If Summer in Idaho Had a Flavor...

...it would be HUCKLEBERRY.

It doesn't matter in what form, to be honest. Ice cream (wish it didn't hurt my tummy!). Lemonade (yes, please!). Saltwater taffy (oh my, yes!). Huckleberry is very likely my favorite flavor. Ever.

Well. Today I went to get a shave ice after work (at the Tiki Hut, which is the best shaved ice shack in all of town, by the by), I was looking through their list of fun combinations, and I noticed huckleberry smooshed in there with cranberry and vanilla. I SAID HUCKLEBERRY!

So. I promptly stopped looking at any other flavors, and I ordered a small huckleberry shave ice with a shot of pink lemonade. (Yum, huh??)

BEST! SHAVE ICE! EVER!

Yeah. The Tiki Hut is where I will get all my shave ice from now on. (I went to SnoGo a couple of weeks ago, because they are in the same location where Tiki Hut was last year. That's the only reason.)

Basically, I've decided that even if there are like 20 people in line at the Tiki Hut ahead of me, the wait will be worth it. How come? Well, let's see...

Reasons I love the Tiki Hut?

-The "snow" is perfectly shaven! I love the texture!

-They have huckleberry flavor. (Obviously)

-They actually listen when someone (silly Gina) says,
"Please only put 1/2 the amount of syrup that you usually use,"

and the ice-to-syrup ratio ends up just lovely and perfect.

-It's not far from where I live.

-Perfect. Summer. Treat.

 

Hucka-Pickin'

Last Friday, my Papa came up to Idaho to visit...and to pick huckleberries.

Huckleberries. Are. Amazing.

And they are also super tiny, huckleberries are. You can spend hours picking. And picking, and picking, and picking. And you feel quite certain that you ought to have picked, like, 8 gallons, because you've picked your guts out! But in reality, you've picked less. Much, much less. (One huckleberry is roughly 1/4 the size of a blueberry. A small blueberry. UGH!) But it's okay, because huckleberries. are. amazing. (Have I mentioned this before?)

A fellow I work with told me about a place in the wilderness where huckleberries grow thick. It took Dad and I a full hour to find the place, plus to hike a bit...and it was totally worth it! The berries were ridiculous, people! We were surrounded by huckleberries! It was heaven! We picked for 2.5 hours and ended up with 8.5 cups. (Total. But that's a lot! We were very pleased!)

We ended up having lunch in Idaho Falls, and when we got back to the car, my car smelled like huckleberries. And I was in heaven all over again.

Well hello, huckleberries!

Happy Dad!

After 5 hours (combined time) of pick-pick-picking...

STAINED! AND TOTALLY WORTH IT!

Half of our lovely huckleberries: cleaned and drying!

ANYWAY...it was a jolly good time, and now I'm going to bake a few things (very likely huckleberry buckle, and huckleberry muffins) and then horde the last two cups over the course of the next several months. (Dad and I split them halfsies.)

Now I'm off to bed; it's 10:42pm, and I have to get up at 4:20am for a stupendous hike...

huckleberry...

When I moved to Idaho a few years ago, I learned a thing or two about this area. One of those things is HUCKLEBERRY-mania. I'd never really heard of a huckleberry before (other than the Finn variety, as per Mark Twain). Anyway...I guess huckleberries are the state fruit of Idaho. Lisa's always been big on picking huckleberries and turning them into something extraordinary. (Honestly? I don't love huckleberries on their own; they are rather tart. But put them in a buckle or add them to raspberry jam, and they are out-of-this-world delicious!)

Anyway...Lisa's always been kind enough to share a piece of her tasty huckleberry creations with me, for which I have always been grateful. But I had never gone out to the countryside to pick huckleberries for myself.

Until this past Monday.

I now understand why huckleberries cost so darn much...

Huckleberries are little and they take a while to find and pick. (I had heard about this, but now I truly understand and appreciate!) I went up near Kelly Canyon with Lisa and some of her family, and we picked and picked for about an hour and a half.

See for yourself...

Plucking the teeny berries...

You seriously have to search for the berries;
I was lucky to come across this many in one patch...

Aaand picking huckleberries stains your hands...but it's so worth it!

After 1.5 hours of picking, this is all I had...
(That's only 1.5 cups, people!)

It's very distressing when you find a "large" huckleberry and then drop it. Because there ain't no way you're gonna find it. And I'll be honest with you, if I dropped one, I dropped 20. At least. It's enough to push you to the edge of depression. (Almost.)

Anyway...I've been hording my huckleberries, trying to decide how best to use them. I made an excellent choice: Huckleberry Muffins! I have a truly terrific fruit muffin recipe that works well with just about any fruit. (My fave, up until huckleberry season, is apple-cinnamon. Just add applesauce.)

Don't be jealous...

The beautiful batter...

Pre-cooked...

The final product!
(They look kinda dark because I used wheat flour...another great choice!)

Anyway, that's what I've been obsessing over the past few days. I'm actually heading back to pick some more after work today.

Also, I really get a kick out of that word: HUCKLEBERRY...