I See Red in My Harvest Basket
The strawberries are in full swing here at Chiot’s Run. We’ve been picking them every day, getting a quart or two each time. Strawberries are one of those things that signify the beginning of summer here in NE Ohio. You know when the local strawberries are ripe summer is finally here.
I’m hoping to get a strawberry pie made next week. I may freeze a few later in the season to enjoy in muffins this winter. I think I’m one of the few people that doesn’t make strawberry jam. I prefer elderberry, blackberry or black raspberry.
Our favorite way to enjoy homegrown strawberries is in strawberry shortcake. Not those spongy sweet discs you buy at the store, we make lightly sweetened biscuits flecked with crystallized ginger for our shortcakes (recipe in comment section below). We crumble some shortcake in a bowl and top it with macerated strawberries (you know cut, sprinkled with sugar and chilled for an hour or so to produce the syrupy sweetness). Then we pour some raw milk on top and dig in. Such a wonderful meal on a hot day!
What’s your favorite way to eat strawberries?
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Cooking Over the Fire
Mr Chiots and enjoy cooking this over the fire. It’s fun and relaxing, not to mention the food is great and it doesn’t heat up the house. Earlier this week we roasted a chicken on the fire out back. We BBQed it, shredded it and enjoyed it on some freshly baked sourdough bread with some homemade mozzarella cheese. Now that’s a delicious summery meal!
We find ourselves using the fire in any way we can, roasting peppers for canning as well as boiling down our maple syrup in the spring. We’re lucky that we live in an area where open fires are allowed, I know many towns have rule against them.
Do you ever cook over a fire? Do you have any weird rules about open fires where you live?
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Too Busy to Work in the Garden
I’ve been pretty busy lately with office work. Sadly, that means I’ve been spending a lot of time indoors working on my computer so I haven’t been doing a ton of exciting things in the garden. At least I can enjoy the gardens during my work day since I work from home.
Sometimes it’s nice to look at the gardens from inside, it’s a different point of view than I’m used to. I have a small garden outside the office window that got an oakleaf hydrangea that’s about to bloom a few lovely hostas and some astilbes. It’s quite lovely when viewed from the inside.
Do you ever enjoy your gardens from indoors?
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Time to Stock the Herb Pantry
It’s that time of the year to start think about harvesting and drying herbs for your spice rack. If you’re trying to eat healthier adding herbs and spices to your food is a great way to do this. Many herbs and spices contain more antioxidants than fruits and vegetables.
Last year I waiting until late in the fall to harvest my herbs, but it’s really something that you should be doing all summer long. Herbs are at their peak of flavor and nutrition right before they bloom. This past week I noticed that my oregano patch was perfect for harvest. This past winter I ran out of oregano because I didn’t harvest and dry quite enough. Since oregano is one of my favorite herbs to use in the kitchen, I’ll harvest a few times to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
When I harvest herbs I usually cut sprigs that are about 6-10 inches long and I tie them into bundles. I hang these bundles in our warm attic for a week or two until they’re dry, then I store the herbs in glass jars.
Oregano is like a wonderherb. It’s full of powerful antioxidants and all kinds of goodness. I like to drink oregano tea or add lots of it to tomato soup when I’m feeling a cold coming on, it often clears it right up. I won’t repeat all the benefits here, read this or this for more info.
Do you dry homegrown herbs for your pantry?
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Quote of the Day: Kahlil Gibran
Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.
-Kahlil Gibran
I’ve been wanting to take a photo like this for a long time, featuring dirty bare summer feet. One of the things I love about the coming of warm weather is the ability to go barefoot or wear flip flops all the time. Of course this means a good foot washing every evening before bedtime, but it’s so nice after a long winter of knee-high wool socks.
Are you a barefoot person when the weather gets warm?
