Strawberry Season!!!!

I love strawberry season!  We have a great farm right up the road and we have been picking three times so far.  The kids have come with me every time and they absolutely love it!  I'm so proud that they are beginning to really understand that food does not come out of a grocery store, or worse, a box!

My friend, Lindsay came with us on one of our strawberry adventures.  She is a bus person at the restaurant where I moonlight, but more than that, she's a dear friend.  She just graduated and will be going to college far far away, so we will be packing lots of fun into our summer before she goes.  My kids adore her.  They call her Lindsay Loo Who.  (Well, to be fair, that's what I call her and they just picked up on it, but it's still cute!)

Just look at this sweet girl.  The strawberries are pretty sweet too, but she is definitely sweeter!

We ran into a family from our church so I actually got a pretty awesome group photo!  Yup, that's Little Cameron on my back.  He has a great time way up there!

Lots of people ask what I do with all the strawberries I pick.  I mean, we have been three times, and you can see above that we pick a lot of strawberries!

First, I hull the strawberries and wash them.  Last year I used a straw, which worked well, but this year I invested in the Stem Gem and I am so glad that I did.  It is awesome!  After they are washed I lay them out on a cookie sheet and place them in the freezer until they are frozen.  Then I transfer them to 1 quart freezer bags for our chest freezer.  Strawberries will always thaw out and be mushy, but they are great for strawberry shortcake, pies, toppings for waffles or pancakes and tons of other tasty treats.  We always save out a couple quarts each week for just plain eating!

Alright, gotta go to bed.  We have an early morning of strawberry picking planned for tomorrow, ha ha!