Blueberry everything!!

Picking blueberries with our buds!


Ethan LOVES "helping" wash the berries :)

So Prelock Farms opened for Blueberries last Thursday and we went picking with the Miskins. I don't know that we all really realized just how many berries we had picked- we were too busy chatting:) But in the end we had picked about 20 pounds and the Miskins had about 25 pounds. That's a LOT of blueberries. So I've made blueberry muffins (3 different kinds), blueberry strusel bread, blueberry pancakes, mixed berry crisp and LOTS of strawberry blueberry jam (because I also found strawberries for $.99/lb. at Aldi- and they were actually delicious- so I bought 12 pounds). I canned 16 pints of jam Saturday night and the kiddies couldn't be happier to have as much homemade jam as they want to eat- which just so happens to be a LOT. I think they'd eat a jar a day if I'd let them. But alas, I am a mean mother and won't let them. We save it for winter anyway. It's so scrumptious to pull out homemade jam and spread on homemade bread to go with homemade soup on a cold winter day. Seriously, isn't that one of the best things ever?? I LOVE LOVE this time of year when we're busy canning and storing food. This week I'll can some more strawberry jam and the green beans are ready for harvesting and processing. I'll probably can and freeze those. The sweet corn is out so we're thinking of buying a load and freezing that ( another great LOVE of mine- what a treat to pull out sweet corn in January). And I talked to Sonia today about canning strawberry rhubarb jam this weekend. YUM!!!!I always give the kids "jobs" to do in the process. We set up an assembly line. But as you can see from their blueberry smeared faces, they are well compensated for their work. Plus they love to help.