Blackberries, Peaches and a Surprise

Last weekend, I went to Crooked Run Orchard in Purcellville, Va., to pick apples on a warm, sunny, perfect-for-apple-picking day. Besides having a variety of different kinds of apples, the orchard had ripe blackberries that were delicious. Wanting to take home that taste, I bought some jam they had for sale. It was Blackberry Peach Basil jam. That's right -- basil. It is probably the best jam I've ever tasted. You can taste the distinct blackberry and peach flavors, but there's something else (that would be hard to identify without knowing it was basil) in it that makes the flavors pop. Just shows you that it's good to experiment with different flavors -- you never know what crazy combination will turn into something so good!

(Photo by H. Farrell)