Strawberries Galore

I have been wanting to make homemade freezer jam for a long time but never found a place around here that is pick your own strawberries. I got an email from Zaycon foods, the same place I buy fresh beef and chicken. They were selling strawberries!! I ordered the minimum amount which was 32 pounds! June 18th rolled around and I was so excited to pick up my berries!  

Here they are! At first I was a little afraid I would not be able to use them all. Towards the end of the day I was sad they were almost gone. 

 Here is the hubs trying his hand at a batch of freezer jam and little man right there with him sampling many many berries.

Here I am making my jam and looking forward to stuffing my freezer full of goodness.

I made four batches of strawberry Lemonade concentrate. I found the recipe here. 

Giant berry next to the baby.

I also cut some berries up and also froze whole berries for smoothies.

Here is my amazing jam!!! I tired 3 different recipes to find the one I like the best. I tried the no sugar recipe and decided we did not like that one. Little man enjoys that one, we all know a 3 year old doesn't need extra sugar :). Low sugar is better, instant pectin, but the one I like best is Best Bites, using Sure Jell. It is delicious!

Here are the whole berries getting ready to go in the freezer. 

 I dehydrated a few pounds and also made a batch of fruit leather. The leather is good but I'm not a huge fan of the dried berries. They also took way too much work for the small dividends. 

Here are the dividends......

 Little man had a belly full of berries, and what is a 3 year old to do next? Sleep under his bed of course. 

What do you have the morning after you make a ton of jam? Biscuits of course!