Last year we didn't go strawberry picking and we suffered through a whole year of regular jam. I am not in any way exaggerating when I say we suffered. The kids would whine an complain when they were given PB and J sandwiches with the "gross" jam. Then when we had Sunday dinner rolls they would ask again and again when we were going to pick strawberry's and make some jam. There was no way we were going to miss it this year. Then before I knew it strawberry picking season was almost over. We literally had a 3 hour window and dropped everything and went to pick strawberries at the last minute so we wouldn't miss it again. It ended up being a perfect day. It was overcast and cool so we weren't dripping sweat as we picked. Then just as we finished it started to rain. Just in time! To top it all off I was out for a bargain as usual and I called the "headquarters" of the Carlsbad Strawberry Fields and asked if they would do a school discount if we had more than 10 people. They said they did but normally we had to fill out a form online, get permission and do it all a week in advance. I tried my hardest to sound sweet and funny on the phone and asked if they could make an exception just this one and voila they did. The buckets that were normally $12 we got for $6. We went home with 8 buckets in all. Plus my mom and Natalie picked 8 more themselves. The kids did a great job at picking the strawberry's. I tried not to think about all the little microscopic bugs and pesticides on the strawberries as my kids and I popped one after another in my mouth. They were delicious. I figured a few germs would only help make my immune system stronger. Plus they tasted WAY too good to pass up. I taught Taylor and Natalie how to make jam that night and then I stayed up until 1am finishing all the jars. It was a beautiful site to have 20 plus jars of jam. I now know that on our Sunday dinners there will be ooh's and ahh's and every PB and J will taste gourmet. Little do my kids know how easy it is to make jam. They will just have to think I am a gourmet cook and that I can work wonders and turn their freshly picked strawberries into the best homemade jam ever. It will be my little secret.
Dalton and Tanner ate as many strawberries as they picked
Lexie was the best little helper. After a quick lesson on "don't pick or eat the rotten strawberries" she was a pro!
At the end of the day our backs were a little sore and we were pretty dirty but there is nothing like picking fresh strawberries
Kaden and his buddy Ashvin just cranked and filled those buckets faster than anyone
2 comments:
Ah yes, strawberry jam, homemade of course. At our house it is the only strawberry jam. Unfortunately, there are no U-pick strawberry farms around here, so we have to get our fruit from Costco, which is good, but not as good as just picked.
And my married kids think that it is a big deal to make jam, so when they call and ask what my recipe is, I have to laugh and say, it's in the pectin box: Blenderize the berries, add pectin and sugar, stir alot and put in jars. SO hard!
What fun for you.
Looks so fun. I miss going to do that. I had to laugh at the rotten berry lesson for Lexie since we had to give it to Reagan last year.
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