A Blueberry Buckle for Woody

Back in my New Hampshire days, I shared a border on one side with the White Mountain National Forest and on the other with a dirt road that, depending on the season, would either swallow unwary cars in mud, or snap their axles on a gauntlet of washboards, potholes and outright ditches.

This stretch of road being something of a gold mine for them, the local tow truck drivers would always smile and wave as they made their way past.

Among other things I shared in this rural zip code was a patch of blueberry bushes – though patch is a generous term for the scrawny grouping I tended – with a loud and wily Pileated Woodpecker who returned like clockwork every summer to test my patience.

Woody and I – what else could I call him? – were both rather fond of the plump blueberries my bushes yielded, modest as the harvest was.

And each of us clearly thought just one of us was the entitled party: I, because it was my property; and he, because property boundaries are a frivolous abstraction when your primary mode of transportation is a set of feathered wings. It was hard not to get his point.

Whether it was his way of taunting me, or just something woodpeckers do, Woody would announce his arrival in a chorus of shrill, piping calls. He would swoop-swoop in and elegantly alight on a bush, his considerable size bending a branch until he was suspended perfectly parallel to the ground. When he’d feasted on all the berries within reach, he’d simply shift to another perch and continue grazing.

When I determined he’d had his share, I’d head his way and he’d head another, then I’d gather what I could and get back to the work at hand – testing recipes, writing articles and books, and tending to the business of raising four children.

So I dedicate this recipe to Woody, my feathered frenemy in a detente that stretched on for more than a decade until, perhaps, he spied more promising pickings elsewhere.

As for myself, those bushes never did yield enough berries to meet my recipe testing requirements, so I was on to more promising pickings myself, mostly at the local farm market.

When you see those blueberries at your local market this year, grab some right away because this buckle is one of the easiest and best-tasting coffeecakes you’ll ever come across. You’ll love the fact that it’s chockfull of fruit and blanketed with buttery, brown sugar and oat topping. It’s the first recipe I reach for if I want to crank out a crowd-pleasing fruited cake. Enjoy.