Blackberry Tart and Turtle Be Gone

Blackberries take the tart! You know it's the middle of summer when the blackberries are ripe. Our westie, Sir Salty, had that alarm-going off bark near the apple trees on the edge of the woods. I felt I needed to go and see what he had found since he wasn't slowing down his tone.

I couldn't see anything at first because we had to gingerly step through bushes and here they were blackberries, ripe blackberries....and there was a turtle that he was not only barking at, but gingerly tapping his shell with his front paws just like a toddler plays with cars. We had to unfasten ourselves and clothing from these blackberry bushes, but we picked the juicy berries and thanked Sir Salty for bringing us on this treasure hunt. We had to put him in the house and then take the turtle back to the edge and put him down without puppy. He was all tucked in and hidden away in his shell. Their shells are a wonder and look like the inside of a cave with folk art drawings.

I made a crust out of butter, flour, salt and sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon, and water. This needs to be refrigerated for 30 minutes.

I had around 1 1/2 cups of blackberries. To this I added 1/8 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. flour or so and 1/4-cup of sugar and a few dots of butter. Bake at 350 for approximately 30 minutes. The tart crust is thick and needs time to brown nicely and when it bubbles all around it is finished.

You can top it with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. The tart is a little tart so the sweetness of the sweetened creams is a wonderful combination. We were so ready to taste it that I had forgotten to take them out of the tart pans. At least I remembered to take a photo before we descended on it. The crust is rich and crunchy like good cookies. This made 3 small individual tarts.

Options: You can add a little bit of fresh lemon rind to it if you like. Our first few picked berries.

Here Sir Salty is all proud like. We did take the turtle back to the edge of the woods and sat him down. He was all tucked in and cozy in his turtle cave. Later we went back and he was gone. No doubt he had a story to tell his family when he got home.

This is day 3 after a bath (water, not mud bath) and 30 minutes before another one!

Sir Salty took us to our own open air market. Beware of poison ivy that can also grow in the brambles.