Blackberry cobbler can be made in a baking dish, a cast iron pan, or even in mason jars.

The mason jars are perfect for picnics or school lunches, but I tend to bake in jars when I only want to make four servings or when I only  have a handful of fruit. One of the best advantages in using mason jars is portion control, which could be really necessary because this is my best cobbler to date.

I love blackberries and for a fruit that isn’t very sweet, it’s surprising that I’m not alone. I understand my own persona obsession with the deep, rich, purple black, textured, plump, juicy berry. And the fact that they are so hard to gather up just adds to their value.

The wild blackberry bushes have thorns like knives and have taken my blood on more than one occasion.  Thornless blackberry bushes do exist, but even then, if you go picking, you have to worry about snakes. My food blogger friend, Teresa, tells her story about a snake in the blackberry bush and she also shares a gorgeous blackberry upside down cake.

I’ve written and rewritten this post several times, because I have something I’m compelled to write about, yet I’ve battled the fear of exposing too much. I’ve deleted and come back again, and deleted again and shut my computer. I keep returning to this though, and I’ve decided to just be who I am, for better or for worse.

Did you ever notice that sometimes good things are hard to get and you have to fight for them? Or that in order to get to them, you have to put up with thorns and snakes or something equally difficult. It’s the way of the world.

My husband has had to deal with Retro Rose as his mother in law in order to have me as his wife. Oh, she loves him dearly, and he has probably done more for her than for his own mother. She lives right down the street and she calls my husband more than she calls me for all sorts of problem solving, feud settling, fire squelching reasons. It’s always funny in hindsight, and her good food and her prayers are the benefits we get to enjoy along with the thorns.

Then there are other difficult relationships, those with friends, co-workers, and neighbors. I have had my challenges this year with people who I thought were my friends, who turned around and did things very hurtful, treacherous and premeditated. I’ve experienced betrayal up close and personal.

It will take a long long time to get past this experience. It’s not so much how it has affected my life, as it is that knowing that people are capable and willing to harm others, seeking to destroy instead of build.

This experience has jolted me so much that while I know I will forgive, I will never forget this experience.  The psychologist in me says there is something in that person that needs healing and it’s big, deep and ugly. It’s always sad because people that rage and lash out to hurt others have usually been hurt at a very young age, possibly pre-verbal, and live their life seeing their perpetrator in everyone else, all the while destroying good friendships and family.

I believe in the power of redemption. I believe that the best way we can fight evil and the devil in this world is to walk in love, to aim every day to reconcile our differences, to forgo pride, shave off our own flaws, to muster up the stamina that it takes to forgive.

The Christian part of me says there is an answer to this and it lies in the redemptive power of Christ, that people’s wounds can be healed, that we are all capable of being snakes, and it’s only God that lifts us to a better place.

My God tells me to pray for my enemies, and bless those who curse me. My God says that love never fails. But, the bible also promises us a difficult road in this life, one which many battles to fight, many hills to climb and that climbing then alone is foolish. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, his reply was to love one another. He knew this was the hardest thing to walk out, so He made himself an example of that love. We fail miserably in our own lives. Most people reading this have some deep wounds not yet healed, caused by another person.

How do we risk relationships and get the blackberry without yet another trickle of blood from a thorn or a snake bite?

I pondered this early in life. Man’s inhumanity to man was a year long discussion in my ninth grade humanities class. I didn’t get it. I do now.

I think we need to have this discussion and work inside of our hearts to understand that it’s a master plan of the enemy, and it’s the very reason we have and need a Savior.

We need to have this talk with our children so they don’t turn into bullies, and we need to contain, and control our own anger so that our children are not learning rage and revenge as a way of life. We need to model love, emotional resolve and stamina.

I feel so powerless in this area, if not for a God who can help me. Perhaps, you consider yourself not very religious, and this sounds foreign. But, it’s still my observation that those who don’t believe in God, do believe in love,  and as trite as that sounds, love is our best weapon of protection.

Tell me, did I hit a nerve? I don’t know, but I hit plenty of mine.

These are half pint wide mouthed jars. I filled them about an inch and half from the beginning of the jar lid area. This is fine if you’re not going to freeze them. If you plan on freezing them, only fill half way because you have to allow an inch of free space between the cobbler and lid, once baked.

The cobble rose nearly an inch during the baking process. Keep that in mind if you want to add in ice cream.

This recipe is a lot different from my peach cobbler, which was made with more of a biscuit flavor and buttermilk. This is much more simple and amazing with ice cream. You can make any fruit cobbler with this recipe.

More Cobbler Recipes

More Blackberry Recipes