Taking a drive to the far Northern section of California yields a bounty of beautiful places to visit. I loved driving up to Northern California, mostly as a child, picking wild berries that grew along the winding roads, up through Trinidad, the redwoods and Crescent City. Some of our most beautiful coast is also home to wild blueberries which produce a marvelous little jewel Blueberry Crumble.
BLUEBERRY COUNTRY
Anywhere along the 101 north near Trinidad and Arcata is home ground to fresh blueberries. In case you have not made the road trip up to Northern California, do it. There are so many spectacular sights and charming coastal towns to stay the night. Trinidad is home to Katy’s Smokehouse. Albacore and smoked salmon are favorites which you can pick up for lunch. You can also take home some cans of Katy’s Smoked Albacore, which you really want to do. If you can’t make it up north, good news, you can order from Katy’s website and have it shipped directly to you. But of course I drift…
NO. 4 CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP
Like most creative types, we juggle lots of balls in the air, projects we are dreaming of creating. I already am beginning the concept and recipes for my 4th cookbook, California Road Trip. The inspiration for this cookbook are the many road trips we took as a family, up the California coast. We did not have money to travel, so we hit the road, piled in the car and stayed at motels along the way, think Schitt$ Creek. Just a night in one coastal town on onward we went. We drove north along the coast then we would cut over and head inland to the wine country. My family loved food, kinda “foodies” so of course we also sought the most ‘off the road’ eateries. No trip north would be complete without a stop for a couple days in San Francisco, my dream city.
BLUEBERRY CRUMBLE
There are many variations of this dish, but in my humble opinion none is easier and better than this classic recipe. Big, plump ripe blueberries appeared in a local market, so into my basket they went. Some things you will notice about this recipe. Sugar and berries are the two simple ingredients which comprise the filling, Next the crumble/crisp topping has a really good amount of butter in it and melts into a very buttery topping which also becomes part of the filling. The result is a sweet, buttery very wet crumble. Serving it warm in a bowl that has been napped with fresh heavy cream, that is the ticket. Blueberry Crumble heaven from Bijouxs Little Jewels from the Kitchen.
As always, enjoy. B
