There were several years of my life I didn’t eat any blueberries. Crazy, right? Because who doesn’t love these deliciously bursting orbs of sweetness? I love them so much I planted 6 gorgeous blueberry bushes. I highly recommend this – they are so easy to grow, produce abundantly, and the trunks and stems are vibrantly red during the fall and winter. A lovely plant and delicious experience all year-round.
But this is precisely the reason I didn’t have a single blueberry for several years. In an effort to keep my 18-month-old son busy, I introduced him to the blueberry bushes. It was me who suggested that he go and check to see if any of the blueberries were ripe. And I suggested he might “test” them to see how they were. He began “testing” them a few times a day, every day.
Of course they were delicious! This is the reason I went several years without a single berry. He loved them so much, and I, of course, loved seeing his beautiful, purple-tinged lips and teeth and cheeks as he ate them, one-by-one. He began harvesting them earlier and earlier, loving the underripe ones as much as the fat, blushing, purple ones. No way I could have wasted a single one on myself. What great memories. Remind me to plant some more of those bushes. (They disappeared in a remodel.)
This lovely Blueberry Lemon Icebox cake reminds me of those days. It is a no-bake confection that combines mascarpone cheese, homemade blueberry jam (easy I swear!), lemon and graham crackers. Nothing bad in that list! Now it does take some advance preparation. It’s a great thing to make in the morning or up to a week in advance of serving. You can serve it frozen if you like, or place it in the fridge a couple hours before serving to soften it. This is how I like it, because the graham crackers become a bit softer and soak up that lemon-cheesy goodness. Oh my, my mouth is watering. So dang good. And so refreshing on a hot day! Enjoy!
Looks amazing, Laura! Lovely memories 🙂
Thanks, Freda!