By Christmas landed differently this year than last year. Last year we were still raw from Danny dying in March and by December it was like every holiday had an open wound running through it. This year the wound is still there but it's healing into scar tissue—still present, still real, but load-bearing in a different way. You can put weight on it now without it giving out.
Lily and Ben were here through the weekend. Caleb came Christmas Eve and stayed through lunch on Christmas Day. Hannah made her mother's recipe for cranberry bread that she only makes this one time of year, and the smell of it baking is a specific memory for me going back to childhood. Some things stay the same and you're glad for it.
I made a venison roast with a sauce built from dried chiles, a little blackberry preserve from the summer, and the small amount of dried sumac I had left from the fall harvest. It came out rich and a little sweet and just acid enough from the sumac to keep it from being too heavy. Lily asked for the recipe in the way she's been asking for everything lately—carefully, taking it in as if it matters, because it does.
After dinner we sat around and Caleb told stories about Danny. Specific ones, ones I hadn't heard before—a time Danny got turned around on a hunting trip and came out three miles from where he'd started, a story about Danny cooking for a family funeral when he was twenty-two and crying the whole time because he loved the family and couldn't think of any other way to help them. That second story is the most Danny thing I've ever heard. It sounded exactly right.
We laughed a lot. Kai fell asleep on the couch at eight and nobody woke him. It was a good Christmas.
The blackberry preserve I used in the venison sauce came from the same batch I’d put up in August, and after dinner I wanted to do something with the last of it that felt like a proper ending to the meal—something warm and a little sweet that the kids could eat while the adults sat around talking. This cobbler is simple enough that it doesn’t demand anything from you, which is exactly what you need on a night when the conversation is already doing the heavy work. Lily took the recipe home written on a folded piece of paper, the same way Caleb had taken Danny’s stories home—carefully, because some things are worth keeping.
Blackberry Peach Cobbler
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 3 cups fresh or frozen peaches, peeled and sliced
- 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Pour the melted butter into a 9x13-inch baking dish and set aside.
- Prepare the fruit. In a medium bowl, toss the peaches and blackberries with 1/4 cup of the sugar, the lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Let the fruit sit for 5 minutes to release some of its juices.
- Make the batter. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir in the milk until a smooth batter forms.
- Assemble. Pour the batter evenly over the melted butter in the baking dish—do not stir. Spoon the fruit mixture and all accumulated juices evenly over the top of the batter. Do not stir; the batter will rise up around the fruit as it bakes.
- Bake. Bake for 40–45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the batter portion comes out clean. The edges should be bubbling.
- Rest and serve. Let the cobbler rest for 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm, with vanilla ice cream or softly whipped cream if you have it.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 265 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 12g | Carbs: 38g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 145mg