Strawberry Picking

Remember our plans to go strawberry picking last weekend?

Yeah, total bust. Turns out we were a couple of days early - picking didn't start until Monday! (Though I swear there were advertisements to the contrary.) What a fun discovery after an hour long car ride with two children who start crying the minute we leave the garage. I'm like a zookeeper tossing back animal crackers every 30 seconds to keep 'em quiet.

But strawberry season had clearly begun! Strawberries are my favorite fruit so we bought enough to last forever a week. A little bit of strawberry ice cream also went a long way in lifting spirits.

And I have to show you these crazy enormous fish we fed (like they needed more food).

This picture doesn't do justice to the HUNDREDS of them wanting to be fed. Crazy.

We may be heading back to try again soon. (See, I really like strawberries.) Any favorite strawberry recipes? What fruit/veggie are you excited for this summer?

eat | Scones and Jam Tea Party

My mother-in-law is throwing a tea party tomorrow in honor of the royal wedding. She arrived in town on Wednesday with a tiara and bags of tea. So I thought I should do my part and make scones and jam!

I've never made either before so I did a bit of web scouring to find doable recipes. Lots of cool scone recipes: classic raisin, tangelo-buttermilk, and maple oatmeal. Such a versatile little biscuit!

And I remembered seeing Ina make strawberry jam that looked too easy to believe. We had blackberries and strawberries on hand ... so I went with blackberry scones and strawberry jam.

While the strawberries simmered away in sugar, I worked on the scones.

I'm not sure how many scones will be left tomorrow but we are going to have enough jam for a loooong time. (Sorry the photo is blurry. The things disappear before I can get a decent shot!)

Can't wait to share photos of the event!

Blackberry Scones

Adapted from Karen Winters

Makes 12

2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup very cold butter

1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup blackberries

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or two forks, until the dry ingredients look like crumbs. In a separate bowl, combine milk and eggs. Add milk-egg mixture to the main bowl and stir until the dry ingredients are just combined (do not over mix). 

Add the blackberries and gently mix. Using a large spoon, scoop scone mixture onto baking sheet. You can also add the blackberries at this stage too. I found it easier to just push them in the dough rather than try to mix in. 

Sprinkle lightly with extra sugar. Mine stuck to the cookie sheet so use a nonstick liner or use cooking spray. Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes or until they are golden.

Strawberry Jam

Adapted from Ina

Makes two pints

2 cups sugar
1 large lemon, zested and juiced
1 1/2 pints fresh strawberries, hulled and halved 

1/2 Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped

Ina has two jam recipes that I combined. I saw her make this Easy Strawberry Jam recipe on hulu (love it!) but only had the ingredients for this Fresh Strawberry Jam recipe.

Put a plate in the freezer before you start. Combine the sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a big saucepan and cook over low heat for 10-15 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved. If you don't like lemon, use maybe only the juice of half the lemon.

Add the strawberries and bring to a boil over the lowest heat possible. After it boils for a couple of minutes, add the apples. Keep the strawberries on a low boil for 25-35 minutes. See if the juice gels on the cold plate. If it does, then you're done.

Let the mixture cool to room temperature and then refrigerate. It will keep for two weeks.