Every year when school gets out I line up our babysitter (the one I used regularly when I was still working) to watch my little guy so that I can have a special day with my school girl. In the past we have gone to an arcade, a state park/monument and a drive-in restaurant. This year money is a little tighter, as I'm not working outside of the home anymore, so I decided to entertain ourselves by strawberry picking and making strawberry jam.
It was such a fantastic day for it-the rain we were supposed to get just blew on by. My seven year old girl was aptly entertained for over an hour by just picking and commenting on every single berry. Our only down point was when we pulled up to the strawberry farm to see a sign listing "Children over 12 only." My girl is a pretty good reader, so she saw this before me and was crying before I even knew what was going on. We had driven over an hour to get there and I hadn't seen anything on the website about an age limit, so we trekked in and I asked. After some consideration, the owner decided that my gal could pick on an outside of a row of the field, while I picked inside. Like I said before, she was a pro-didn't squash a single plant and not once did I hear "I'm BORED!" When we returned to pay for our bounty, the owner said she saw how good my girl was and that next year she can pick right in the row with me. You should have seen her beaming!
It was the highlight of my whole week having that special time with her-I hope I never forget it... After a quick bite we were back home and I was cutting strawberries. The whole process seemed to take forever, but after a few hours of prep and cooking, we had jam! I made a double batch-big enough to share with some neighbors & friends that often share goodies with us. It's always so good to give, isn't it? The simple recipe I used is:
Refrigerator Strawberry Jam
3 lb strawberries, washed & quartered
1 C. sugar
1 Tbs. lemon juice
Place all ingredients in large saucepan. Bring to boil over med-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, simmer for 1-3 hours (nice and mushy). Allow to cool (will thicken a little as cools). Store in air-tight containers-keep in fridge for up to a month. Makes about 4 cups.
I tried some of the jam that evening on some toast.... A sweet end to a sweet day.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Another two-fer deal on recipes!
I have two great recipes for you-both have been approved by my family:
Fruit Salad
1 C. cut-up bananas
1 C. Cut up strawberries
1 C. cut up apples
1 C. grapes
Fluffy dressing
1/4 C. yogurt (vanilla or fruity is fine)
1/4 thawed whipped cream
1 tbs. orange juice
Combine yogurt & whipped cream. Add orange juice to make desired consistency. Place fruit in a large salad bowl, toss with dressing.
Cheesy Meat and Potato Casserole
3-4 medium potatoes, sliced thin
2 Tbs. butter, melted
1/2 tsp. salt
1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 pkg. frozen corn, thawed
2 Tbs. chopped onion
1 can cream of celery soup
1/3 C. milk
1/4 tsp. Garlic powder
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 C. shredded cheddar
Toss potatoes with butter and salt; arrange on bottom and up sides of a greased casserole dish. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes (depending on how crispy you want your taters).
Meanwhile, in a skillet brown meat and drain. Sprinkle meat and corn over potatoes. Combine soup, milk, garlic powder, pepper onion & 1/2 C. cheese; pour over beef mixture. Bake @ 400 degrees, uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove from oven; top with remaining cheese. Return to oven for 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted.
We all loved this recipe-I cooked my potatoes for the 45 minutes and I thought they were a little too crisp, but my hubby thought they were perfect-so if you like crispy-stick to 45.
GARDEN UPDATE
I have peas!! Okay, maybe not quite peas yet, but I have pea plants! They're kind of short right now, but that's okay, they're still there and haven't been viciously attacked by neighborhood crows, or bunnies, so I'm happy. I also am about to have my first marigold bloom, so that makes me happy, too-those marigold help with keeping pests away (I wonder if I can use it on my hubby?) I've been helping water a vacationing friend's garden this week, and I have to admit that seeing her nicely filled in garden is making me feel a little "green"...........thumb that is (haha!)
Fruit Salad
1 C. cut-up bananas
1 C. Cut up strawberries
1 C. cut up apples
1 C. grapes
Fluffy dressing
1/4 C. yogurt (vanilla or fruity is fine)
1/4 thawed whipped cream
1 tbs. orange juice
Combine yogurt & whipped cream. Add orange juice to make desired consistency. Place fruit in a large salad bowl, toss with dressing.
Cheesy Meat and Potato Casserole
3-4 medium potatoes, sliced thin
2 Tbs. butter, melted
1/2 tsp. salt
1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 pkg. frozen corn, thawed
2 Tbs. chopped onion
1 can cream of celery soup
1/3 C. milk
1/4 tsp. Garlic powder
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 C. shredded cheddar
Toss potatoes with butter and salt; arrange on bottom and up sides of a greased casserole dish. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes (depending on how crispy you want your taters).
Meanwhile, in a skillet brown meat and drain. Sprinkle meat and corn over potatoes. Combine soup, milk, garlic powder, pepper onion & 1/2 C. cheese; pour over beef mixture. Bake @ 400 degrees, uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove from oven; top with remaining cheese. Return to oven for 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted.
We all loved this recipe-I cooked my potatoes for the 45 minutes and I thought they were a little too crisp, but my hubby thought they were perfect-so if you like crispy-stick to 45.
GARDEN UPDATE
I have peas!! Okay, maybe not quite peas yet, but I have pea plants! They're kind of short right now, but that's okay, they're still there and haven't been viciously attacked by neighborhood crows, or bunnies, so I'm happy. I also am about to have my first marigold bloom, so that makes me happy, too-those marigold help with keeping pests away (I wonder if I can use it on my hubby?) I've been helping water a vacationing friend's garden this week, and I have to admit that seeing her nicely filled in garden is making me feel a little "green"...........thumb that is (haha!)
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