Friday, July 11, 2008

Berry Good

Yesterday, 12 hours of work culminated in this:
  • 91 lbs of strawberries picked, hulled, and washed, then preserved into:
  • 44 pints of jam (29 for our family and 15 for Grandpa and Grandma)
  • 25 quarts of whole berries (20 for us and 5 for Grandpa and Grandma)
  • 14 quarts of sliced berries (8 for us and 6 for Grandpa and Grandma)
  • 2 very delicious pies
Plus enough for Grandpa and Grandma to take home to make their own pie (I had made them crusts to put in the freezer) to share with relatives.

No I didn't take any pictures, I was too tired. But it was fun to do the work. David, Ellie, and I were at the berry patch by 6:15am and had finished picking by about 8am. -Grandpa and Grandma (my in-laws) came over around 10 to help and we were quite the production line. By lunch all the berries were hulled, all the whole berried fixed, and the pies were done. After lunch Grandpa and I made repeated batches of jam at the same time, each staying on our own half of the stove and counter. David kept us supplied with the crushed berries and sugar and timing; Grandma napped. By 3 the jam was finished and we rewarded ourselves with pie. After the treat, David took the remaining four pieces to two of our shut-ins and the retired Pastor and his wife who keep us stocked in fresh fish. While he did this, Grandpa and Grandma sliced the remaining berries, I added some sugar and filled the containers. This was a new thing for me this year. But we knew the berries would taste great on homemade ice-cream or stirred into yogurt.

Now I need to:
  • clean the store room in order to get to the freezer to put all that away.
  • do more laundry
  • vacuum and mop the dining room and kitchen
  • clean up the rest of the house because tomorrow evening....
My bestest friend in the whole world and her 4 chitlins are coming for a weeks visit. Yippee!

2 comments:

Elephantschild said...

NINETY-ONE pounds?

Wow. You are AWESOME. And I am HUNGRY.

AmusedMomma said...

WOW! I am impressed you even have energy to list what else you had to do following that fabulous feat with the many strawberries! Yummy! I pray you enjoy the fruits of your labor! (Sorry couldn't resist!) hehehehehe

Paula