Farm Quilt - My Newest Project

So here is what I have been working on for a few weeks.

Recently I discovered a blog called Bee in my Bonnet.  

I found the blog and blogger, Lori Holt while pinning away quilt ideas (and recipes, and DIY's, and fall decorations, and.....the list is endless) on My Pinterest and happened to see Lori's Hen Quilt Block.  I just looove it!  

And then, early this spring I stopped at a quilt shop in Indiana, and there in the shop was a completed Lori Holt Hen Quilt! 

Strawberry Pie Filling

Strawberries are among the first fruit to ripen in the Northeast.  

In my area of Ohio, strawberries are ripe around the first week in June. 

Every year we make Strawberry Freezer Jam and freeze cut-up strawberries to use during cold winter months. Sometimes we use fresh strawberries for other recipes like Strawberry Schnapps.

This year I decided to try homemade Strawberry Pie Filling.   There is nothing better than a cool dessert on a hot summer day. But a strawberry pie with whipped topping is a great dessert anytime.

For me, strawberries mark the passage from spring to summer each year. And besides, making delicious fresh strawberry edibles gives me something to do while I eagerly wait for my garden vegetable to ripen.

Strawberry Jam (No Canning Required)

Strawberry Freezer Jam in 30 Minutes

Strawberries are ripe here in central Ohio around the first week in June. 
I started making Strawberry Freezer Jam in the early 1990s and now my kids will not eat (or even like) commercially produced jam. Every year we go to a “Pick Your Own” farm to pick the strawberries fresh. 

When choosing strawberries, homegrown or farm fresh strawberries produce the best jam.  Store purchased lack the intense sweet strawberry flavor. 

I have also made cooked strawberry jam and it’s great for shelf life but there is just no comparison with Strawberry Freezer Jam for flavor. 

Quick and Easy Strawberry Cake

This is an easy sheet cake or layer cake that's ready in no time using a pre-packaged cake mix and frozen strawberries. 

We pick our strawberries at a nearby farm every year around the first week of June to make our own natural Homemade Strawberry Jam.  And I always buy extra strawberries to chop and freeze to use with desserts, on ice cream, or in salads.  

There is nothing like the taste of summer fresh strawberries!  

Well It's January and June is quickly approaching so I decided to use up some of last summer's strawberries to bake a cake for my husband Bill’s birthday.

This cake is also perfect if you’re looking for a Valentine’s Day dessert.  Or bookmark or Pin this recipe for summer and use fresh garden strawberries.  Great to serve at outdoor barbecues and summer dinner parties too!

Strawberry Schnapps

Homemade Strawberry Schnapps
Its strawberry season in many regions and sometimes we pick more than we know what to do with.  And we’re not the only ones.  On a couple blogs and pages I follow there is always a question posted as to what to do with all these strawberries!  The usual answers are posted; make jam, jelly, flash freeze for desserts, and use in smoothies.  I added why not make Schnapps?  I got many replies asking me to please post the recipe, so here it is.

This schnapps has a delicate, aromatic taste and a beautiful red color.

For the best results and flavor, use fresh fully ripe strawberries. You can use store purchased strawberries, but farm fresh have a richer sweeter flavor and aroma and just produced a better end product.

Choosing a Farm Market and Making Jam

I have been going to the same farm for strawberries for years, but the last couple of years, the farm was unkempt, strawberries were bad, little or non-existent, and the people running the farm store were not very helpful and a little unfriendly.

I decided this was the year to find a new farm! so started to look for a "Pick Your Own" type farm.
   

My son Daniel and my mid 1990's cow motif kitchen

I started canning (or preserving food) when my son Daniel was little,in the early 1990's.  The photo above shows him at about 2 1/2 years old. And yea, I had a "cow" decorated kitchen, yikes!