Canning Fresh Summer Strawberries

Oh, I have been busy in the kitchen.

One flat of strawberries, some fresh lemons and lemon juice, a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, and a bottle of Chardonnay have yielded a delectable collection of treats. From top to bottom we have berry wine jelly, red wine jelly (both great with cheeses or as glazes for meat), quick strawberry lemon marmalade, and natural strawberry jam, and along the sides is strawberry lemonade concentrate, which I made more tart this time around because it was sickening sweet last year and required the addition of a lot more lemon juice when you mixed it up to drink.

And I still have two quarts of strawberries left.

All the recipes come from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. They are super easy and most take less than 30 minutes (once you're in the swing of things) with the exception of natural jams, which take longer because you have to make applesauce first and then cook the whole batch longer because you don't use pectin. That recipe probably took 90 minutes from start to finish. The easiest by far is the red wine jelly, which is just a bottle of wine, a little lemon juice, fruit pectin, and some sugar. It takes about five minutes to whip up the mixture and 15 minutes to process.

I hope you're taking advantage of the local fresh produce in your area! Get out to the farmer's market or the farm itself and then get cooking!

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What a Day

Yesterday we attended Day Out with Thomas at Crossroads Village in Flint, Michigan.

We rode a train pulled by Thomas the Tank Engine, Calvin rode his very first ferris wheel, we finally found a CD with Down at the Docks on it (for Daddy), we went to a magic show, and had an all-around good time in the best weather we've had all summer: high 70s, lovely breeze, and blue sky with fluffy white clouds. Ahhhh...

This has been such a busy summer, it's hard to believe August is almost over. We've spent way to much time in the car (which is starting to whine in protest—eek!) and we've had little time to relax at home. Next year we will be saying no to a number of things and trying to enjoy our home, yard, and neighborhood more. But it has been a really fun summer as well, swimming in lakes, bouncing in bounce houses, seeing family, enjoying special events, going on rides, and making memories. Still, I'm ready for autumn, a slower pace, and no weddings, birthdays, fairs, or road trips. I'm ready for raking leaves, wearing jeans, and having fires.

I'm ready for those infernal mosquitoes to die already!

I'm ready for the slow, sweet goodbye to summer.

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Pure Summer

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Summer Rolls On

Seems like every year I'm surprised by how fast summer goes. When I was a kid summer stretched out in front of me like an unending, leisurely stroll in the woods and now here we are looking August in the face and wondering what happened to July. As a kid, I had no plans beyond the softball season, swimming in my friend's pool, riding my bike, and reading about 50 books. I would mow the lawn and help out around the house, but most of my days were empty, waiting to be filled with rock collecting and climbing trees.

This summer I have played no softball, but I have managed to swim (in a lake), read (but more like 50 pages than 50 books), and collect some rocks (with Calvin at camp, his introductory expedition into rock collecting).

The jar on the left is mine, filled over the past three years. Calvin's is on the right.

I've always enjoyed "capturing" nature. I don't remember a time when I wasn't dragging rocks, sticks, and feathers inside or catching caterpillars and toads. Now I usually capture nature with a camera, but I still like finding little things that have been left behind by nature and bringing them inside. I'm so happy to share this love with my son.

This shadowbox shows off a few of my gleanings from outside. A wasps' nest, some prized rocks, fronds from my autumn ferns, a dragonfly I found (dead) on the sidewalk, and two unfortunate butterflies who looked so pretty in death that I couldn't leave them to be swept away into the trash or the gutter. So I kept them.

The lawn needs mowing and the whole place desperately needs weeding. But looking on the bright side, the crazy hot weather and diligent watering have produced major growth in the vegetable garden. Though I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps my green bean seeds were of a special non-flowering variety. They keep on climbing, but to what end I'm not sure.

Left hand picture is from early June, right hand picture is from late July (today). What incredible growth!

The lettuce has just about had it with the hot weather, so I'm thinking we'll finish off most of it this week then scatter seeds for late-season greens in its place. I've got to remove some foliage that has powdery mildew. And I'd like to find out what is eating the flowers off my pumpkin and squash plants. Anyone have any ideas? Raccoons? Opossums? Gnomes?

While I wonder if we'll have any pumpkins, squash, or melons come fall, summer rolls on. It cannot be stopped or slowed. Time is relentless. Are you treasuring your time on this beautiful earth?

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