Strawberry Season

Katherine is in 4H and they create project books each year based on things they want to learn. One thing she wanted to do was learn how to make lots of recipes using strawberries. She and her sisters went picking and came home with four 5-quart buckets.

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Katherine learned to make strawberry shortcake with real homemade shortcake.


She also made strawberry smoothies.

Last Thursday, we went over to our church where a good friend taught a few of us how to make strawberry jam. Katherine did great and we made 12 pints that we canned and another 4 cups that we'll eat up long before they go bad! lol

It was so much fun to be chopping and preparing and stirring while talking with friends. I kept thinking that this was what people used to do. They'd get together with people and get their work done - those jobs that are long winded. Canning, freezing, and drying foods. Quilting. Even barn building. There would be fellowship and typically food and sometimes even dancing afterwards. And although the times were tougher - there was no microwave or washing machine - times were simpler. There wasn't anything taking you hither and yon. And the friends you made were there for you, helping you, and being a part of your life. It was a time when the front porch was for something other than a decorative rocker or wrought iron bistro table.

Lately, with my life so crowded with things and the stress mounting beyond my ability to cope, I have wished I could roll back time and be an "old fashioned" home maker - one that spends more time doing home things and less time on the road and on the computer.

Don't get me wrong. I love my life and the many things I am able to do. Technology is a good thing most of the time and I can't imagine my life without the Internet. But the ability to transport myself into a simpler time, was like getting a breath of fresh air with a bonus of some delicious jam!