It's berry season!

Berries are in season this time of year, and you know what that means: 

1. It's time for a Little House story about berries.

2. It's time for a Little House-inspired recipe about berries. 

The story can be found in Laura Ingalls Wilder's Farmer Boy chapter 17 "Summertime," towards the end of the chapter.

The recipe, for old-fashioned blueberry pudding, from Barbara M. Walker's Little House Cookbook, can be found below! As usual, supplies and ingredients are in red for your convenience.

Wash and drain 1 dry pint or 10 ounces blueberries, removing stems and bad fruit. Use half of a stick of butter to generously grease inside a 1 1/2-quart pudding mold with a lid or a 2-pound coffee can. If using a coffee can, replace the plastic lid with greased foil.

In a 1-quart bowl, beat one egg; stir in 3/4 cup homogenized milk and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. In a 2-quart bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, and 1 teaspoon cream of tartar. Work in the rest of the half-stick of butter with fingers until mixture is uniformly coarse. Stir liquid into dry mixture until all is moist. Stir in blueberries last with a few strokes, taking care not to crush the berries.

Pour blueberry batter into mold or can and cover tightly. Set the container in a deep 4-quart kettle and fill kettle two-thirds full with boiling water. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or longer. As long as there is plenty of water in the kettle there is little danger that the pudding will overcook.

Unmold the finished pudding on a platter and serve with the sauce below.

Sauce:
In a 1-quart saucepan, simmer 1 cup granulated sugar with 2 cups water until it begins to thicken into syrup, about 10 minutes. Remove from  heat and stir in the following: 3 tablespoons butter, a pinch of salt, a pinch of ground nutmeg, 2 tablespoons rose water or lemon juice. Serve warm in a pitcher.

Hope you enjoyed this latest installment of LHCO. Happy berrying, and come back soon!
Elizabeth