Stories from the Mouth: They're here...and they are really good!

Living in Arizona and then Ohio for most of the last ten years, it has been a long time since I picked strawberries. Way too long. This year I decided it was time to share one of my favorite childhood pastimes with my kids. We've been back in Florida for three years, but last year I was too big (literally)with Lily inside to bend over. The two years before that Ben was a bit too young to be trusted to pick ripe strawberries and restrain himself from eating them in the fields (salmonella potential and all).

This year, he is at the perfect age. Ben and his friends had a blast racing down the rows, hunting for the biggest four prong strawberries, and actually filling their buckets!

Lily was content to kick back in the stroller with some refreshments for 45 minutes or so. Just enough time to pick seventeen pounds , yes seventeen pounds, of strawberries. Although she did get a little testy that the big kids kept bringing over big ol' dirty strawberries that she couldn't eat right then and there.

Do they look hot and flushed? Yes, they were...it was 80 degrees out there.

So, what do we do with 17 lbs. of strawberries? Well, we've already made quite a dent in the stash. The chocolate strawberries have already been dipped and consumed (and some gifted to well-liked neighbors and teachers). And, there will also be a lot of strawberry concotions made this weekend. First up, jam and then I'll be hitting the books (the cookbooks) to dream up some other strawberry-laden foods to prepare! This was Ben's prize, four-pronger for the day.