I wanted to put up some berries because my next most favorite thing after apricot cobber was berry cobbler.  I was glad to go pick blackberries and I was crazy over raspberries but of course we did not have those in the Osage nor did we raise boysenberries.  However one year we went to the farmers market in Ark City (Arkansas City for you none locals) and yes it is in Kansas.  I loved going there as across the street was the park and there was and still is an old time train engine that you could go play on.  Well this year they had boysenberries and I decided with mom’s help that we would preserve some by canning.  There was also a bonus in that I got to enter some of my canning talents in the Grainola and later the county fair in Pawhuska.  I was very disappointed in that I won the Grainola prize even though there was only one entry and placed a lousy second at Pawhuska.  I don’t know why I was so disappointed but it was the last time I entered any canned goods in the fair at Pawhuska.

Well the real reward was during the winter months I got to have a boysenberry pie.  Man when I walked in the door of the house it was filled with the smell of hot berry cobbler!  Why eat meat when you can have PII?


What do you learn on the Osage?

·         When troubles come smell the Pie and look for the sweet part of life

·         Prepare for your future – someday you will need those berries

·         Like apricot cobbler a little sour makes sweet so much better – it is the bad times that make the good times roll

Thanks for  your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com