Strawberry season!

I've been excited to pick strawberries since I bought my house in February. Yes, I plan my life way ahead of time. This is actually a rather short leadway for me. Last year, the strawberries didn't come in til the first week in June so I was planning on calling around to the local patches later this month. I would have missed the strawberries! Thankfully one of the ladies I work with happened to mention that her father picked the most beautiful strawberries over the weekend. After a little internet research and a few phone calls I had strawberry picking on the calendar for bright and early Saturday morning.

I headed over to Lilley Farms in Chesapeake, VA. I highly recommend them if you live in the Portsmouth/Chesapeake area of Hampton Roads. They're a little smaller outfit than I'm use to but the patch is neat and well kept and the strawberries are grown on mounds which makes picking easier on those of us in the 5'10" category! And the berries are delicious! The look on the little girl's face when I told her, "No hunny, I need three buckets", as she tried to hand me a pint basket was priceless.

I know, I'm not a normal 25 yr-old. I've embraced this. But anyway, back to the strawberries...

Aren't these beautiful?


Here are a few pictures of Lilley Farm:






So what do you do with that many strawberries?


You make shortcake!

...well, my mother's take on shortcake. I love to drench this in half and half and cover it with sugared berries. MMmmmmm... Also great with peaches! But, that's another season.

Behind the cake you can see the strawberries I've sliced and sugared for freezer storage.

And here are the pints of freezer jam all in a line!


This is the easiest stuff in the world to make. And sooooo delicious. I used Sure Jell pectin and followed the recipe in the box. 2 cups strawberries... 4 cups sugar... stir and let sit for 10 minutes... boil 3/4 cup water and pectin for one minute... stir into strawberry mixture... pour into freezer containers... let set for 24 hours... move to freezer. Done and done!

And here's how Molly McGee felt about the whole process...


She was just happy I stayed in one room long enough for an afternoon nap!

OH, and aren't you proud that I have real pictures instead of crappy blackberry pictures?