Stalking the wild huckleberry is one of our families oldest rituals. There are the years when there are reports of epic patches and secret caches and berries the size of marbles. On the years when the picking is lean it is always “oh, they are still green. They’ll be awesome in a few weeks.” In a few weeks it would always be some other cousin’s week at the cabin!
This year our family made a pretty good haul. It seemed like you could detect the “golden” patches by the thickness of the mosquitoes in a given area. If there weren’t any mosquitoes, you knew you were getting colder.
My younger siblings who are still at home all
contributed their winnings to my parents’ bucket. The individual
couples all made sure to save theirs to freeze and bring home.
My mom made whole-wheat huckleberry pancakes the next morning. Everyone seems to eat twice as many when there are huckleberries in them. Other favorite recipes with huckleberries are: syrup, cheesecake and muffins. My mom would take a cup at a time out of the freezer and use them throughout the year. We would savor them in a colder season and remember last year's mythical summer find.
