Strawberries

The kids and I caught the end of the strawberry season and spent a short morning out in the strawberry fields. The kids eat a lot of jam and strawberry jam is a bit of a luxury around our house. I knew strawberry picking would be a challenge for us, since they are so young but I like the adventure of getting the kids out there. I also believe that they should understand where food comes from and be connected to the food that we eat. So we set about picking strawberries for jam. Gwendolyn grabbed and tasted lots of weeds and some strawberry leaves. Tristan picked a couple good handfuls of nice looking strawberries, despite the end of the season scarcity, and Anastasia tasted one strawberry, spat it out, and decided she was done strawberry picking. Ana did enjoy getting a little rub by the farm's cat and seeing the big dog that ambled over to greet baby Gwen. When we returned home with our strawberries, Anastasia helped wash and cut them up for jam and then we attempted to make jam. We ended up with strawberry syrup! (Guess I should have used pectin after all.) If I re-open the jars to try to add pectin I'll let you know, but for now we have four jars of strawberry syrup in the pantry. We topped waffles with whipped cream and strawberry syrup and it tastes delicious! We also enjoyed strawberries and cream and strawberry smoothies. Yum! There is nothing like a fresh, sweet, pink centered, hand picked strawberry.





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