I scream, you scream we all scream for... blackberries!

I love to pick berries. The Mister does not share my love for berry picking. That probably stems from him working in the fields when he was younger. If berry picking was my job I probably wouldn't like it either. Lucky for me, both sides of the Mister's family have berry fields (raspberry, marion berry and strawberry- yumm!) that we can pick from for free. This year however, we have had some crazy weather this summer, and we only made it out for strawberries. (We were also given a couple gallons of blueberries as well.)

The other day, the Mister asked me why I don't pick some of the blackberries that are growing at the park where I take Gus Dog to play fetch. I didn't really have an answer. I mean, I go there practically everyday, and I love blackberries. When I buy jam, I usually go for blackberry. If I have the choice, I reach for blackberry syrup. Blackberry margarita? Yes please. Why don't I pick some? I mean, right now the local grocery store is selling them for $4.99 a pint. (Really, 5 bucks a pint? Blackberry bushes are weeds!) So today I did. In between throws I carefully fought my way through the brambles and came home with a bunch of fresh blackberries. And I am planning on doing it again tomorrow.

Now what to do with all these delicious berries?

Freeze 'em and snack on them throughout the winter? (make sure you freeze them in a single layer on a cookie sheet before transferring them to a freezer bag!)

I could go with easy and always yummy freezer jam. I have about 3 jars of strawberry left right now, so I could use some more.

Or, I could make these cute little guys.

How adorable are these individual pies?  You make them in the short, fat canning jars and then freeze them. When you get a hankering for pie, you can bake one at a time. Fresh baked pie? Any time I want? I think yes! Really, the Mister and I don't need a full sized pie in the house, and after a couple days, it's just not as good. But with these, they are hot and ready when you want them. I read about these when I was looking for ideas for favors for our wedding and I forgot about them until I stumbled across someone's pin on Pinterest. Here is a link to the directions and recipes for these guys!

Depending on how much I end up picking in the next couple of days, I will probably do all three of these things. I also have about a gallon of blueberries in the freezer that I want to make into pie as well.

What would you do with berries?