We’re nearing the end of THRIVE’s Eat Local Week, but that doesn’t mean we’re winding down our locally-infused specials. During summer’s peak harvest season, our specials board is filled with appetizers, sandwiches, salads, entrées and desserts made with ingredients from our friends at the Growers and Crafters Market, and our rooftop garden. We’re especially having fun preparing sweet treats with berries and stone fruits that are ripening to perfection during these late summer days.

This week, the Standing Stone Brewing Co staff has been busy harvesting berries at Standing Stone’s new farm site. If you’ve been to the restaurant and noticed the stained purple fingers of the cooks, servers and bartenders, that’s because they’ve been picking blackberries! Pounds and pounds of fresh blackberries have been coming in to the kitchen, and we can’t wait to try some of the fresh new recipes our cooks and bakers come up with.

We took a few minutes to ask Standing Stone baker, Nate Kelsey, what we can expect to see for dessert specials in the coming days and weeks, and some easy ideas for using seasonal fruits in desserts at home.

What are you plans for all these blackberries?

We just made a Blackberry Galette, which is a kind of rustic tart.  You can definitely expect to see a blackberry version of our best selling cobbler, too. We’re also interested in trying a mousse.  We’ve got so many blackberries, we can really have fun trying a lot of new recipes.

What other desserts are you excited about this time of year?

We’ve been getting a lot of fruit from the Growers and Crafters Market every week. We’ve made a Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp, served with vanilla ice cream.  The peaches are really wonderful right now, and we’ve used those in cobblers as well.  Now that we’re making breakfast on Saturdays, we’ve been using fresh fruit in scones, too. Peach Scones, Blueberry Scones and Apricot Scones are going over really well.

What are some easy ideas for using local fruits in desserts at home?

We really like doing seasonal variations of bread pudding. We use our own house-made bread at Standing Stone, but you can use whatever bread you like at home. You basically cut it into inch-sized pieces, pour custard over top, and throw in whichever seasonal fruit you have. Bake in the oven and you’ve got a really nice bread pudding for dessert.  You can also blend berries into a coulis to pour over top.  Just combine berries, sugar and some lemon juice in a food processor, blend well and strain.

Thank you, Nate, for the sneak peek onto the baker’s table.  Be sure to ask your server about the special desserts next time you’re in for a visit, and enjoy our valley’s fresh bounty by celebrating eating local!