Little Bits

As you can see here are the berries we picked a couple weeks ago. 54 pounds!

They were the best berries that I had tasted in years!

Like I said I was going to make strawberry flavored vodka! So far I have only strained out the berries. Still haven’t had time to try it out yet!

I got the bug to make pop tarts. So I bought pie dough. I know I should have made it but time was short. I used the strawberry preserves from this year. It was the jar I had to put in the fridge.

Everyone liked the burnt ones… Not really burnt just really cooked! I was even going to make the frosting but my powdered sugar was bad. It had an off taste. Who knew! Next time, since the family has requested that these be made weekly.

Gotta Run,

Yart

Strawberries

I am so happy that my girls are the way they are. All three helped out yesterday with the berries. It was such a blessing to have them there through the ordeal…. LOL!

After we got them all cleaned we dried off the water and froze 10 pounds in 30 bags. These will be used for smoothies and shakes. I like the convenience of single serving sizes.

We got 8 pint jars of a soft set strawberry jam. I have never had a strawberry jam set up the way it’s suppose to. That’s fine…. it will be used for topping on Angel Food and Pound cake… Yummm!

9 pints of jelly… Grim is eyeing them, so I don’t think they will last long. Its all good because I jarred up 7 1/2 quarts of juice. That enough to make 23 more pints of jelly. I love my steam juicer. It made fast work of them berries.

Oh, almost forgot I have a pint of strawberries in vodka. Man o man, does it look tasty! It will be a nice treat later in the year!

All of the berries that we picked are processed. I have few more from the csa that I am going to process into Banana Split in a Jar.

Strawberry season is officially over! Black and Blue berries are right around the corner. My baskets are washed as is the canner, I’m ready to go!!!

Gotta Run,

Yart

It's almost a new week!?!

How is that possible? Where did this week go! I demand to know... LOL! We managed to get through the first week of pre-camp. She has 3 days of pre-camp this coming week and then off to band camp the following week. The the week after she comes home, the band will be preforming at on of the major state universities first football game. Band monsters' band was chosen to attend this event. Very kewl! Like I have said before from the begining of August to November we have no life other then band. It is very time consuming.

Grim has 6 more weeks off work, per the doctor. But he will be starting PT on Tuesday. This is a great thing, it means that he is getting better and one day may go back to work. For those of you who may not know Grim was involved in a motorcycle accident on March 31 of this year. Luckily, he was not seriously damaged. The accident has held him out of work because of his shoulder though. So we are going on 5 months of him being home. I am just thankful that he is alive. Because there was a huge possiblity that he could have been killed.

I was able to get the strawberries made into ?. It didn't jell right. Everytime I try to make strawberry jelly it doesn't jell. So we have another syrup. 10 half pints to be exact. It will be good on toast anyways. LOL! I also made up bbq sauce. To me it seemed like a lot of work for so little to show for it. I worked on it for almost 5 hours and only got 3 pints. But it tasted and smelled great, so I will be making it again. My tomatoes are coming in slow but sure. I don't think that I will get enough out of the garden to make everything that I want to make. There is a U-Pick farm that I can go and tomatoes at. Plus it is great fun to get the monsters out there to show them what it is like to be on a real farm doing real work. Next week I should be up to my shoulders in tomato. I love canning.

My house still needs to be cleaned. I have been working on it little by little but there seems to be more important things to do. Went and hung out the other night with friends at our local hang out. Took the kids to bowl.... It was cosmic bowling....Fun was had by all. Plus, it was only $1 per game per person. Cheap fun, does it get any better. Exercise, fun and real potties! (As any mom of kids that are involved in anything, you can relate to why I seem fixated on real potties *big smile*!) Yeah, bowling!!! Back to the cleaning... I feel that if the living room is trashed then my life is chaotic and I don't like that. And guess what room is trashed?!? Any guesses...LOL!

So today if the world doesn't stop rotating then I will be cleaning the living room and making watermelon jelly. But then again I feel the gravitational pull changing, so you never know!

Gotta Run,

Yart

Strawberries

I didn't post anything yesterday, because I thought I had nothing to say. But that's ok, cause I have stuff to write about today.

We went (me, mom & monsters) berry picking. They were $1.46 a pound. I have gotten them cheaper in the store but this was a great experience for the monsters. Mouthy monster could be heard over the whole strawberry patch "Can they have some white on them or this one is squishy". Mind you that Mouthy is only 5 and this was her first time doing something like this. I was able to get 33 pounds. Not to bad of a haul. We were out there for about an hour. I didn't realize that the U-pick was open a week ago. If I would have we would have gone then. These plants were fairly picked over.

Dear brother came over bearing steaks. So that is what we had for dinner. Then while the fire was blazing I proceeded to clean the berries, as we sat around the table talking. Teenage monster was nice enough to take them in the house and rinse them for me. They went into the fridge to spend the night.

So today I am looking for a recipe for strawberry syrup. And whatever else catches my fancy. I also have to get a lemon today. I am going to make peach ambrosia jam. I got this recipe from one of the email groups I belong to.

Peach Ambrosia Jam
Makes about 10 Cups

12 large peaches, blanched, peeled, pitted and diced
2 medium size oranges
1 lemon
sugar equal to amount of measured fruit
1 cup maraschino cherries, drained and sliced

1. Put the oranges and lemon with skins on through the food processor.
2. Mix with the peaches.
3. Measure fruit mixture.
4. Match with an equal amount of sugar.
5. Put into a heavy saucepan.
6. Bring to a boil.
7. Reduce the heat.
8. Cook until thick, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.
9. Add the cherries during the last five minutes of cooking.
10. Skim off foam.
11. Ladle into hot, sterilized jars and seal.
Process 10 minutes water bath

Lots to do today!

Gotta Run
Yart