Mom's Birthday Cobbler

Hideeeooo! 

Summer seems to be in full swing here in Northwest Indiana, as the wild black raspberries have begun to ripen!  

 

The kids and I went berry picking.  
 

Along this particular stretch of road, we had to employ the buddy system in order to reach the berries.

Reaching the berries without getting wet, that is.

The ditch doesn't look so big in the pics, but no one really wanted to fall in it that day.

The berries seem to be a bit slow to ripen this year.

We were not able to find enough ripe berries along the side of the road, so we went hiking at the park.

 

It has become a tradition to go berry picking for Mom's birthday, as the timing usually works out great.  The berries tend to be good and ripe on June 28th.

We did find some berries, but still, not enough ripe ones!

We found a cute little bunny watching us. ^

The creek was high, and much of the berry picking areas were not easy to get to.

We hiked in the pouring rain and contemplated a new plan.

The new plan was going back to the old farm house woods and berry picking.

We did, and those were the best berries yet!

 

  Perfect!  Why didn't we do this to begin with?

Back at the house, I whipped up a birthday gift for Mom.

Butter, flour, milk, n sugar.

Then mix in the BERRIES!

And bake it.

Simple as can be, and sooo delicious!

Mom was thrilled!

I think every year I have been home, I have made Mom a black raspberry treat for her birthday.

That's how it's done!

 

Ingredients

• 1 stick Butter

• 1 cup Sugar

• 1 cup Self-Rising Flour

• 1 cup Milk

• 3 cups Black Raspberries

Preparation Instructions

Melt butter in a microwavable dish. Pour 1 cup of sugar and flour into a mixing bowl, whisking in milk. Mix well. Then, pour in melted butter and whisk it all well together. Butter a baking dish.
Now rinse the berries. Gently mix the berries into the batter. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until golden and bubbly. If you desire, sprinkle an additional teaspoon of sugar over the cobbler 10 minutes before it’s done.

Pere Marquette

After visiting Dutch Village, in Holland, Michigan we made our way farther north to Baldwin.

Thanks to the Flyin Heroes, Glenn and I were in store for a guided fishing trip!

They had a room reserved for us at the Red Moose Lodge.

I've had my eye on the Flyin Heroe's for a few years now, ever since I took part in a Tie-a-Thon.

 

A Tie-a-Thon is folk's who pledge to donate a certain amount of flies, then they get together and tie them.  I had encouraged Duneland Fly Fishers to participate and I believe they have been part of the Tie-a-Thon every year since.

 

This past winter, when I was looking for an organization to support at the fishing Derby, I chose the Flyin Heroes. 

The Pere Marquette river was the first thing I checked out-- and it looked awesome!!!  The water had a slight stain to it, the level was good, and the damsel flies were hatched!  Top. Water.  Bite.  Yeeeess!

A few feet from the river was a wooden swing.

We enjoyed watching the water.  I kept hoping to see fish swim by.

That evening, Adam picked us up and we went out to supper in Downtown Baldwin.  Even the sidewalks of Baldwin are fishy! :-)

We met the fellows for supper-- Adam, Me, Glenn, Nathan, and Eric.

Later that evening, back at the Lodge, this beauty paid us all a visit:

The moth was huge.  I wonder what the trout would think of it...

That evening could have been Christmas Eve, as I was that excited about fishing the next day! 

The waders were hung by the...  Hehe.

Santa didn't fill the waders, but I found a spider in my boots, as I carried them to the truck the next morning!

We met up with the fellows, and they presented us with a paddle to sign.

What a Cool Idea!

Then we watched, as they launched the boat.

The boat launching was interesting, as the drop was quite steep.

Eric lowered it down slowly with the winch.

While Nathan and Adam helped to support and guide it.

The launch went smoothly.  We said our goodbyes, and it was time to FISH!!!!

What. a. BEAUTIFUL. River!

Adam gave Glenn a few quick fly fishing lessons, as it was his first time with a flyrod.

Glenn's back casting needed a little more practice, as the fly went right into Adam's scalp! Ouch.

Adam wasn't the only one injured that day.  I witnessed several kayakers who had trouble navigating the waters and were struck by low hanging limbs.

We stopped on the river bank and Adam cooked Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin for lunch.

Lunch was delicious!  We had coleslaw, homemade cookies, and he also grilled cheese filled bread sticks!  Yumm!

We waded and fished while lunch was cooking.

The fishing was challenging with so much river traffic.  Adam was awesome, he attempted a rescue of this group of girls, whose canoe had capsized and was caught in a strainer.

All the river action was, at the least, entertaining.  I felt sorry for the poor shivering pup, when this canoe flipped:

Luckily, I don't think anyone was seriously injured that day.

Despite all the river traffic craziness, I still managed to land a nice fish.

I caught the beautiful rainbow trout on a white and green foam grasshopper using my 11.5 ft., 3wt. flyrod.  She was quite flippy. 

After getting a few pics, I put her back and she swam away.  She totally made my day!

What a fun experience!  A big THANKS to the Flyin Heroes for all you do!  Keep it up, Fellas! :-)