Here's my favorite way to eat berries! I'm one of the judges for this weeks' Steemit Culinary Challenge 33 and I am sponsoring a special "Newbies" award. The theme is berries and it's open to "newbies", anyone who joined Steemit in May, June, or July.

Black raspberries - one of the best berries on the planet!

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Why I Am Sponsoring an Award for SCC 33

Before I show you the way I like berries best, I want to explain why I am sponsoring one of the awards for the "Newbie Special" of the Steemit Culinary Challenge. When I first signed up for Steemit, I wasn't sure about what sorts of posts people would like to see. In cruising Steemit posts, I came across the Food Challenge and the theme was 15-minute meals. I wrote a post called Salads from Weeds, Tree Leaves, Flowers, and Seeds for the challenge. People saw my post -and commented and upvoted it! What a rush! And more importantly, that post led to some nice friendships here on Steemit.

Today, the Culinary Challenge provides that same focus for people new to Steemit. An interest in food is one thing almost all of us on Steemit have in common. We all eat - some of us, several times a day! ; ) And sharing a recipe in the SCC gives us a chance to share more about who we are, where we come from, or where we are headed.

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Why I Picked Berries for the Culinary Challenge Theme

Blackberries, blueberries, gooseberries, dewberries. Raspberries - red, gold, or black. Strawberries, cranberries, elderberries, mulberries. And that's just a start of all the berries out there!

It's easy to find berries of one kind or another for sale in markets around the world - fresh, frozen, dried, or canned. They are easy to grow in gardens, too. Small fruits like berries can provide big yields for very little effort, for years. And many berries even grow wild and can be foraged for free! Those of you who know me, know I am big on foraging wild food! So whether you buy your berries, grow them, or find them wild and free, I hope you will enter the Steemit Culinary Challenge!

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The Best Way to Eat Berries

In my judging for the SCC, I want you to enjoy making and eating your berry creation! So you make whatever you want, as long as berries are featured in it. But there is one recipe that I won't put in first place. Why? Because it is my absolute favorite way to eat almost any berries. So I want to rule it out and stretch my appreciation of berries, through your entries.

What do I think is the best way to eat berries? Pick them fresh - and pick them fully ripe! Every kind of berry has its own look when it's really ripe. I showed how to identify really ripe mulberries when I foraged a Free Hotel Salad - Wild Style! Here's another example - for blackberries.

Not all black blackberries are ready to eat. When they are fully ripe, the berries swell up and become less shiny. They don't need to be pulled off - they fall off when touched. The ones marked by the yellow arrows are just right.

So pick fresh, ripe berries. Pick two big handfuls.

And then.... do this:

Eat all of them at once. All of them. It's an explosion of berry goodness!

Sure, it's messy. But it's glorious!

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Thanks, @woman-onthe-wing, for the opportunity to be on the other side of the culinary challenge for once! I look forward to all the entries to the Steemit Culinary Challenge 33!

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** Haphazard Homestead **

*** foraging, gardening, nature, simple living close to the land ***

All content is 100% Haphazard Homestead! My YouTube channel: Haphazard Homestead