A Plethora of Strawberries!

If you are a local reader then you know that life in Rochester lately has been rain, rain and more rain. I am not sure even Seattle is getting the rain we are! The boys had final exams last week and since both Greg and I were working, they often had to ride their bikes to school in the rain. It was either that or ride the bus and stay all day and neither one of them wanted to do that. Roads and parking lots are flooding. The sump pump runs almost non-stop since the ground is so saturated. The dog doesn't even want to go outside, lol.

Saturday we actually had a break from the rain so we all set out to a local farm to pick strawberries. The picking was great, we were given our own section to pick and it was loaded with berries. In no time at all we had picked 20 pounds of strawberries!! Plus the *?* pounds we ate as we went. We made the boys pose for a photo op...

We really should have thought through how many pounds we needed. Really?? 20 lbs??? What we were thinking? 

Because of all the rain, many of the berries were very juicy and I knew they wouldn't last long. The first order of business was strawberry shortcake with freshly whipped cream. Oh my! We all ate ourselves silly. 

Sadly, we hadn't even made a dent in the 20 pounds so I made 6 batches of jam. I haven't canned anything in 2 years because of our move last year and I have been looking forward to strawberry season so I could make some jam. I don't think freezer jam actually counts as canning but I was ready to replenish the stash of homemade jams. The jam is in canning jars, so it looks like I canned, right?! I had to resort to store bought jams and jellies in recent months and they just are not the same! 

I love the taste of strawberry freezer jam. It tastes so fresh. And I love the bright red color. Yes, there is enough sugar in the recipe to send a diabetic into shock but the taste is so awesome.

Even after all of that we still had tons of berries. We enjoyed some dipped in chocolate today for dessert and the rest is being frozen to use later in smoothies.

Note to my 2014 self....10 pounds will do just fine!