Strawberry Picking..... times spent with the FAMILY! PRICELESS!

This past week, we had a Family Day...we went to a local farm and picked strawberries!! The kids were excited...they got a tractor ride out to the fields....and row upon row lay the sweet berries...ready to be picked! We had never been to Barrie Hill Farms....but we knew we were headed in the right direction...we could smell the Berries before we saw the Farm!! The air was thick with the heavenly aroma!! It seemed unreal!

I know that we ate a few, right there in the fields, lips were stained red....I have never tasted anything sooo sweet, warm from the sun, full of strawberry taste! In grocery stores, you sometimes end up buying Berries from another country..and they lack that REAL taste! You become use to the half taste...then in the fields, fresh from the bush...the FULL flavour hits you hard and you know what you have missed!


We also browsed inside the market....and couldn't pass up a pie and some tarts! Of course they are calorie free...freshly made desserts!! We have made plans to come back and buy local...support our farmers!!

Later I researched online various recipes for Jam! I settled on one and of course tweaked the recipe...I never follow a recipe, I use them as a guideline...just the way I am! Through all this I was reminded of my Grandmother. She took me Berry picking one year. I was young, but I recall the heat and the sun and how her nose kept running. She had her hankie ready, tucked into her bra strap and sometimes under the band of her wrist watch! She picked Berries, pickled various items, she seemed to do it all! I felt happy, as if she was with us...smiling!

The JAM...was delicious...and even now, I might sneak a spoonful...just to taste the FULL FLAVOUR of Summer...sweet Strawberries and remember the GREAT MEMORIES we made that day!!