Raspberry bounty

Most years the raspberry bushes in the yard yield up maybe a quart or two of raspberries during the season. Enough to smother some vanilla ice cream in and maybe bake something, but a quantity I can scarf up quite easily. This year, they've gone freakin' nuts. I think I've spent a couple of hours picking so far. And it's a small yard.

I'm looking for good storage/keeping ideas. I know I can freeze them individually & then put them in ziploc bags, or maybe make a refrigerator jam [I'm not a canner normally]. But so far, I haven't run into an idea that makes my eyes light up [and my tummy say howdy].

So I humbly solicit your creative suggestions.

Giovanna

Pfft putting them on vanilla ice cream. Use the ones that aren't suitable for eating out of hand to make raspberry sorbet or ice cream. The former is especially nice on a hot summer evening. And sorbet keeps for a while

Raspberry cobbler. Raspberry kolachky's. Raspberry sorbet. Raspberry sauce topped duck and/or salmon.

With regards to the general storage suggestion, speaking also as a non-canner, I'd puree some of them and freeze the puree, and freeze the rest whole.

Just yesterday, The Condiment Queen made a nice sauce for pancakes by warming up raspberries, adding a bit of butter and some maple syrup--how local too boot!

Raspberry liqueur

3 cups fresh raspberries
About 1 1/2 cups vodka or gin
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
Glycerine (optional)

Rinse raspberries and place in a quart jar; add vodka to the top. Cover. Shake whenever you happen to think of it for six weeks or longer. You can also add additional flavoring such as lemon zest, a vanilla bean or allspice berries.

Filter out the solids using a strainer lined with a coffee filter, crushing to get all the liquid.

In a small saucepan, boil together the sugar and water until all the sugar has dissolved. Let cool. Add sugar syrup to the raspberry vodka to taste. Stir in glycerine a half-teaspoonful at a time until you achieve the desired consistency.

Bottle and let mellow for another couple of weeks to several months for improved flavor.

Giovanna, I am envious! May I suggest the peches cardinal from Mastering the Art of French Cooking? You have to sieve the raspberries to remove the seeds, but it is worth it. Also, non-dessert eaters love this because it is not too sweet.

Raspberry vinegar - just wash the more bruised of your berries, put them in a big clean wide-mouthed jar with a lid, and cover with rice vinegar. I've found that you can decant the vinegar sans berries into smaller fou-fou containers, and further flavor with fresh herbs - thyme or rosemary work great. You can then refill the jar with vinegar, and get another batch out of the same berries.

Good eats. Tons of uses, too. A viniagrette of this, chopped thyme or rosemary (or tarragon), S&P, olive oil, and your mustard of choice makes a dandy marinade for grilled chicken.

Raspberry Sorbet

I had an abundance of black razzes a couple years ago (plowed under as part of the remodeling, sadly), and made a great sorbet.

I ran the berries through a food mill to remove the seeds, added just a bit of sugar and a couple tablespoons of white wine (or was it from an open bottle of champagne? I don't remember), and froze it in a hand-cranked frozen-sleeved ice-cream maker.

Bitter and sour and sweet and intense, it was fantastic.