Blackberry Picking!

A couple of weeks ago I took the boys out to the country to do a little blackberry picking.  I realized that the last time I did this I was quite pregnant with Little Brother.  Blackberry picking is actually MUCH easier than strawberry picking -- you don't actually have to bend down as far and about equally as messy.  I knew that I wanted to make home made blackberry ice cream.  One of the best things I bought this summer was my ice cream maker.  If you are in the market for one, I suggest this one,  it is awesome!  

We picked blackberries to our heart's content.  I am fairly certain that while big brother was running around through the field that little brother ate at least a pound of blackberries.  No worries, they don't use any pesticides.  :)  Once we had a decent amount to take home we cleaned up and headed back home.

he was probably eating a leaf here.  lol

what a mess!

blackberry juice everywhere!!!

So delicious!

I found this recipe for blackberry ice cream from the Pioneer Woman.  Let me just say that I had NO idea what I was doing.  It was the first time I have ever tried to make ice cream that involved cooking too.  It took much, much longer than I was expecting it to take.  The ice cream was super delicious but I am just not sure how often I will be going to the trouble to make custard-based ice cream.   It was SO good though!

After a couple of disgusting diapers (TMI, sorry), I decided we needed to be done with the blackberries and that I needed a way to polish off the rest.  Enter Pinterest.  I found a recipe for blackberry limeades. I made a few changes to it because I can never leave a recipe as is.

Blackberry Limeade

Serves 8

Ingredients:
6 cups water (the recipe calls for 6 cups - I added in another 3 or 4 - the limeade was very strong and I decided to dilute it - it was perfect with the extra water).
2 cups fresh blackberries
3/4 cup sugar (you can add more but this was plenty sweet for me)
2/3 cup fresh lime juice
Lime wedges and fresh blackberries, for serving

Directions:

Blend the blackberries and 1 cup of water together until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a pitcher. Add the remaining 5 cups of water, sugar and lime juice to the pitcher. Stir until sugar dissolves. Pour into ice-filled glasses and garnish each with a lime wedge and a few blackberries, if desired.