My Own Backyard

Returning from Oz, Dorothy assures Auntie Em that "if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard." Lately, my heart's desire has included sugar. And the wild blackberries in my back yard were begging to be sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon and baked in a cobbler. I've used this recipe so often: Cut* 1/2 cup butter into 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour, add 1/3 cup milk and stir until the dough forms a ball. Turn out onto a cutting board, knead four or five times until the dough all sticks together, then roll out into a 1/4 inch thick rectangle. Cover with one layer of fruit (in this case blackberries, but my eldest's favorite is apple slices), sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, and roll up cinnamon roll style. Cut into slices and place in buttered baking dish. Boil 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water, pour over dough, and bake for 1 hour (or so) at 350 degrees. About 45 minutes in to baking, I usually sprinkle some more cinnamon and sugar over the top for that slightly crunchy effect.


Mmmmmm ... there's no place like home.

*I used to HATE cutting butter into flour (or any other dry mixture). Tedious and messy, not to mention time-consuming. A pastry blender worked better for me than two knives, but still. Until I discovered ... the cheese grater. Just take a VERY COLD stick of butter, unwrap the paper and, still holding the stick of butter with the wrapper, grate it into the dry ingredients using a hand held cheese grater. Once it's all grated, toss gently with the dry ingredients and you're done. Piece of cake. Or dough, as it were.