Strawberry Shortcake and Other Deliciousness

Let me apologize for the quality of the photos in this post. I've gotten quite lazy about getting out my good camera. It's so easy to grab my phone that I've neglected real documentation. Ugh... note to self- get back to real photos!

We didn't get near as many berries from the garden this year as we have in the two years prior. Too much rain, and not enough sunshine makes for a poor berry season. Thankfully we've had lots of strawberry shortcake. Not enough, but we'll be thankful for what we've had. ;-)

Strawberry Shortcake

Scones:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1 tbls baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup cream, half and half, or milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and place rack in middle of oven. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Whisk together the egg, cream and vanilla extract and add to the flour mixture, mixing just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix the dough.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat or roll the dough into a 7 inch round. With a 3 inch round cookie cutter, cut out rounds and place the scones on the baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of a scone comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack.

Filling:

2 pounds fresh strawberries

1/4 cup - 1/3 cup granulated white sugar (or to taste)

Wash, hull, and slice the strawberries. Place about one third of the strawberries in a large bowl and crush them with a potato masher or fork. Add the remaining sliced strawberries, along with the sugar.  Cover and refrigerate.

Topping:

1 cup cold heavy whipping cream

1 - 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar (or to taste)

Chill the bowl and whisk in the freezer for about 15 - 30 minutes. Place the cream and sugar in the bowl and whip until stiff peaks form. The whipped cream can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for a few hours.

To Serve: Cut the scones in half and place the bottom half of the scone (soft side up) on a dessert plate. Top with some of the strawberries and whipped cream. Place the top half of the scone on the strawberries. Top with whipped cream and a few more strawberries. If there is any juice from the strawberries, drizzle a little over the top of the scone. Serve immediately.

Serves 8 people.

Not to worry; we've made some healthier things with our berries, too. 

Garden Quiche

One homemade pie crust, a layer of sliced garden tomatoes, grated zucchini, diced onions and peppers, and of course, eggs straight from the coop. This is a little slice of heaven!

Rhubarb Syrup

Not for pancakes, but hey, if you think that sounds good...

Several years ago Verne and I bought two tiny rhubarb plants at the flea market after paying an exorbitant amount for just a few stalks at the farmer's market. We brought those plants home, and gave each one its own used tire, as directed by the man who sold them to us. Let me tell you, rhubarb does like to grow in old tires!

The rhubarb doesn't seem to realize that we're in the middle of a drought, or that there are no strawberries to go along with it to make a pie. I'm bound and determined to use it up, since it has been so kind to grow so easily. So, I got to thinking. 

What if, just like when you are making homemade lemonade or limeade, I made a simple syrup to go with the rhubarb? Except, there's no way to "juice" the rhubarb, so I had to incorporate it into the simple syrup. 

I washed my stalks of rhubarb, and cut them into one inch pieces. At this point I was just a tad worried because most of my rhubarb is green, and not red. Would my final syrup be a gross looking color? Eh- as long as it tastes good, no one will care, I reasoned with myself, and on I went. 

I placed the cut rhubarb into a stock pot with a reasonably small amount of water, brought it to a boil, and let it cook for about ten minutes. By this time, the rhubarb was mush!

I lined my colander with two layers of cheesecloth, and set it over another large pot. I poured the hot mess into the colander, and let it drain while I played three games of Carcassonne with Abigail and Collin. ( I lost all three games; I have smart children!) 

It's pink, and not at all gross like I feared! I washed my first pot, and added just a bit more water to the rhubarb juice. This stuff is sticky, let me tell you! I heated the juice back up, and added sugar. I brought the mixture to a slow boil to dissolve the sugar.

Meanwhile, I juiced enough lemons to give me one cup of juice. When the sugar was dissolved, I turned the heat off, added the lemon juice in, gave it a good stir, and let it cool.

Voila! Rhubarb Syrup! 

I placed about 1/4 cup of syrup into a pint jar with ice cubes and seltzer water. It's refreshing, and very good. I think it would be nice over ice cream as well. Or how about as a glaze on grilled pork chops or chicken?

Rhubarb Syrup 
makes about 2 1/2 quarts

Rhubarb- washed and cut into one inch pieces, about 14 cups
4 c. water
6 c. sugar
1 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice
more water


Place cut rhubarb into a stockpot, with 4 cups water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes until rhubarb is very tender.

Line a colander or mesh strainer with cheesecloth, and set over another pot or large bowl. Drain cooked rhubarb. Discard pulp, saving juice. Add enough water to make 8 cups of liquid.

Place juice/water back into clean stockpot with sugar. Bring to a gentle boil, dissolving the sugar. Let cook at least 5 minutes, thickening the syrup a bit. Remove from heat, and stir in lemon juice.

Cool completely, and keep in refrigerator. Should keep several weeks to a month.

Enjoy!

First Harvest

A brief trip to the garden this morning yielded several cups of berries for my breakfast. The first of the season. I'm a happy girl!

Out Like a Lamb

The sun is shining, the windows are open, the breezes are blowing, and all at once, everything is blooming and greening up.

Endless Summer

It's hard to believe that we're only a month into summer. Each morning as I walk I find myself anticipating cooler temperatures, sweaters, and the crisp smell of autumn. Not that I'm wishing the time away, I'm not.

Despite the blazing temperatures, the Endless Summer hydrangea blooms and blooms, and oddly produces several different shades of blossoms on the same plant. I've heard you can make them more blue or pink by changing the acidity of the soil, but I'm happy to enjoy both colors on one bush!

Stargazer Lily

I love the spicy smell of these beauties just as much as I like to look at them!

Ruby Red Beets

The majority of my weekend revolved around beets. Ah...the exciting life I lead!

Seriously though, last year, our beets did horribly, and I was only able to can 7 pints. Seven pints for 6 people for a year? Um...I almost wondered why I bothered. Not this year! This year our crop did much better, and we've already got 19 quarts preserved. We still have the other half of the crop to harvest, and Verne is going to try planting more.

Beets take a long time to can. There's all of the trimming, and the cooking, and the slipping off of skins, and the slicing, and then comes the pressure cooking. As much as I love my smooth-top stove, it seems to take forever to can on it. Does anyone else have that problem?

I have to admit to eating several bowls full of these ruby red orbs during the preserving process, and tonight they topped my salad for dinner. Yum!

Beets! Do you like them or hate them?

Sunflowers

We have several volunteer sunflowers that have come up in the front flower beds after some heads that were drying blew off the porch last fall. They look a bit out of place, but I can't bear to take them out.

I bought a few dime packs of assorted sunflowers to plant along the chicken fence. We placed the tallest growers in the back, and the shortest toward the front. Soon, we'll have a fence all in bloom. ( And tomatoes on the side!)

One of these beauties has already opened, and I love the color of it!

Stella de Oro

Have you ever seen a cheerier border? These lilies are a bit of sunshine even on gray days!

Snow Queen Oakleaf Hydrangea

Garden Daydreams

Collin caught me dreaming in the middle of the raised beds. Dreaming? Yes, dreaming!

Dreaming of warm, sun-ripened tomatoes, cut into slices, and sprinkled with salt and pepper. 

By the looks of things it won't be too much longer!

Busy as a Bee on the Echinacea

My days are consumed with hanging laundry on the line, getting Collin to work, and preparing meals. Sometimes it seems as that's all I get done around here.

Not really, though. The days are busy, but it's not all work and no play. I have plenty of time for long morning walks, a bit of hand-sewing, a swim in the pool, and even a short nap once in a while. And for that, I am glad!

The First and the Last of Them

Much to my dismay, I picked the last of the strawberries this afternoon, but much to my delight I picked the first of the blueberries! I used the first and the last of the season's berries atop a lemon cake. From a box, lemon cake. But wait!

You can dress up a cake mix, and make it so much better than just a "boxed" mix. We always start with Duncan Hines if the ingredients come in a box. In my opinion, all other brands are worthless. (You are entitled to your own opinion.) To the Lemon Supreme mix, Abigail and I added freshly squeezed lemon juice in place of the water. We added the eggs and oil as called for, but also added 1/4 cup melted butter, 1/2 cup flour, 1 tsp. of vanilla extract, and 1 tsp. of baking powder. In the end, we stirred in the zest of two lemons.

Let me tell you, this was a very tart cake! A dusting of powdered sugar and fresh berries were the perfect  embellishments.

Patience

Last year for Mother's Day, Autumn bought me several blueberry plants, and I have been anticipating the day when I'll be able to eat from those bushes for over a year now. Not too much longer!

She gifted Verne with grapes for Father's day. Looks like he's going to have to wait a few more months.

Patience is a virtue...

Fresh From the Garden

Swiss Chard

June is such a splendid month for eating fresh from the garden. Just this morning I walked out with a bowl and picked myself a heaping serving of beautiful strawberries to go with my homemade yogurt. (And grabbed a freshly laid egg from the coop while I was at it!)

Rhubarb

Earlier in the week we enjoyed a bounty of fresh broccoli as well as strawberry-rhubarb pie. Yum! My father in law was skeptical as he'd never before tasted rhubarb, and was fearful it would taste like celery. One bite of that pie, and he was hooked!

Lettuces- Red Leaf and Romaine

Fresh salads, almost daily, taste so much better with our own lettuces. Just be sure to leave plenty of time for chilling before serving!

The Merry Berry Month of May

Let's see, now. We've had angel food cake toped with fresh berries, vanilla ice cream topped with fresh berries, berries in our homemade yogurt, and berries by the handful straight from the garden.

And French toast. Homemade bread, our own eggs, and fresh strawberries. It was a perfect lunch!

Next up? Either strawberry-rhubarb pie, or strawberry shortcake on homemade vanilla scones.

Decisions, decisions.

A New Growing Season

Today starts the beginning of preserving at our house with three gallons of strawberries being placed into the freezer. Just in time, too. We were down to our last quart!

Sadly, this means that the list on my side bar must be erased and started fresh. I know it's silly, but I loved seeing all of my labors listed right there, reminding me of God's bounty and our hard work. I'm exhausted just thinking about trying to do all of that again!

And so, for posterity, last year's list:

18 cups Cooked Pumpkin 8 half-pints Pineapple Habanero Jelly 4 quarts frozen Butternut Squash 7 pints frozen Butternut Squash 13 1/2 c. portions frozen Butternut Squash 4 half-pints Vanilla Pear Jam 4 half-pints unsweetened Spiced Vanilla Pear Jam 9 half-pints Spiced Vanilla Pear Jam 42 individual portions of Pear/Assorted fruit Fruit Leather 31 pints Diced Pears 9 half-pints Pear Honey 9 pints Caramel Spice Pear Butter 29 half-pints Caramel Spice Pear Butter 66 quarts Pear halves 3 pounds Carrots, dehydrated 5 ears Corn, dehydrated 5 lbs. dried black beans 17 pounds Roma tomatoes, dehydrated 24 pounds assorted tomatoes, sliced and dehydrated 71 pounds pears, dehydrated 55 pounds apples, dehydrated 52 Stoplight Peppers, dehydrated 7 half- pints Blueberry-Lime Jam 7 half-pints Cherry Love Jam 7 half- pints Spiced Rum Peach Jam 8 half-pints Cherry Jam 9 half-pints Strawberry Pineapple Jam 15 half-pints Blackberry Jam 15 half-pints Habanero Gold Jelly 16 half-pints Cherry Habanero Jelly 16 half-pints Strawberry-Lemon Marmalade 17 half-pints Blueberry Jam 16 half-pints Peach Jam 19 half-pints Triple Berry Jam 19 half-pints Strawberry Jalapeno Jam 2 gallons Blueberries, frozen 3 gallons Strawberries, frozen 38 half-pints Strawberry Jam 3.5 gallons Blackberries, frozen 3 quarts and 20 pints Dill Pickles 5 quarts and 8 pints Volcano Pickles 7 pints Beets 7 pints Apple Wedges in Cinnamon Red Hot Syrup 5 quarts and 7 pints Tomato Sauce 15 quarts Applesauce 7 quarts Peaches 2 quarts and 1 pint diced Tomatoes 4 quarts and 14 pints Pickled Cauliflower Medley 11 quarts Spaghetti Sauce 14 quarts and 1 pint Tomato Juice 27 quarts and 1 pint Mixed Fruit 36 half-pints Banana Peppers 74 pints Salsa 55 quarts Sweet Corn 61 quarts Green Beans

And the rain, rain, rain came down, down, down...

This has been the most rainy season in my memory, and all of a sudden the whole world is alive, green, and blooming. The heady scents of lilac and hyacinth hang in the humid air and intoxicate passers-by. Storm after storm comes, and shakes the windows, while rivulets run down the panes.

Pink Dogwood

I remember a warm spring afternoon, many years ago, when our elderly neighbor sat Mac on a bench beneath the maple tree in her backyard and held a dogwood blossom in her hand. She shared the legend of the dogwood with him, and I listened intently as I'd never heard it before. Since that day, I've often been amazed that they bloom each year, just in time for Resurrection Sunday.