Blueberries for the Fourth

Let’s be honest: There is nothing hokier than the Fourth of July. And nothing tastier than the food we consume that day. In every town and hamlet in the country, the day proceeds in a certain order: parade, picnic, pyrotechnics.

Like a moth to the flame, I keep showing up at Ojai’s Independence Day Parade even though the players stay pretty much the same from the year to year. The lineup includes plenty of horses, the high school marching band, Chumash Indian dancers in full regalia and the ragtag Keep The Sespe Wild gang, our local advocates for preserving the river than flows through the national forest surrounding the Ojai Valley. I think my friend Joan nailed it years ago when she remarked, “whatever you’re proud of, just put a leash on it and drag it down the street.” It's about as Americana as it gets.

I thought Ojai’s was the smallest small-town parade of all, until I visited Aptos with my son and grandchildren last year. Not to be outdone by its bigger and kookier neighbor to the east -- Santa Cruz -- Aptos boasts “The World’s Shortest Parade,” a two-block romp down the main drag by every youth sports team, four-legged animal, community non-profit volunteer, pickup truck and VW bug for miles around. This year is the 50^th anniversary of the World’s Shortest Parade, which should be something to behold, although I can’t imagine how any more visitors could crowd in along that two-block stretch.

Parades are fun, but nothing describes the Fourth better than the food we eat on that holiday. Fourth of July picnics are iconic: grilled burgers and hot dogs, corn on the cob, and the red-white-and-blue trifecta of watermelon, ice cream and blueberries.

In Maine (the largest producer of wild blueberries in the world), where I lived for three summers, the wild blueberries are just getting ready for picking in early July, and the harvest culminates in a flurry of blueberry festivals in late August. Maine blueberries are the native lowbush variety that grows naturally in fields and barrens throughout the state. The berries are much smaller than the cultivated varieties found in the most supermarkets, but are thought to have more nutritional value and more flavor impact.

Once on a very hot day in late July, I joined a group of Mainers on a hike to a blueberry barren outside of Camden. Armed with blueberry rakes that look like dustpans with tines, we poked and jabbed at the bushes and tried to get enough to take back to Cellardoor Winery where we were going to participate in a cooking class using blueberries. “No wonder blueberries are expensive,” I whined to our instructor. “This is really hard work!”

If you are lucky enough to have a surfeit of blueberries in your kitchen, make a batch of this simple and versatile blueberry sauce. You can use it on pancakes, waffles, French toast, cheesecake, blintzes, ice cream, bread pudding or pound cake.

Blueberry Sauce

3/4 Cup sugar

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

1/8 Teaspoon ground cinnamon

2/3 Cup water

3 Cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (if necessary), washed and picked over

Pinch of salt

1/8 Teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)

Zest of 1 lemon

Place the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and water in a medium saucepan and stir until smooth. Stir in the berries and place the pan over medium heat. Cook until the liquid thickens and becomes clear. Taste to see if more sugar is needed. Stir in the vanilla and lemon zest. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Makes 3 cups.

Pudwill Berry Farm in Nipomo brings all kinds of berries to the Ojai Farmers' Market every week. 

They grow 20 acres of berries year-round in hoop houses.

Happy Fourth of July, everyone.