So… have you tried the aronia berry?
About the size of a blueberry, it’s supposedly one of the most super of the super foods with even more antioxidants then the famed acai berry we hear so much about.
And it grows in the Midwest.
Who knew? We didn’t. At least until about a month ago when my sister mentioned them.
We did a little research and were quite impressed with their nutritional info.
But not so much their price – $10.99 a pound frozen! Ouch!
So when we met the aunt of a friend who happened to live 30 miles south of us – and had about an acre of the wonder berries – and invited us to come on down and pick some – we were pretty excited.
I could just imagine my super healthy family – able to leap off tall buildings, bend iron with our bare hands, and ward off every evil germ known to mankind.
And then we ate some.
Let’s just say that their common name is “choke berry” for a reason. Ugh.
But we still picked four 5 gallon buckets full and brought them home. Then we spent four days removing every berry from the stem and freezing them in quart bags.
Talk about labor intensive.
But now what do we do with them?
Angel Girl threw a few in her smoothies and said they weren’t too bad – at least until the day she added too many and couldn’t even drink it.
I found a recipe for aronia berry pie on line and attempted one Saturday night. Sure looked pretty, much better than it tasted.
And the texture was really weird. It sat on the counter untouched for days.
So now I have a freezer full of aronia berries that I can’t get in to my kids.
So much for super powers.
I’m afraid we shall remain mere mortals.
Blue Jeans and Cotton Tees 
Hahaha! My daughter’s husband’s mom and dad grow these berries on their farm. Krystle told me how healthy they were but they are finding the same thing …. how do you eat them?! I have a little cup of them in my fridge …. they are HORRIBLE!!!! She told me not to eat them straight. I did. I was sorry I didn’t listen to her. Let me know if you ever find a way to eat them. I would love to share your recipe with Ben’s mom and dad. :o)
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Oh no. Not all those berries you were working on when I visited the other day?!!
Well I peeked around and found some recipes. Here’s one and I’ll leave the link to the 5 other recipes.
Super Smoothie: (see don’t give up hope on those super powers just yet 😉
Blend together and serve immediately.3-4 bananas
1 cup plain yogurt or kefir
1 – 1 1/2 c. coconut milk (or other milk)
1 cup frozen aronia berries
1 cup frozen raspberries or other fruit
http://www.deeprootsathome.com/aroniaberry-love-and-6-recipes/
~Cinnamon
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I knew nothing about them. What a shame they aren’t fantastic tasting after all that work!
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We are reading a book called “The Birchbark House”, it was one that we got from your basement stash of books. Anyway, it is about an Indian girl and her family. They picked choke berries and laid them in a blanket to dry. The little brother named Pinch was supposed to make sure the birds did not get the berries. He ate most of them and then fell asleep. Later his mama found out he ate them all when he had a stomach ache!
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I’d recommend making some into juice. You can add the sweetener needed to make it palatable. Or mix it with some sweet juice you have – from your white grapes?? They made a nice jelly too!
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