We went to a local strawberry farm's u-pick yesterday. It was soaking wet and plenty of fun. We drove through a serious rainshower on our way there, but the rain held off while we picked. It seemed to take forever to fill our boxes since the berries were quite small, and because Phillip isn't exactly helpful yet.We wanted him to see where strawberries come from, and he did, commenting all the while. "The lady fixed her shirt!"
"Mama's picking, picking, picking."
"I can see the strawberries!"
"Strawberries, Mama! For us to eat!"
All of the berries are tucked nicely into the freezer now, some whole, some sliced, and some in jam form. One thing I regretted about last year was that I made too much jam (we don't eat it terribly often) and didn't freeze enough whole and sliced berries (which we use all of the time, mostly in smoothies).
Here's the jam recipe: go to the grocery store and pick up a packet of the freezer jam powder pictured above. It makes amazing freezer jam that tastes like strawberries, not sugar. All you need is:
4 cups finely chopped berries (I used a pastry blender)
1 1/2 cups sugar
Packet of Club House freezer jam stuff pictured above (there aren't any scary things in it)
One packet makes 2 standard-size jars, and they last beautifully in the freezer. It takes a total of about 20 minutes to make a batch, and you can totally have several on the go at a time. We're on the last jar of 2008 jam right now, so it's nice to have more in the freezer.
If you need a way to use up some extra berries and don't want to go the jam route, make this strawberry dumpling. It's super easy, quick, and fun to make! Not to mention delicious, and excellent for sharing. The more cream the merrier. We had friends over, and four of us ate the entire batch in ten minutes or so.
I will be off on a little holiday for awhile - I'm excited for some reading and relaxing. Try not to miss me too much - I've got some recipes and home brewed experiments to share when I get back. I can't wait to catch up on all of your blogs, too.
In the meantime, go and make these butterscotch brownies. You will not be disappointed!
By the looks of your pictures I think that's the same strawberry fields Dave and I were this morning. We got huge ones from the rows they put us in. I will make a double batch of jam and I have 3 large bags full in the freezer for pies and smoothies. Enjoy your little holiday and hope to see pictures when you get back to this blog. Of course I will miss you :-)
ReplyDeleteMmmmm... strawberries... :) I bought 6 boxes of berries in Dayton, but they weren't Woods and they weren't as good. They made good jam, though - we made strawberry, and strawberry-banana - and some strawberry-pineapple that didn't set so I guess it will be for pancakes and ice cream!
ReplyDeleteThe next nice day we have, we're headed for U-Pick country so I can jar up some nice whole berries for making shortcakes and stuff.
I bought two quarts of berries yesterday to make jam with and got only 2 1/2 cups of crushed berries! Note to self: next time, measure *before* getting out the canner and covering half the apartment in jars and lids and funnels. I'm going to try again on the weekend. Maybe.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your vacation! I hope the sun is shining for you.
Andrew and I were just talking about making jam- my mom always made strawberry jam- it's SO delicious! I felt sad for Andrew when he mentioned that his mother never did... so Philip is going to have fantastic memories!
ReplyDeleteMy memories of the U-pick as a child (I think it's the same one, but it used to owned by an older lady??) was that we got yelled at by the lady... alot. I guess we weren't supposed to be happily going along picking AND eating ALL the strawberries... including the white ones! lol.
Happy Vacation and YAY Strawberry jam!
The strawberries look great. I wish I could go strawberry picking.
ReplyDelete