Well, hello there!
As strawberry season is winding down and pretty much on her way out, it is time for a blog post all about my strawberry adventure's! Last year the strawberries were not too great. Honestly, they were mushy, tasted sour and even a bit bitter, and were just lacking/seriously not happy.
This year however, Quebec has had amazing strawberries and I had to take advantage. I needed a break from all the stress of life and the, at times overwhelming load, of Etsy shop and launch prep. I heart you Etsy, but sometimes a girl just needs to get away!
I realized that a country escapade with Lady T was in order, she rescued me and proceeded to drive me to pastures of cows, horsies, and the land of freshly picked strawbs...
These were the sweet jewels that we managed to get at a little farmer's kiosk in the village:
They were a great buy, I got 12 pints in a flat case for $25 and they were seriously worth every penny. Plus, I did not have to break my back and hurt myself picking them. Call me lazy but I am not willing to put myself at risk of injury again, just to satisfy my fresh, field strawberry desires.
Happy as a clam, (Are clams really all that happy? Who comes up with these sayings?) I proceeded to make my way into the humble country abode, that my friend so graciously allows me to run away and hide in, whenever I need. She's awesome with a cape!
I began to pick over, taste, and rinse. I know rinsing should have come first but I could not resist. I mean look at how purdy and delectable they were:
Something really important to recall when deciding to get rather large amounts of something edible, that means you have to do something with them because wasting such wonders would be a horrible sin!
Feeding the chickens in the morning is one of my happy highlights, anytime I go to the country.
Don't ask me why, all I know is that it delights my inner child and squeals of glee bubble up whenever I see and hear them a cluck-clucking.
That one on the right, she's the ring leader and likes to throw her weight around. Don't be fooled, she's ready to lay down the law if the other hen's get too rowdy. I decided that to make it fair, I would try to toss the food in different sections. Unfortunately, the stuff slid off the plate too fast and much went on chicken heads and plopped randomly in a kind-of half circle. Good news is, chickens love strawbs. I also learned that avocados and mold are not ever to be given to chickens.
This Mr. Fat Pants of a cat, is named Bentley.
Bentley is a mean old kitty, he has become alpha male since some other cats have passed on, but it has not made him any nicer. In his defense, he was an only cat for years and there are some personalities, just like humans, that do better alone. I still call him a crotchety old codger though.
He has put on so much weight since last I saw him, (As have I lol) because he hogs the food, he also fights with the other cats, (at times provoked-to be fair) and hogs the cat beds.
Lady T loves him.
I must admit, I find he is good looking, that awesome chin of his, but I don't like his nasty temperament. That last pic, within 15 seconds of seeking rubbage, he flattened his ears and made a lunge bite attempt that would have impressed an olympics judging committee.
This big lug of a handsome dog is Titan-what a great name for a dog! He basically ignores the hierarchy nonsense because truth be told, he can sit on whomever irritates him. He sleeps, on average, about 18 hours a day. We end up walking over and around him, he's a cute, and soft, loving mushball of big proportions.
So much fun to be had but alas, all good things must come to an end. I headed back to the city, wistful and a bit down because my country mouse heart, longs to not have to be in a city anymore. One day, God willing.
I said one last au revoir to the chickens before I got in the car though.
I got home early and decided to get down and jam-pardon the pun.
Of course I made Strawberry Mojito Jam-divine!
The next day, I got cracking and went on a strawberry homesteading rampage!
First there was, make the house smell delicious, dehydrating. Then this Strawberry Rhubarb Maple Compote:
Oh, and I made dis':
Which turned into these yummy Paleo Strawberry Madeleine's:
The fun part was eating them:
Yes, there was also Strawberry, Maple, Vegan, Big Chunk Granola!
And of course I made some more strawberry, lime, mint fat flush water:
All in all, just strawberry scrumdidilyumptious!
I had so much food and preserves galore, you know what the best part of that was? I was able to give to friends, family, and neighbors.
I hope you enjoyed this post, keep coming back as I have berry picking adventure's to tell.
Take care, Love freely, Abba bless!
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