strawberries Archives - The Momma Knows

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HSMJ: July 20, 2012 Of Berries and Sunburns

By Dawn on July 19, 2012 Comments { 6 }

In my life this week… We have been picking strawberries and raspberries by the gallon! They are ripening so fast I can’t even do anything with them but put them on cookie sheets, freeze them, and put them in freezer bags. All this picking is VERY hot, makes my boys VERY grouchy, and my back is VERY sunburned.

2.5 Hours picking raspberries!

In our homeschool this week… School’s out for summer. This week I am focusing on blog posts and some decluttering and behind the scenes maintenance. Next week, I will begin working through planning for next year! My goal is to have that part DONE in under 2 weeks so that I have the rest of the summer to just relax and enjoy it.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share… Know when to take a break. We have been desperately in need of a break, and so we took it a couple of weeks earlier than we had planned, and that’s okay. Break when you need to!

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing… Another week, another swim meet. Nothing too exciting!

My favorite thing this week was… A huge blessing! I can’t talk about it yet but I have a surprise to unveil soon!

What’s working/not working for us… School wasn’t working, or the weather wasn’t working with school, or in other words it got hot and we all were tired.

Questions/thoughts I have… I know the Lord moves when we pray. I know that he always has my best in mind and provides for our needs… So WHY am I surprised when he overwhelms me with blessings?

And okay, maybe the sunburn isn’t a blessing, but those berries sure are!

Things I’m working on… My ebook!! Have you seen it yet? The ABC’s of Homeschooling Encouragement will be launching the first week of August!

I’m reading… Or, this week I read You Are A Writer (So Start Acting Like It) by Jeff Goins. It was very good and gave me some good ideas. I think I’ll get his next ebook, Wrecked, very soon!

I’m cooking… Quick, easy things that won’t heat up the kitchen very much, considering it has been in the 90′s for two weeks. Yikes.

I’m grateful for… Friends we can relax and have fun with. It’s been so many years since we had good friends to just hang out with, BBQ, and let kids play together.

I’m praying for… My blog (does that sound shallow?) My prayer is that my blog is an encouragement to parents, and that I can streamline my tasks into meaningful, productive time so that I am able to write as the Lord leads and not keep fiddling with the background stuff.

A quote to share… or several… from You Are a Writer by Jeff Goins…

“Multitasking is a myth. You can either create or react. But you can’t do both. Choose wisely.”

“Real artists risk failure every time they release their work into the world. If your words are going to matter, you will have to do the same. You will have to let go. Until you do, you’re not creating art. You’re just screwing around.”

“As it turns out, content is not king. Relationship is.”

categories: Homeschooling

Tags: berry picking, Blogging, ebooks, Homeschool Mother's Journal, Jeff Goins, raspberries, strawberries

Comments { 6 } :

Strawberry Cream Cups

By Dawn on July 9, 2010 Comments { 4 }

I promised that I would post some recipes, so here I am, coming through for you. Here’s a great dessert for a summer barbecue. I’m accustomed to cooking for an army, so just cut the recipe in half if it makes too many for you.

My J has this little spiral pack of index cards with recipes pasted in that she’s clipped from magazines. There was a recipe there for raspberries in little cakes, with frosting on them. Since we have an abundance of strawberries, and we were craving strawberry shortcake, this is what we came up with. It looks kind of like the picture of the raspberry recipe, but has different ingredients and steps.

STRAWBERRY CREAM CUPS

30 Shortcake Cups (that’s 5 packages)
2 -8oz. containers frozen whipped topping (I used fat-free)
4 cups sliced strawberries mixed with 1/2 cup sugar (let set in fridge for a couple of hours first)
4 cups frozen sliced strawberries (no sugar)

Soften one container of whipped topping for 15 seconds in microwave, and allow the other to soften on the counter while you work. Dump half the strawberry/sugar mixture and all of the frozen sliced strawberries into a food processor, and process until the frozen pieces are chopped up but not mushy or pureed. The goal here is to have some strawberry chunks.

Add the (microwave) softened whipped topping and the strawberries to a mixing bowl and stir with a spoon until there are no big chunks of frozen whipped cream.

Line a cookie sheet with foil, and lay out 15 shortcake cups. (We transferred ours from the platter to the cookie sheet.) Fill each one with about 1/3 cup of the mix. Place another one on top, so both cup sides are facing one another. Do this for all 15 cups.

Spread each little cake with whipped topping from the other container which has been softening on the counter. Cover them as if you were frosting a cake. Sprinkle some of the remaining sliced strawberries over the top of each one. Freeze them on the cookie sheet for one hour prior to serving. Makes 15.

We only made 9 of these, and we had enough filling mixture to make 6 more. If you choose not to make 15 Cream Cups, just return the extra mixture to one of the whip cream containers and freeze for later use.

ENJOY! It’s not from Pioneer Woman Cooks, but it’s still yummy! And I can’t WAIT to start using her cookbook!!

categories: Home & Family

Tags: recipes, strawberries, Strawberry Cream Cups

Comments { 4 } :

Spring Yard Work

By Dawn on April 23, 2010 Comments { 4 }

Can I just say right here and now that I despise yard work? Well, I mean I’m OK with it as long as the weather is right. 60 Degrees, no rain, some sunshine… no sweat. We joined up and linked up our first post for the KinderGardens gardening contest, but really we aren’t in it for the contest. I’m only doing it to get my butt in gear and get my kids more involved out there as well. The trouble is, I have to do some of the hardest prep work and it’s not even in the MAIN garden.

This is my strawberry garden, and I took the pictures on Tuesday afternoon. We had a really nice day, in the 70’s actually, and I decided to tackle the weeds there. This strawberry garden is 3 feet deep and 24 feet long. The berries it produces are WONDERFUL! Not ever-bearing, but we have a good solid month of daily picking. Last year it produced 10 gallons of berries! This year, I must get all of the grass OUT, and thin the plants because they are becoming very packed in there.

This area from the barrel to the corner was packed with strawberry plants and grass. Since it’s really hard to keep the birds out of this corner, I opted to just remove everything from here. I’ll transplant a mum or daisy there and it will take care of the empty spot.

While I am weeding, I am thinning. I have a plan. These runners and starts will NOT go to waste! I am going to SELL THEM! I figure, why not? I have some built in Relevant 2010 funding right here in my back yard. Oh wait, I haven’t showed you the front yard, have I?

This is a flower bed disguised as a strawberry garden. See that terra cotta pot in the middle? That is where ALL of my strawberry plants originated from. A $20 pot from WallyWorld, and 10 strawberry plants. They didn’t produce a THING in that stupid pot, but the following spring, they jumped out, into the flower bed, and went crazy. This is year FOUR. I have killed them off twice from this particular corner. I will do so again, radically this time. I’m going to sell every single one of them. Relevant, here I come!