The (pretty) good earth

With all the rain we've had lately, I was starting to wonder if we'd ever get the chance to go strawberry picking or if we should look for some terraced rice paddies and offer to help.

This trip has become something of an annual ritual for our little family, and it's something I really look forward to. I have such fond memories of our first trip with Samson, who seemed to cotton to it right away.

Jane still seems unsure about the whole farm-labor-as-family-outing thing, but the kids definitely enjoyed being able to eat as they went.

And they really liked being able to eat and not having to work for it.

The crop this year was not overly abundant, so there was a little more work involved than usual, but we left with more than five pounds of fresh strawberries and made a terrific (and easy to prepare) salad. The recipe, adapted from one I found at epicurious, calls for the following:

3C sliced, hulled strawberries

3 navel oranges, peeled and sliced [you want these to be about the same size as the strawberry pieces]

1T brown sugar [it calls for more, but you won't need it]

2T finely chopped mint leaves

You mix everything together in a bowl and you're ready to go. It suggests letting it stand for 30 minutes before serving, but I'm never on the ball enough to have an extra half hour before meal time. In any event, it's delicious and really light.

I didn't make jam this year, but if we can get our act together and get out once more, I may still try. See here for an easy recipe for that too.