Port Orchard Family Reunion & Blackberry Crisp Recipe

Today I'm very excited to have a guest post from Susan of the most - - of every moment. Susan was one of the first people I "met" when I started blogging, and we have become friends.  Her blog is the first one I read every morning, and you should go check her out because I know you will enjoy it as much as I do!  Thank you Susan...


I am so honored that Lana has asked me to "guest post" for her today.  I absolutely love her blog, and checking to see what she has posted is one of the first things I do every morning.

Since Lana is from the Seattle area, I have decided to write about a time when my family vacationed in Washington State.

Photography on the beach

Family Reunions

It is a ritual for many families to get together once a year.  These reunions may be just of parents and siblings, or of a large lineage of cousins many times removed.  I can remember attending a huge reunion of my grandmother's side of the family in Pennsylvania as a child, where literally hundreds of people gathered for a picnic.  I only knew my immediate family and few cousins, but it was fun.

I have three sisters, who all have families of their own, and we live in various cities/states/countries.  With my parents, there are 17 of us.  Ever since our children were small, we have made an annual effort to get together.  Renting a house for almost two dozen people is no easy task, but we have found fun and interesting properties each year.  A house in which to spread out facilitates socializing, eases the tensions that might otherwise result in a cramped space, and can be less expensive for a large group than staying in hotel rooms.

Kayaks were a wonderful amenity at this vacation rental home!

Port Orchard, Washington

In 2010, Port Orchard, Washington was our destination of choice.  The house we rented had a large balcony overlooking a small strip of private beach.  The Pacific Ocean is cold even in August, but the kids swam a little, we kayaked in the bay, and the rope swing that hung out over the water was often in motion!  We fondly remember the three dogs that adopted us that week, and less fondly recall the huge spiders we kept finding in the house - all of which we captured and released outside!

My fearless son on the rope swing

There were BIG spiders!

Lucy-dog adopted us during our stay!

Another bonus of the property were the amazing blackberry bushes that we found!  After picking as many berries as our containers would hold, we headed back to the house to make a Blackberry Crisp.  The kitchen was well-stocked, and a deep-dish pie plate served as the perfect container in which to bake our dessert.  I wrote down the recipe we invented after we made it.  It may never taste quite as special to us again however, as it did when made with the berries we picked during our wonderful reunion.  Perhaps you will have your own memorable occasion to use this recipe, and you can then rename it with the location of where you were when you baked it!

Enjoy!                                                                                                                                                                                

Port Orchard Blackberry Crisp                 

Blackberries

4 cups blackberries

1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar (depending on sweetness of berries)

Juice of 1 lemon

2 TBSP flour plus 1 cup

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 stick butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Combine first 3 ingredients plus 2 tbsp. flour.  Pour berry mixture into a lightly greased deep-dish pie plate (or other suitable sized baking dish).  Blend 1 cup flour, brown sugar and butter - mix until crumbly.  Sprinkle flour mixture over berries.  Bake 30 minutes until bubbly, and crisp is brown.  (May need to brown under broiler briefly).  Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Do you have a recipe you associate with a favorite vacation memory?

Photo credits:  W. Casal.