Strawberry Fever

Here in the south strawberries are at their peek right now. Even though Olivia has a raised bed of strawberries in her herb garden, we still had to go to a strawberry patch to pick enough for the freezer. Strawberries that have been grown and ripened on the vine without chemicals are SO SWEET! The taste is so full, they just melt in your mouth. After eating one of these you'll never enjoy one bought from a grocery store again. I can't wait until we move to the country and have a larger strawberry patch. :o)

Emma at the strawberry patch.
Hint: Go early in the morning, less people and heat there!

We picked 4 gallons the first week, and 6 gallons the second week
(2 of those were for a friend).
Hint: You have to clean and freeze these the same day because they will begin
to rot quickly, but they are SO worth the effort!

Here are some special strawberry short cakes I made with the berries
form Olivia's garden.

I used chocolate cake and whipping cream....yummmmm
A nice treat at the end of a hard day.
Hint: Even though you may have a fence around your garden,
having a gate is important too...lol (which we do not have yet).
We keep catching our FAT lab getting into the
strawberry bed and eating them!!!
I guess he keeps the rabbits away from HIS berries!

Yesterday, Olivia made Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam. The thing about this recipe is that it does not require strawberries, it uses strawberry Jello, but it does use fresh rhubarb. :o) Now it is not the healthiest thing for you, but it is a nice treat and can also make a GREAT hostess gift when visiting someone, just tie a little raffia bow on it and there ya go! We gave one to the lady that taught our quilting class yesterday.

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

10 cups rhubarb
10 cups sugar
2 large cans pineapple, not drained
Cook this 20-30 minutes

Add 2 large or 4 small strawberry Jello packages, do not add water.

Cook until starts to thicken, about 5 minutes. Pour into hot jars and it will seal on it's own.

If it looks to thin add 5 T. of Jello and 2 T sugar.

This recipe is from my great uncle that lives in Upstate New York, he has always had a small farm and made wonderful maple syrup also! This man was such a faithful husband. He sat with his wife everyday, who was put in a nursing home when her Alzheimers (sp) got too hard for him to care for at home, she was there for over 5 years. She passed away this year, but he is still visiting patients there everyday, he is in his 80's.