Last year JL wanted to go strawberry picking, but it just did not work out with an infant less than a month old. This year he was quite persistent and gathered information about local pick your own patches. We finally narrowed it down to a place not too far away. On Father’s Day after having breakfast with my dad (mom was at work) we went to pick strawberries. NHL was beyond excited and could not wait to get there. Here are some photos from our time picking about 6 1/2 pounds of the yummy red goodness!
*** Be sure to hover over the photos to see additional captions. Warning that this is photo heavy. Since my family does read this I wanted to share lots of the photos with them as well.
First JL took NHL out into the field while I stayed trying to rock JSL in the stroller (this never did work).
After a little while NHL and JL came back to get more containers for strawberries. Plus they wanted to show me all that they had collected.
At this point the little guy made it crystal clear that he was not about to stay in his stroller. JL took him and all of the boys went back out to get more strawberries. Apparently at one point JSL got a hold of a strawberry from the container when Daddy was not looking and squished it. He was then given a sample to taste and LOVED it!
Eventually all of the boys wandered back to show me more strawberries and to let me head out into the field. Believe it or not I believe this was the first time I had ever gone strawberry picking. Poor JSL was really tired from lack of a nap – thus the reason his binky was in (that and teething).
After a while we had four good sized containers of strawberries. Both of the boys were tired from the heat and humidity so we went to pay and head home.
So if you made it through all of these photos you can see we had a great time. So much so that one of us never made it very far before falling asleep.
Depending on the weather we may go again this coming weekend. So I ask those of you reading this – any suggestions on things to make with strawberries?
Great pics!!! Looks like fun!! We have a place like that here too! :)
Let’s see… my favorite of course is Strawberry Shortcake! Strawberries in your cereal, strawberry pie, strawberry rhubarb, strawberry pancakes/waffles, strawberry syrup, strawberry jam, strawberry turnovers, strawberry sundaes… ok I feel like Bubba so I’m going to stop now. haha
Ok, strawberry jam is *really* easy to make. Pick up a box of Certo Sure-Jell and follow the directions. You smash the strawberries (I use a potato masher on a cookie sheet – you need something with sides) and mix them with a lot of sugar. Mix the Sure-Jell with lemon juice, combine with the strawberries and sugar, pour into jars and let sit for 24 hours. Then freeze or refrigerate. I just opened the last jar from the freezer from last year and it was still yummy.
We also like to eat fresh strawberries with pound cake (or angel food cake if you’re counting points) and whipped cream (or fat free cool whip – see counting points). It’s great that JSL likes the strawberries – Zach likes to squish them, or take a nibble and then throw it on the floor, and then grab for another one. :) Alex, on the other hand, loves them.
DAIQUIRIS!
Toss into a blender, add OJ and some sugar. (Folding in some egg whites is optional), freeze. Then either sever as ices or put chunks of the frozen yumminess back into the blender and add some tequila….
Ohhhhh, those look incredible! Yay! :) We’re supposed to get some strawberries this Friday in our CSA share. Looks like you all had a great time. LOVED the photos ~ especially of your husband in the field with your two boys. Hope you have fun using those strawberries! They are my husband’s favorite!
I second the person who said making jam was easy…it is not only easy, but a fantastic way to share and preserve the berries. My only bit of advice is if the berries are very, very ripe, add some additional lemon juice so that the jam jells properly. I have also done some combo jam flavors like peach-strawberry and apple-stawberry and of course my favorite is strawberry-rhubard (not only a great jam flavor, but a wonderful pie or crisp). The boys, all three, looked like they had a fabulous afternoon!
It looks like a lot of fun! Those strawberries look absolutely mouth watering. I had to laugh at your little one in the car seat. My babies sleep like that, and I don’t know how they can do it without waking up with a stiff neck. But they don’t seem to mind.