The Strawberry Saga, Part 1

Last weekend I decided it would be a fantastic idea to go and pick as many strawberries as possible and figure out how to use them after.  It was a brilliant idea... for the first 3 containers.  BUT, there was a sale.  And being the wise shopper I am, who am I to say no to a buy five 4-quart containers, get the sixth free.  Oh, and also, they didn't look that large in the fields.

Ian, my best friend Emily, and I went up to Wisconsin to Thompson Farms to pick our gorgeous strawberries.

We picked in a patch that we thought hadn't been tackled yet.  And got completely covered in strawberries.

The strawberries were absolutely beautiful!  And they're pretty easy to pick when you have a group of people to help!

While I probably over did it a bit (I had six of these baskets), this is a great experience for kids and adults!  It's great to know where you're food comes from, how it grows, and be creative in finding new ways to make it.  This particular farm also has raspberry picking and pumpkin patches so we'll be returning!  Since it isn't organic, we made sure to get an organic wash for the strawberries before eating them.  This is very important!  Among other things, we managed to make strawberry jam, strawberry wine jelly, ice cream, strawberry limeade, and cake.  More to come!