Blackberries della Nonna

We didn't hit a single Chicago-area U-Pick farm this summer. This would have been a great disappointment had we not had the opportunity to pick bowls and bowls of wild blackberries in the Pacific Northwest.

Blackberry season hits toward the middle of August. The berries pictured above are rooted in the sand on Puget Sound and in the backyard of our dear Nonnie. Were I there long enough to get sick of eating them straight off the thorny vine I would have done any of the following with them: Kristine's blackberry-macerated elk tenderloin (she marinates the meat all day in in smashed blackberries with tamari and garlic and grills it quickly over a high heat to lock in the juices), my favorite blackberry cobbler or a blackberry ice cream. Of course a simple sabayon topped with fresh berries would be great too.