STRAWBERRIES

Since I can remember I have always loved strawberries.  I love strawberry pie; strawberry jam; strawberry flavored mountain dew and strawberries with whipping cream and sponge cake.

Monday I received a phone call from the Relief Society President letting me know that one of the local growers was granting access to his field for picking.  Victor called me later letting me know that he wanted to go pick strawberries.

I raced home from work; picked up the family and we drove to the strawberry field with our boxes and buckets for picking.  We spent two hours picking.  On the way home we picked up some freezer bags to store the strawberries.

I also made a deal with the kids.  I purchased a tub of twizzlers and a box of rice crispy treats as the incentive:  "If you have all the strawberries washed; cut and put in the freezer bags before I get home from work tomorrow you may have the twizzlers and the rice crispy treats."  The question:  "We get them all to ourselves and we don't have to share?"  "Yes, they are all yours if you take care of the strawberries.  If you don't I get the twizzlers and the rice crispy treats and I will take them to work."

The next day I came home from work and the kids excitedly told me that they had finished all the strawberries.  I asked how many freezer bags were filled.  The response:  16 one gallon freezer bags.  I had estimated that we had picked about 18 gallons of strawberries.  I figured that smoothies would be made and they were throughout the day.

The goal is to eventually make strawberry jam.