Strawberry Fields Forever

 Well, it is the end of a long Memorial Day weekend, and I haven't blogged in a while.  There's a lot to catch up on, but I'll try to keep it short.  My computer is more or less fixed now (Thanks, Kev!) so I can blog more often.  I need to backtrack a little to last Wednesday, which was Daphne's last swimming class.  Above, she is getting a certificate from her AWESOME teacher, Miss Jenine.  Daphne made a lot of progress since September, when she told me she was quitting school and never ever getting in the pool.  Wednesday, she jumped off the starting block and went all the way under water.  And it was HER idea!  I have video, which I will post when my Flip software gets re-installed.  I am so proud of her.  She was really brave.

 

On Friday afternoon, Kev came home early and we joined some good friends on a strawberry picking adventure.  We took White's Ferry across to Maryland (this time in the car) and drove to Homestead Farm, where the pickin' was good.  We ended up with more strawberries than I thought we could ever use, but three days later they're almost gone.  We've had strawberry milkshakes, strawberry shortcake:

and strawberries on our cereal and on salads.  I froze some to use later for smoothies.  I made strawberry freezer jam: 

 I just used the recipe on the Sure-Jell pectin box.  It is GOOD!.  I used the "less sugar" pectin, which only calls for three cups of sugar instead of four.  And it was still REALLY sweet.  We had some on biscuits this morning, which helped cut the sweetness some.  Maybe by blueberry picking time, I'll have my act together enough to make cooked jam. 

I also made strawberry ice cream, which we had last night:

And also yesterday, Kev grilled some salmon on cedar planks, which is a method we've never tried before.  It was great.  Here is the recipe we used.  There was one on the plank package that looked good too...maybe we'll try that one next time.  A quote from Daphne:  "I LOVE THIS SALMON!"  So, that's something.

Today it was really hot.  Upper 90's.  I successfully managed not to step foot out of the house.  We have spent the day doing various projects around the house, preparing for next weekend.  We'll have Daphne's preschool graduation, her last soccer game, and her birthday, and Kev's parents are coming for a visit.  It should be a lot of fun.  I am off to check on Kev.  He is busy repairing the squirrel wall.  Happy Memorial Day.  I hope you had some strawberries.