There is so much to write about when it comes to the connection between the Pacific Northwest and Gen X so I hope to write more about this in the future. There have been two Pacific Northwest posts so far in the Fireflies at Dusk project: one about the landscape (July 3, 2011) and and one about the architecture (Jan. 25, 2012).
Now a little about the food...
The Pacific Northwest is full of berry bushes sprawling out in any open space they can find - on farmland, in forests, and in backyards. One of my most vivid Gen X childhood memories is visiting Idaho and picking giant blackberries from their vines while the dark juice would drip down and stain my hands and arms. I had never quite tasted anything so explosively delicious as their sun-ripened nectar-sweetness. Now that I live in Oregon, I can get them from my own backyard. When it's not quite blackberry season yet, I can just buy some frozen and pretend it is.
Blackberry milkshakes are a regional specialty item in the Pacific Northwest that seem to show up more and more on restaurant menus as the weather gets warmer. This week we enjoyed our own homemade blackberry milkshakes. It was the perfect way to bring alive a Gen X childhood memory, and the perfect way to enjoy life for a sweet moment in the present.
Recipe for Chloe's Blackberry Milkshakes - from 5/7/2012 entry: Gen X and the Pacific Northwest
vanilla ice cream
blackberries (the fresher, the better)
milk
stevia
Using organic ingredients makes a huge difference in taste!
1) Take out the blender and fill it 1/3 full of vanilla ice cream (I like to use sugar-free homemade) but any kind of vanilla works.
2) Add in a few handfuls of blackberries - frozen is great, but unfrozen is fine, too.
3) Pour in as much milk as you like depending on how thick you like your shake.
4) Put in 2 teaspoons of stevia. Run the blender on low for 15 seconds. Do a taste test and add more of whatever you like to get it just how you want it and blend again for 10 seconds.
Drink up!
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(c) 2012 photography and writing by Chloe - all rights reserved
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