Kitchen Olympics

Aside from hefting jugs of olive oil or the occasional bag of flour or rice, there isn't any weightlifting around here. As for any running records that might be getting broken, the aisles of the supermarket provide about the only track I'm seen racing around these days.

But Friday was another marathon of berry picking. A few errant raspberries made for an interesting warm-up pick -- more walking and looking than actual plucking. Still, I ended with a few pounds of fruit, enough to fill a 3-litre ice cream bucket.

The day's real bonanza was our beautiful BC blueberries. Big and fat and sweet, they rolled off the branch, plunking into the bucket like soft machine-gun rat-a-tats.

But then, what to do with them all? This is where the Olympian efforts kick in.

Freezing on trays is easy, not strenuous at all. Plenty are now in bags in the freezer for the winter. A sweatier endeavour turned out a batch of 25 blueberry tarts -- treats to take to a Saturday night party. The ones that wouldn't fit on the plate will make a nice dessert for Sunday's supper.

As for those Olympic rings, they and more of their buddies contributed their efforts to produce 10 jars of jam -- a nifty combination of blueberries and raspberries.

No medals awarded, but plenty of satisfaction, and even some Christmas gifts now ready for December.