In The Life of a Girl: DIY Family Recipe: Blackberry Cobbler

This recipe has been in my family for generations, and it's still SO good. It just is. Well, go find your aprons!

Make a glass of ice water with lots of ice. And no, this is not for you to drink. Sorry to burst your bubble.

Put a quart (4 cups) of blackberries into a pot, and put a small amount of water into it.

Then pour in 1 1/2 cups of sugar. (1 cup for wild berries) Turn the heat to medium.

Now put 2 cups of flour into a mixing bowl, and a tsp. of salt. Here's my cute measuring spoon again.

Here's the flour mixture.

And here are the delectable blackberries. Oh yum.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Now put a cup of vegetable oil shortening in to the flour mixture. Now if you store your shortening in the pantry (as I do), put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes to make sure it's chilled. Mine was in the pantry so it was warm.

Chop up the shortening into the flour mixture until it's little bits. Yours may look a little different if your shortening is good and chilled.

Now measure 1/2 a cup of the ice water you made earlier, being sure you don't get any ice in it. You made it at the beginning, because it has to be good and cold. I hope you didn't drink it.

Now mix it thoroughly, but don't over mix. Then put flour into the bowl, and form a ball. (these are my mom's hands)

Flour your surface.

And grease a 14 by 9 inch pan. In this recipe you don't have to grease it like nobody's business. Just grease it.

Make sure your berries are just simmering, not boiling. Don't they look just absolutely delicious? Well don't eat them.

Now cut the dough in half, and roll both halves out, thin and oblong.

Now pick it up (GENTLY) and lay it on one half of the pan, with one side hanging out, like so. Do so with both halves. And the good thing about cobblers is that they don't have to be perfect. So just let it do what it wants to do.

Now it's time to......pour in the berries! Oh, it's so fun. Just SO fun. It will splatter, so pour them in slowly, or else....well, let's just hope you wanted your kitchen painted purple.

And even out the berries.

This step is optional, but I think it makes it all the better. Put small pats of butter all over the berries.

Now fold over the halves that were hanging out. Remember, it doesn't have to be perfect! So if it tears, parts sink, it gets scrunched up, just let it be! It will make it look yummy.