Brother's Harvest - Final Chapter!

As a child, my grandparents would often talk with great reverence about a berry from the old country ... the lingonberry.  We would find small jars of lingonberry preserves in Scandinavian specialty stores ... the perfect Christmas gift for my Swedish grandmother!  She would use it sparingly ... it was terrific on her thumbprint cookies and Grandpa would put a small amount on the pickled herring he ate on crackers!  In Alaska, lingonberries are referred to as low-bush cranberries.  They ripen during the month of September ... and grow very low to the ground.

They are small ... and packed with flavor.  We normally freeze them and use them in baking.  Every time we pick them ... each time I bake with them ... I think of my grandparents and how they would have loved having fresh lingonberries.

Brother, who loves to dillydally in the woods, was able to pick enough this year that we had the luxury of making and canning sauce!  We ended up with 24 half pints of sauce to use and give as gifts!  And there is plenty in the freezer for baking!   

Brother and friends safely navigated their way down the Alaska - Canada Highway!  They made it to Seattle in a bit over 3 days.  This is a picture he shared ... lots of wildlife along the highway in the fall.  What a large and beautiful buffalo!

When I spoke to him on Saturday, he had already purchased a canner and gone to a farmer's market.  He was busy making three kinds of apple butter from three different types of apples ... to compare and decide which apple made the best butter!  He was also excited about this "mushroom log" ... it should be sprouting mushrooms in about 2 weeks!

My grandparents passed away in the 70's ... long before Brother DillyDally was even a possibility.  Yet I see bits and pieces of them in both of my children.  It is a comfort to know that ... "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree"!

Do what you love.  Do dillydally!

Mrs. DillyDally