SUSAN S. YESKE
It’s peak blueberry season in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with celebrations set for this weekend to honor this favorite fruit.
Peddler’s Village in Lahaska will combine blueberries with music for the Blueberries & Bluegrass Festival from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
All menus will feature blueberries including food tents on the green and the restaurants in the village. There will be blueberry doughnuts, fritters, pies, muffins, cupcake, fudge, popcorn, parfaits, drinks and shortcakes topped with blueberries.
There also will be watermelon-eating contests each day and plenty of bluegrass music. Admission and parking are free. For a full schedule see the website
peddlersvillage.com.
This year’s Blueberry Festival presented by Historic Bethlehem Museum & Sites will be bigger than ever Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the historic Burnside Plantation in Bethlehem.
The festival has live music, a blueberry pie-eating contest, blueberry baking competitions for youths and adults and plenty of blueberry treats to eat. Those include blueberry cookies, lemon ricotta blueberry pound cakes, pie, coffee cake, strudel and ice cream. Adults can head for the brewery tasting tents for a variety of grown-up drinks including Blueberry Mules by 8 Oaks Distillery.
Sign up for the pie-eating contest at the information booth. Festival admission is $5 for children, $10 for adults and $25 for the Adult Brewery Combo, which includes admission, a tasting glass and five Blueberry Brewery tastings. For other information see the website
historicbethlehem.org.
If you can’t make it to either festival, you can make blueberry treats at home such as this easy ice cream from
delish.com or find other ways to enjoy the blueberry season while it lasts. The local season will finish up around mid-August.
Blueberry No-Churn Ice Cream
4 cups blueberries, plus
more for serving
¼ cup granulated sugar
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
3 cups heavy cream
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened
condensed milk
1. In a food processor, puree blueberries, then transfer to a medium saucepan. Working over medium heat, add sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Bring mixture to a boil then reduce heat. Simmer until slightly reduced, about 15 minutes.
2. Transfer to a bowl and place in refrigerator to chill, 1 to 2 hours.
3. In a large bowl using a hand mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Fold in sweetened condensed milk until fully combined, then fold in chilled blueberry puree.
4. Transfer to 9-x-5-inch loaf pan and freeze until firm, 5 hours.
5. Serve with fresh blueberries.
