Monday, June 21, 2021

T Stands for Strawberries

 Hi everyone. 

The weeks go by so fast. Hope everyone has had a nice past week. 

Happy T Day again.  Stop over at Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog and share your drink related post, as well as whatever else you want to share.

I didn't realize that strawberries were  ready to pick strawberries here in New Hampshire until I was driving down the road a couple of weeks ago and saw some for sale on the side of the road. June definitely means strawberries in my area.

Even though last week was a busy week for me, I knew I had to squeeze in some strawberry picking because the season doesn't last that long.


While  my daughter was home visiting,  I suggested we should go pick some strawberries at a local farm first thing the morning. She rolled her eyes at me, but she did get up to go. In the car she told me that she was only going because I told her she had to. 
Knowing my daughter, she isn't always quickly receptive to new things. I think in her mind picking strawberries reminded her of being dragged out by me to go picking when she was a kid.


At the farm I grabbed a big box container for my pickings, and she took a quart container as you can see in the above photo.


The picking was really excellent, even though I seemed to photograph more unripe ones than red juicy ones in this above picture.  My daughter  filled her quart container about 4 times and then dumped them into my box. It didn't take long before she was into strawberry picking. She even told me she can see why I wanted to go. She said it was addicting, and they tasted so good.

I thought to myself that's the difference between being 29 and 9, but I certainly wasn't going to say that to her.


It's a lot more fun to pick with someone who is enjoying themselves than someone who is only going because you dragged them there. Smile.

The farm even makes their own homemade cider donuts. We could smell them in the parking lot and around the barn where you pay.  You could buy a bag of either 2, 4 or 6 donuts, and I got a bag of 6 to bring home so each of us (my daughter, husband and myself) could each have a couple. They were bigger than I thought they would be, still warm when we got home, and were very tasty. One would have been enough, but they were only going to be warm and fresh for a short time. 

The donuts were a nice way to finish off what turned out to be a really good morning. Even for my daughter.


I also did a bit of making with my strawberries. I forgot to take pictures of my strawberry cake, but here's the photo from Once Upon a Chef blog where I got my recipe. (You can click on the link for it if you are interested in the recipe.)


This cake was very delicious with some whipped cream and really easy to make. I've added this recipe to my remake pile because I think it would taste great with other fruit too.

I also made some strawberry jam/sauce.


I call it jam/sauce as I don't like really thick jams, and this one is good as a jam but also good as a slightly thicker sauce on ice cream, waffles or whatever else you'd chose to put it on. Plus I left in chunks of strawberries.

And I have 2 drinks for T this week. 
My first drink was from the farm where we picked our strawberries. They also make their own hard cider, and for strawberry season they made a strawberry and apple red cider. I liked the idea of strawberry cider and decided to try a half growler.


(If you're wondering about the water in the background, that's because the hubby and I had it while we were out on the boat.)

We used our boat cups (washable plastic so they don't break) to drink out cider from, and they really show the red cider against the white inside of the cup.


I really liked this cider as it wasn't sweet. I don't really like sweet cider.

My second photo was a hard seltzer my niece gave me to try at my mother-in-laws one afternoon when we were both there.  It was a really tasty hard seltzer with just the right amount of strawberry to make it not too sweet.



Hope every has a wonderful T day and week ahead. Thanks for visiting my blog.



24 comments:

kathyinozarks said...

Great post, I used to always go out and pick fruits to put up-strawberries, blueberries, and in the fall when I was home we would go up to Michigan and pick cherries and apples-I always enjoyed the experience and never thought of it as work-well until we got home to wash and preserve it all haha
I love a good hard cider too and I don't like real sweet ciders either. Love the bottle.
Glad you got out boating--Happy T wishes Kathy

Linda Kunsman said...

Ha ha- great story about the strawberry picking:):) That'd be our son as well. I have yet to go pick or get some farmer's market strawberries but now I will surely be on the hunt. And oh yes, eat those donuts while they are so fresh and warm! That's the (dangerous) way i like to have a fresh loaf of specialty bread;) Happy T day!

Darla said...

Strawberries right from the field are So Good. I don't go picking anymore but I do go to one of the only remaining fruit stands I know of for strawberries. You can see the fields and pickers right behind the stand. So many delicious fruits and berries are available now. Your cake look great. I have an old recipe called "Furit Kuchen" that looks very similar. I use peaches or pears for the fruit

Mae Travels said...

Picking strawberries is a nice thought, as far as I'm concerned, but I've never actually done it. I don't make preserves of any kind, and the two of us can only eat a few of the fresh ones, so it would seem silly to go out and pick three pints. So I just think about it for a while and then don't do it. Good to see you did it!

best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I've never seen a strawberry farm around here, but it looks like the two of you had fun and your daughter looked like she got into it, too. The donut looks sinful, but so does that strawberry dessert.

I've had apple cider, which is non-alcoholic. I hope you enjoyed yours because I would probably be sick if the boat was weaving too much. You even got MORE strawberries with the seltzer. This was truly a strawberry post, dear. Thanks for sharing your strawberry picking, your treats, and your strawberry cider and seltzer with us for T this almost Tuesday, dear Erika.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Sorry, just read your question. Our ATC exchange is July 12/13, so it should go out that week, please.

Valerie-Jael said...

Glad you enjoyed strawberry picking with your daughter, and that she enjoyed it in the end. Your jams and cake look wonderful, so delicious! I like cider, but mustn't drink anything alcoholic because of my medications. But I still have coffee! Happy T Day, hugs, Valerie

Iris Flavia said...

And guess what we had for breakfast today :-)
Well, my crop was abit smaller, of course.
Yes, some things we only love when getting "old" ;-)
Hmmm, your jam/sauce looks yum!
And ohhhh... wonderful pic from the boat!
Never heard of Seltzer, but it sounds yummy, too!
Have a great T-Day!

Manav Singhi said...

Great Post and Beautiful Shots . . . You Have a Great Day. . . :)

Lisca said...

Great story about the strawberry picking. I'm glad your daughter liked it in the end. I have sweet memories of strawberry picking in England when my sister and I were children. We could stay on the camp site for free, but had to pick a certain amount of strawberries per day. So we set out every morning (tractor ride, great fun) and sat our bums on the straw and picked, with a transistor radio between our legs, listening to the beatles' Strawberry Fields Forever.
It was that year. Was it 1967?
Your cider drinks are interesting. I don't like sweet cider either. So I probably would have joined you for that.
Those donuts! Yumm! And your strawberry cake looks very delicious. Unfortunately our strawberry season has been and gone. (March)
Happy T-Day,
Hugs,
Lisca

nwilliams6 said...

Now I want some strawberries and wish I had picked the when they were in season here. Love all the things you did with yours and those donuts look aweseome. I would love to try those drinks you had too. Fun strawberry post, Erika. Happy T-day and hugz

J said...

I’m still picking strawberries from our small plot, I’m in the middle of making some strawberry jam, they ferment in the fridge for three days, it seems they don’t take so long at the boiling process and the last batch I made is delicious , I also made runny jam that my husband loves with Greek yoghurt as you say the juice makes a lovely sauce.
The donuts sounds delicious too and you really do need to eat them warm and fresh!
Happy T Day, jan

CJ Kennedy said...

Wonderful story about picking strawberries. 20 somethings! 😺 Looks like you got a great haul of strawberries and cider donuts to boot. Happy T Day! Enjoy the weather this week!

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

We picked up a fresh quart of strawberries this week too from a local farm, Brookdale, and did not do any work as they were sold at Hannaford Supermarket. Unfortunately, we did not get to try any apple cider donuts and the one you showed looked delicious. Where did you and your daughter pick strawberries?

Kate Yetter said...

Your strawberry dessert and strawberry jam looks delicious! Oh the joys of summer. I am so glad that you were able to enjoy strawberry picking with your daughter. The donuts are always the best part of picking fresh fruit and visiting the farm. Yum!
Happy Tea Day,
Kate

Jeanie said...

That's really fabulous, Erika. I don't know which I liked best -- the photos, the gorgeous fruits of your labors (may I have a piece of pie, please?) and the fact that you went picking with your daughter -- and she loved it. (And she can squat -- I wish I could squat!). I think I liked the picking with your daughter best. And you're right -- that's the difference between 9 and 29!

Divers and Sundry said...

Fresh-picked strawberries are delicious, aren't they! I'm not sure I'd have been able to resist eating them before I could cook with them. Homemade donuts are like a different food from the packaged ones at the grocery. That cider donut, warm and fresh, looks wonderful. More! ;)

Happy T Tuesday

DVArtist said...

Wow great post. Lots of goodies there. We are going in a few weeks to pick Oregon blueberries. They are the best. Have a great day.

pearshapedcrafting said...

Oh! Strawberry picking - a holiday job for me one year with a friend - we could take home as many as we wanted to at the end of the day but by the the third day didn't want any at all! I love strawberries though - we don't see many PYO places! The donuts look good as does the cider! Happy T day, Chrisx

Empire of the Cat said...

It's definitely strawberry season here, I have some in my garden and they are all just starting to ripen. Lovely to have a farm nearby with all those tasty goodies. I like the idea of strawberry and apple cider, it sounds delicious as do those donuts! Elle xx

Lowcarb team member said...

Lovely post.
I enjoy strawberries just lovely with some cream! Yum!

All the best Jan

Sharon Madson said...

When the kids were small we picked different fruits, but never strawberries. Your drink looks good. Happy T Day!

Let's Art Journal said...

We've been enjoying the strawberries here as well, it's such fun to pick your own too! The donut looks so yummy, I'd love to try one with my cuppa 😉. So lovely to see you on the water again in your boat, it must be such a lovely way to spend summer days - enjoy! Happy T Day wishes! Hugs, Jo x

craftytrog said...

Great post Erika! Our strawberries are ripening now, but it's a race to get them picked before the birds eat them! They're yummy on our porridge.
Alison xx