When Life Hands You Strawberries…

Once the rainy weekend forecast grounded us at home this weekend, I had lofty visions of getting supremely organized and very settled on an exterior paint color.

Nope and nope. We may possibly be less organized than we were on Friday. A paint sample (Farrow & Ball Manor House Gray) did go up until Sunday evening, but no decision made yet.

In anticipation of the rain, I (brilliantly) bought our third set of Magna-tiles on Friday, which led to a creation our entire family could fit in, laying down, and towers as tall as the first floor of our house.

When the sun came out Sunday morning, we rolled with the seasons and went strawberry picking at Dondero Orchards.

So much more fun than getting organized and sampling paint.

Lots of strawberries means lots of strawberry projects.

We washed, chopped and mashed. We jammed, rolled and juiced.

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam Fruit Roll Ups (by Love U Madly), Strawberry Lemonade

The season’s first rhubarb, which I bought for these Rhubarb Chocolate-Chip muffins I’ve been dreaming of, was diverted into jam.

I’ve never canned anything before, though I might fool you with all the mason jars. Turns out, it’s not so hard and pretty satisfying.

At the orchard, I spoke to the creator of their award-winning jams, who assured me I could make my own, using the preferred pectin they sell in their shop, Pomona’s Universal Pectin (along with the recipe in the box).  Pomona’s is apparently unique in being sugar-free itself and not requiring sugar to jell.

I might try the just-fruit recipe next time. But my first jam, above all, must be sweet. I added sugar (the minimum suggested) and I’m so happy about it. Can’t wait to try it in my oatmeal.

Page 1 of 2 | Next page