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Hi Reader,

Our summer continues along here with daily watering (I rotate the areas so only 1-2 are watered a day, plus the pots), harvests (green beans, cabbage, onion, carrots, beets, basil and the first of the tomatoes!), and lunches outside under the umbrella enjoying the view and blue skies.💜

We did meet some friends at a nearby lake to finally get some time on the water which was so lovely. Friends + summer activity is truly the best of summer, right? (It was quite windy and Brian fell off his paddle board for the first time - twice! That's why he's on his knees - and why I like my kayak, ha!)

This weekend our grandson is staying with us, so we're lining up the activities for a busy 3-and-a-half-year-old! 💜

One summer thing I wait all year for is...berries! All the kinds, though blackberries and raspberries are my favorites. In fact, berries are my favorite fruit, hands-down. Mostly I'm eating them fresh and on my morning granola, but when I get a larger amount, I make one or more of these yummy recipes:

Berry Recipes

• ​Blueberry BBQ Sauce (10 Minute, Lower Sugar) - this is a SIMPLE recipe you can use again and again because it uses jam+ketchup and you can switch out the jam for different flavors! If your jam and ketchup are lower sugar, your sauce will be, too.😀
• ​3 Ingredient Maple Blackberry Jam Recipe (Can or Freeze) - my go-to jam has always been freezer jam with pectin because it always tastes freshest to me, but this cooked, no pectin jam recipe is a CLOSE second, with a strong berry flavor for a cooked jam!
• ​Whole Wheat Blackberry Crumb Bars - so moist for whole wheat and the fresh berry flavor is over-the-top.
• ​Strawberry Shortcake with Crunchy Drop Biscuits - Guess what? You can make ANY berry shortcake! If you haven't tried this with fresh blackberries, you are missing out.🤗
• ​Simple Berry Parfaits with Honey-Sweetened Cream - one of my absolute favorite summertime "desserts." Use any berry you have or a mixture.

I've also got two "ultimate" berry guides that have LOTS more recipe and preserving ideas as well as growing tips:

• ​Ultimate Blueberry Guide: Growing, Freezing, Drying, Canning & Fresh Recipes​
• ​The Ultimate Blackberry & Raspberry Guide: Grow, Harvest, Cook & Preserve Caneberries​

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From The Blog

​Creamy Shrimp Pasta with Green Beans​ 15-30 minute one dish pantry meal (depending on the type of shrimp) that's flavored with garlic and parmesan. Good with other veggies, too. ​ RECIPE HERE! ​

A Few More Things

• We've seen two summer movies recently (after a spring drought of nothing we wanted to see): F1 about Formula One racing with Brad Pitt that we loved - it was super fun with a decent plot and racing we could follow even though we don't know much about F1 racing; and the new Superman, which was okay. It was a fun movie, but full of cartoon fights where Superman was losing that went on too long. Have you seen anything lately?
• I'm almost finished with this audiobook that tells the 70 year love story of Ruth and Abe Winter with all life's ups and downs. Sweet and heartbreaking at times - all the feels.

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I hope you get in some fun summertime this week! Remember you can hit reply to connect with me - I read every email that comes. 😀

PS- Remember to tag me on Instagram so I can see what you're making!

Remember it's easy to save recipes on An Oregon Cottage! Just click the heart when browsing to save your personal favorites! TIP: when you click on the link, it will take you to my site - click the heart like you see here to the left - it will be on the bottom right on the site. A pop up form will come up for you to create an account (or sign in if you already have). You need to create a password for this account (no info is kept besides your email) and then you can save all recipes and articles to this account and access it anytime to remember what you want and choose what to make!

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