THURSDAY THE LONG WAY: LINGONBERRY RESERVE

Thursday highlights food from out of the way places, food memories that have formed the way I view food, both cooking and eating it. They may be inspired by recent meals, the food-media, or anything at all.

Years ago back at Georgetown, my college sweetheart, from Chicago was first generation Swedish. She like to cook but she was pretty health conscious. God bless her for trying but she made these cookies that were pretty awful-- almost like small rocks. She'd offer me a cookie and I'd be between it and a hard place in turning it down (Sara, if you every happen across this, your cookies need work).

But this isn't about dissing on an ex-girlfriend's cooking it's about Lingonberries. I've always been a huge fan of berries: blueberry pie, strawberry jam, fresh rasberries or blackberries, mulberries off the drooping tree of my grandfather's backyard.

Lingonberries are one of the things she introduced me to that I'm not interested in forgetting. These tart berries, once sweetened are perfect in jams, preserves, compotes or as a syrup. Any of these forms of the berry are perfect to be served with gamey meats, crepes, Swedish meatballs, or drizzled over ice cream or pastry.