Mulberry Madness

My friend has a mulberry bush (more like a tree) in her back yard, so I went to pick mulberries last week.  I loved it!  Spending 2 hours by myself with the quiet of the outside was delightful.  But it took until the next day for me to really see how much work it was.  I picked enough mulberries to fill 5 good-sized ziploc containers, and processing them just to freeze them took at least an hour and a half with the washing, picking out little leaves and bad berries that dropped in the containers, and setting them out on trays to approximate a flash-freezing experience.  Mulberries are big and purple, kinda like blackberries, but their juice is much more tart (and flavorful, according to me) and very intensely dark red-colored.

My hand after picking mulberries

Now I have 4 gallon size freezer bags full or mulberries that are ready to use!  And for what purpose, you might ask?  Yes, that's the question.  I made this recipe that Britta posted last year, and it was delicious.  I let my 4-year-old mix the dough a bit and she kinda overmixed it, so just make sure you don't overmix.  I also did some searches online and found another great recipe for the smoothie lovers out there.  Here it is as I made it:

Wild Mulberry & Celery Smoothie Recipe

• 1 cup wild mulberries
• 1 banana (mine happened to be over-ripe)
• 1/2 cup pineapple, chopped (frozen, from Trader Joe's)
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 stalks of celery
• Blend until smooth and enjoy!

It was so delicious!  My 2-year-old asked for seconds.  I don't like the taste of celery at all, and it was completely masked in this smoothie; I think the coconut milk made that magic happen.  If you have a bunch of wild blackberries that you want to use up in a healthful way, this is a great way to do it.