Strawberry Pickin'

Oh, the sights of summer. Picking strawberries. I remember picking strawberries with my mom every summer. We don our hats and sunscreen and pick (and eat) until we were exhausted. We would take our haul home, take out the hulls,  wash the berries, and make jam or freeze them for some other mid winter recipe.

Hubby and I took the kids picking last night. I was a little disappointed in the yield and the price ($2.50 a quart). We picked 8 quarts of berries. I’m not sure if we just have had a bad year for strawberries or if we waited too long to go pick them.

This was Nater’s first opportunity to help with the picking (and eating). Last summer I took the kids by myself and Nater played on his blanket while I picked.

This is what he did this year.

The older two have really improved their berry pickin’ skills. Last year, I had to investigate their baskets and weed out a lot of unripe berries. This year, they have discovered which ones to leave on the plants.

                                       Throwing away the hull after a between picking snack…
                                                           (look at those red fingers!)

We finished the evening off with an ice cream supper (the best kind)

This morning I made some strawberry muffins.

Strawberry Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup sliced strawberries
3 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Grease bottoms only of 12 muffin cups or line with baking cups.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder and salt; mix well. In a small bowl, combine milk, oil, egg; blend well. Add dry ingredients all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened (batter will be lumpy.) Fold in strawberries carefully with spoon.
3. Fill cups 2/3 full. Sprinkle tops of muffins before baking with a combination of 3 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoon brown sugar.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 1 minute before removing from pan. Serve warm.

I made some with just strawberries, some with strawberries and chocolate chips and some with just chocolate chips. I quadrupled the basic batter recipe, separated it and then added the fruit and chips.

Next I will be making jam and freezing the remaining strawberries (whole).