Strawberries and other fruit

This evening was our big June birthday bash/Father's Day celebration. For as long as I can remember, we have had strawberry pie for June birthday desserts.

This was one of two. (This is an excellent pie. Click the link above if you've never made it before. Plus, it's also easy.) Making two strawberry pies this afternoon took care of one of those buckets of strawberries which was another plus. They are very ripe and if we don't use them immediately they will be past their prime. 

Yesterday I spent all afternoon canning strawberry jam. I ended up with eight pints plus a little extra which went into the refrigerator. It's not necessarily a long process but the jam and the pie both took longer than I expected. I realized it all comes down to the size of the berries. Some of the berries were small. Some, depending on the child picking, were very small. So instead of coring nice big berries which would be done very quickly, I was coring very small berries which takes significantly longer. I was really over coring the small berries this afternoon and wished I had been more careful in my instructions to certain child about size of berry to be picked.

That leaves us with one bucket to eat fresh which is what we are going to need to do quickly. That's easier, though, because we just wash them and each person can manage the stems as they so choose. I'll probably also get some ice cream to have some strawberries on as a cold dessert this week. 

The other fruit related news around here is that our many mulberry trees are loaded with ripening mulberries. For the past couple of days, H. and R. have been diligently picking them for me so I can make mulberry syrup. I have already put the first batch through my jelly strainer and if I can stand to be in the kitchen this week during the next round of hear, I'll get it turned into syrup and canned. It is great on pancakes and waffles, so I'd like to get quite a bit made. 

If you are a long time reader, you know that in times of stress I tend towards compulsive canning. At other times, when busy with life, I don't can at all. Last year I did hardly anything and the pantry shows it. This year I want to try something different... canning moderation. This means I will do some canning, but it won't be all the time or in enormous quantities. We'll see how that works out since I tend to be an all or nothing sort of person.