Pickin’ Strawberries

Nothing says ‘Spring has arrived!’ like strawberry picking season.

We waited until after Recital to pick strawberries last year and it was lots of fun, but it was very hot and the fruit had been really picked over, so this year we tried to squeeze it in when the weather was a little cooler and the berries were just right. The Thomas boys met us at the farm, although it was less of a play date and more of an each-kid-runs-in-a-separate-direction kind of afternoon.

Heading to the farm I was trying to brief Emory on the strawberry picking rules, which she absorbed way more than I thought and walked around telling everyone, ‘Don’t pick the white strawberries. They haven’t growed yet!’ and ‘Dus pick the strawberries, not the flowers. Right mama?’. She’s quite the rule-follower, but quite the tattle-tell too. Watson had no interest in picking berries. He preferred running up and down the rows, stomping on fallen berries and playing in the mud.

Boland stayed out of the sun in his stroller, parked under a nearby tent. Watson was gentle with the strawberries for about .04 seconds, then would squish them between his fingers or throw them down with as much force as he could. He also totally disregarding Emory’s rule of only picking the red berries. {She was furious with him!}And Emory was so excited to spot a lady bug. ‘Mama, I don’t like bugs. But dus lady bugs, cause they’re girls like me. Right, mama?’

And, see? Jack was there! {Even though he was too fast for me to snap a picture!}

We had a great time and left with an overflowing bucket of fruit, which I promptly cleaned, cut and made into about a bazillion mini loaves of strawberry bread to give to teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week.

Sounds gross, I know. I was a strawberry bread skeptic, too, before making it last year, but it’s delicious and EASY! Just incase you get a hankerin’ to head out and pick strawberries before the season’s over and want to give it a try…

Strawberry {Nut} Bread

{courtesy of my cousin Lauren}

3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

4 eggs, beaten

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

2 cups sliced strawberries

1 1/4 cups chopped pecans {optional-I’m not a fan!}

Combine dry ingredients. Add eggs, oil, berries and pecans. Stir until just moist. Spoon batter into 2 well greases loaf pans. Bake at 350{degrees} for 60-70 minutes. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool.