right now

right now

May 26, 2010

We be jammin'!

I even played a little Bob Marley while I was jammin'! Today was another berry day. This weekend is the big Pungo Strawberry Festival, which is my signal to get all this stuff done prior to the crowds and while we still "get our pick" of the available berries! Pungo is known for it's strawberries, among other berries and come Friday there won't be a parking spot within a mile of the event. So armed with a child helper we headed out to the fields one last time to finish up our berry preserving.

Today's haul of about 16 quarts, or 12-13 lbs. Added to
our 15 lbs from a couple of weeks ago brings our strawberry total this year to almost 30 lbs!! See why I leave this crop to the local farmers?

Dropped Finn off at preschool and rushed home to begin, I have 2 hrs, 15 mins of alone time!

First was another batch of freezer jam to add to my stash. I officially have enough jam for the next 12 months, if you think the amount of strawberries we pick seems excessive, remember that I have 2 boys in school - that equals alot of PB&J!



Next up was smashed berries for fruit leather. I will be making this for the next few days, some in the oven and some in the dehydrator depending on which isn't full at the time. I smashed them all at the same time and just store them in the fridge with a little lemon juice for freshness, and ladle it out on sheets for each sucessive batch so I only make one mess. I have no sugar in my fruit, but I think I may add a little local honey to one batch per Finn's request.

One large batch of dehydrated sliced strawberries. These are great snacks and I think I may put some in Kate's Homemade Granola Recipe to send out to the ship! Once dehydrated, they store all year in the freezer, although they don't last that long unless I hide them!

Net result: 14 jars freezer jam, 5 trays dried sliced berries, 5 trays fruit leather, and a bunch left for fresh eatin'!

I finished processing them all in 2 hrs and 5 minutes... just in enough time to pick strawberry bits off of my face before going back to preschool for pickup, LOL! (Yes, I'm that mom who peels in the parking lot with farmers overalls and flip flops covered in bits of dirt and sweat!) This may be embarassing for the kids in a few years, but it's not a problem yet!

Funny I'm not sick of them yet... I am already thinking maybe I should get just one more load of berries....

At least this weekend I can enjoy the Strawberry Festival without having to worry about my berries going bad in the parked car!

Sweet Strawberry Dreams to those of you who don't have them yet... your time is coming, soon!





14 comments:

  1. You be hyper!!

    What temp does the oven need to be on for doing the fruit leather?

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  2. Hyper, yes... some may call it borderline manic! dunno, never been in for a professional evaluation, LOL! It is sure to be followed by a period of get-nothing-done, just not sure when that ghost will visit! The oven should be as low as it goes - my big oven only goes to 175 I think so I use my little countertop oven at 150, but I have heard of people using "warm" feature if they have it or even just the pilot/lightbulb light!

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  3. Man I am so jealous! My friend Linna in VA does the same thing- pounds of berries at a steal of a price. Can't find that where I live. Dang! Enjoy them, you are one crazy mama for cramming it all in, but I admire you for it!

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  4. Dang, girl! You put me to shame!! How do you store your fruit leather - and how long does it last? I've never tried making my own, but it sure does look good!

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  5. That fruit leather sounds neat. Do tell, please. Never heard of it before. How do you make it? Sounds quick, easy and tasty. Right up my alley.

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  6. I can't wait to take Jonathan strawberry picking. Too bad the chipmunks got to all of the strawberries in my garden. Boo!

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  7. Yup, I'd like to know a little more, too, regarding just how you do your fruit leather.

    I've never kept a tally of how many pounds of strawberries we get out of our patch . . . just a record of what all I make out of them . . . jams, dried, frozen for smoothies, etc. You've inspired me! This year I'm gonna weigh each and every bowlful I bring in. Now I'm really curious to know what the haul is in pounds.

    Can't believe you got all those processed in the time you did! On you on something? And can I have some? ;o)

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  8. "On you on something?" How 'bout "ARE you on something?" :o)

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  9. Mama Pea, I didn't even notice the typo, but I read it the way you meant, so I must be on something! Only caffeine, and alot of it!

    Sunny, fruit leather is what many refer to as "Fruit Rollups", although the difference is night and day from homemade! The store bought are all high fructose corn syrup.

    Just puree, or in my case smash with hands until jammy consistency, add a whole lot of NOTHING, and smear about 1/8 -1/4 inch thick onto parchment paper or plastic wrap and put in dehydrator or alternately you can use an oven on very low, like 150. Mama Pea, in your climate you could sun dry on cookie sheets covered with a screen - we just have dripping wet humid hot temps here so things mold if we try it that way. I have heard that some people add a bit of honey to their mixture, I haven't done that yet, mine is straight fruit! When done, you can cut into manageable snack size strips and just roll up! I store my rollups in glass jars or ziploc bags in the freezer and then hide them otherwise the kids will eat them in one day. Sounds innocuous enough, until you consider that they just consumed several quarts of berries in 10 minutes, LOL

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  10. I will post some pics of the fruit leather this weekend, I just put another batch in the dehydrator

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  11. Oh, no, I need to get a car, drive to a farm, pick a few dozen pounds of berries, and repeat, just like you!

    I can never get enough strawberries! And after learning how to make jam, I think I totally should go harvest a few tons! I mean, pounds.

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  12. Erin, m'dear, thanks so much for writing out the directions you follow for making your fruit leather. If we get a good enough strawberry harvest this year, I'm gonna try some!

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  13. Mmmm... I'm SO excited for strawberry season. I LOVE freezer jam! When I was a kid, a friend of mine's mum used to make it and I'd always go over to her place and help and in return, she'd give me several containers to take home to last the year. They'd last about four months! We didn't preserve much last year -- every time I brought home strawberries, they'd be eaten! -- but this year, bring on the freezer jam!!!
    We're big on fruit leather here too. I made a really yummy one last year with peaches and ginger. That didn't last long either, lol!

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  14. Boo. Went to the strawberry festival today armed w/ my big ol bag and ready to pick. Not ONE place was doing the berry pickin'. Said their berry's weren't ready yet. I was like, WHAT???? Boooooo.......

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