We went blackberry picking in the back woods, ate them on quinoa.

Although this summer we find most of the blackberries ripening close to the ground, several canes have climbed into trees, making picking much easier, and this spray has charmingly draped itself over my sign, inviting me to make a watercolor.

This morning I stewed blackberries, wild black currants, black raspberries, and a few red raspberries with sugar to make the well-remembered grütze dessert of my childhood, although my version will be black instead of red.

     I brushed the tops with cream and sprinkled them with salt and caraway seeds.  This bread has a wonderful Old World hearty flavor.  And yes, those are Dahlov Ipcar’s potholders.

Emma of Nana’s Nook returned from the Fryeburg Fair and opened up her shop for me this afternoon so I could buy the white soup tureen. I  am imagining it filled with Butternut Squash Soup at the Thanksgiving table.

I began  this soup with chopped onions browned with butter until golden  in the black iron frying pan. I sauted sliced leeks and added the onions and leeks to the soup pot where vegetable bouillion simmered. Into the pot went a small white turnip, a parsnip, a carrot, a beet, a handful of green beans, winter squash, mushrooms, celery, and sweet red pepper, all diced into small pieces. I finished with a generous sprinkling of dried oregano, tomato sauce, chowder fish, and a small amount of pasta noodles. About an hour later we enjoyed the savory result, served in my new English Abbey serving bowl with lid.

I wonder what was last served in this dish, and how long ago!

Remembering the antique soup tureen my mother bought when we vacationed at the Cape in 1950, (it had only the tiniest chip,) I wanted a large white soup tureen from Nana’s  Nook but she has gone off to camp at the Fryeburg Fair for a week. This charming little English tureen I chose instead at the Sabattus Antiques Mall will more than suffice for now and I’ll see Nana next week. Maybe for Thanksgiving I’ll serve a butternut squash soup with a dollop of stewed cranberries. I enjoy the gentility of it,  ladling up soup from a handsome container set directly on the dinner table.

Wash and spin-dry a generous portion of spinach and lettuce greens fresh-picked from the garden, add mint and thyme leaves and a few sliced ripe strawberries, sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese seasoned with herbs provencal, and dress the salad with olive oil and lemon juice.  Paper-thin slices of raw zucchini may be added. Serve in one of your prettiest antique bowls.