Crazy Amount of Strawberries

Bright and early this morning my family went strawberry picking. Some of us were more chipper about it than others. It was a gorgeous morning and in a very short amount of time we picked 17 pounds of strawberries.

Yes, 17. I've done this before. But because of the weather these berries were not going to last even 24 hours. I had to get them "processed." Today.

In 8 hours I made: 1 batch strawberry jam (which is better than the previous batch so I think I'll enter this one in the fair, not the other), 1 batch strawberry margarita jam, 1 batch strawberry rhubarb jam, 1 batch strawberry jalapeno jam*, 1 batch strawberry lemon marmalade, 1 batch strawberries with sugar for another shortcake, a chocolate shortcake for said strawberry shortcake, a pie crust, set aside the strawberries and rhubarb for the filling (I'll roll out the crust and bake the pie tomorrow), washed some for eating now and refrigerated the rest (about a quart) for smoothies tomorrow.

Also, I picked whatever mulberries I could off our tree, as there is a storm coming through and they're all going to get knocked off anyway. And my husband and I assembled new patio furniture.

I am officially exhausted!

*There are a couple of people in my life who love the strawberry jalapeno jam so much that whenever I make a batch I set aside a jar for each of them. Not that it lasts long. One of these friends can eat the entire 8 ounce jar of this jam in 5 minutes. Straight. Just with a spoon. I've seen her do it.

There's a Strawberry Festival at My House!

Looking ahead at my schedule for the next few weeks, it actually made sense to drag everyone out of bed at 6:30 this morning to go strawberry picking.  The farm I usually frequent had a notice on their website that because it was so crowded yesterday, they expected to be picked out by mid-morning.  I insisted we leave earlier than originally planned.

And, then, we waited in a line of cars (we were third, but only because the people in front of us lost their place when they decided they could maybe go when the two cars in front of them were waiting.  Hah.) and hurried to the fields, where the picking was...glorious!  We netted 13+ pounds of berries, which is about 9 quarts, in about 25 minutes.  We visited the goats, chickens and rabbits, ate strawberry donuts (which were still warm, mmmm) and drove home.  All before 9 am, and in lovely 70-ish degree weather.

Since then, I have made a batch of strawberry jam (8 half-pints), strawberry margarita jam (8 half-pints), a double batch of strawberry lemonade concentrate (5 quarts), a strawberry rhubarb pie, 2 blueberry tarts with the leftover pie crust, mac and cheese for lunch, and I am soaking rice and marinating meat for dinner. Plus a quart and a bit of berries for eating and another quart washed, sliced, and mixed with sugar for tomorrow, when I make shortcake.  All that, and I had to wait for my husband to get back from the grocery store with more sugar, lemon juice, limes, and other key ingredients.  (He went by bike, and even after putting all the groceries in his panniers, the bread was unscathed.  Maybe I will try to bike in the future.)

In the past, I'd had trouble with the strawberry jam setting up.  I think some of it had to do with jar size and maybe also the type of pectin I use.  Today I tried the powdered pectin rather than the liquid, just for this batch.  It did set up, so that is reassuring.  The strawberry margarita jam isn't setting as quickly, but I think the alcohol in it slows things down.  It did work last year....

Huh.  For a day that was supposed to be the day we did nothing, we sure are doing a lot!

Strawberry Beverages!

I impulse-bought a new canning cookbook, one of those little magazine ones at the check out counter. It's from Better Homes and Gardens. Now, my mother has gotten BH&G for as long as I can remember. I love looking through them. Although, I confess, since I've been a home owner the garden and decorating sections always make me feel inadequate. But this canning book! It has great recipes. One of the first ones is Strawberry Margarita Jam. Yes, it has tequila in it! Cooking it made me want a margarita. But it was 8:00 in the morning. So I'll have to make do with the jam. It claimed to make 7 cups but really made 8, so there is some in the fridge because I didn't have enough jars prepped. It's berries, lime juice, tequila, triple sec, sugar, pectin, and grated lime zest. Mmmm.

I then turned my attention to a double batch of Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate (Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving). We'd bought a 5 pound bag of sugar last night and I'm already halfway through it and need to go buy more! Anyhow, there are 5 quarts of this in the canner and I can now see the bottom of the box of berries. I think I only have about 3 quarts left. I will likely throw together another batch of jam this afternoon. Maybe Strawberry Rhubarb.