Oh, Berry Day!

In these days between the Big Holiday Trip and the beginning of school, we are enjoying sleeping till late, a lot of do-nothing and quite a few daytrips.

Today, we went to a tiny town, Avasinis, about 30 miles from where we live. Even if it is pretty near, no wonder we had never heard of it before (please note we've been living here for less than a year!): the place counts only about 350 inhabitants, and it sits in a narrow corner of a narrow valley in a group of high mountains.
The reason why we were there today is a fair they hold annually, the Fair of Raspberries and Blueberries.

(Welcome to the town of Raspberries and Blueberries)

You could taste a lot of dishes made with these gems in the kiosks spreaded on the main (and only) street: blueberry gnocchi, blueberry cjarsons (a kind of local ravioli), raspberry beer and a whole parade of desserts.



And if you are not impressed by this, just think that they are all wild!
In the week prior the fair, about 40 people climb the side of the mountains around, which is forbidden to non residents. The area is so rich of berries that the loot is enough to provide refreshment for a three days' celebration. This year they were expecting 30 thousand visitors!



Of course, you could buy the bare berries, which I did.
Being a girl with no half-measures, I am now the proud owner of 5lbs of raspberries and 5 lbs of blueberries!



Tomorrow my 3 men will be visiting grandpa and grandma the whole day, my Ipod is already charged and filled with the backlist of "This American Life" and "Stuff You Should Know" podcasts, and I'll be spending the whole day jamming, baking, freezing and cooking to try and make some of the summer taste last for a good part of the next cold season.



Oh, and tomorrow night my cooking teacher will be here for dinner, so wish me luck, and I'll keep you posted on the outcomes!