Strawberry Mojito

After a long day of picking strawberries with your kids, you deserve an adult beverage! Look no further than this Strawberry Mojito. It's minty, refreshing, and - of course - delicious. If you want to up your "buy local" game, swing by Blue Heron Herbary on your way home from our berry fields to pick up a mint plant. Trust me. The herbary will not disappoint.

I found this recipe on the blog White On Rice Couple. Their pretty pictures inspired me!

Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1.5 ounces simple syrup
3 fresh strawberries
4-5 mint sprigs (I sliced mine into smaller pieces)
soda water
1/2 lime
2 ounces light rum

Directions:

In a glass, muddle the simple syrup, strawberries and mint leaves together. Crush everything well.

Squeeze lime juice into the glass, add rum, and stir well. Fill glass with ice and top off with soda water.

Garnish with mint sprigs or strawberry slices. (I did both!)

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Happy Spring! Our U-pick market will be opening on May 22, 2015 for strawberry season. U-pick strawberries are $1.60/pound and pre-picked strawberries are $2.40/pound. We can’t wait to see you on the farm!

 
Nothing is sweeter than a fresh, Oregon strawberry. They are only available for about 3 weeks each year so make sure you take advantage before they are gone! This fresh strawberry pie is a crowd-pleaser  and is guaranteed to make friends at the next summer BBQ.

Pie Crust
Graham Cracker Crust

Ingredients

1 8oz block of cream cheese (room temperature)

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

4-5 cups fresh strawberries

Glaze

1 cup crushed strawberries

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons corn starch

1/2 cup water

First, prepare and bake your crust. Allow to cool completely.

Beat together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Spread evenly over the cooled crust.

Make glaze: in a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, crushed berries and water. Stir constantly over medium heat; bring to boil. Keep stirring until the mixture is thick. Remove from stove and let cool.

Slice your strawberries and place in your pie crust. Spoon cooled glaze over the top and serve immediately. (If not serving immediately, store glaze in the refrigerator. Add glaze just before pie is eaten.)

Enjoy!

Graham Cracker Crust

Graham Cracker Crust is so delicious because it's made out of cookies! Plus, you don't need to worry about flakiness or texture; it's great no matter what. We use a recipe from Ken Haedrich's Pie.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 9 -11 graham crackers)
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
big pinch of salt
6 Tbsp butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter your pie plate and set aside.

Combine the cracker crumbs, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Add melted butter; mix with fork and/or your hands. 

Spread crumbs evenly in pan, pressing them into the bottom of the pan and up the sides. 

Bake for 7 minutes. Let cool on wire rack before adding any filling. 

 

Raspberries, blueberries, oh my!

The raspberry and blueberry season is upon us! 

The price for u-pick is $2.00 a pound and

 ready picked fruit is $3.10 a pound.

You may place an order for ready picked fruit by leaving a message that includes your name, phone number, type of berry and amount at

503.621.3909 

We will be picking these berries for the next 3 weeks

 And our marion and boysen berries are starting to turn red, so they are close behind. We hope to start picking them around July 1-4.

 And the best picking for these black berries is the first 7-10 days of picking.

Don't be late and miss out!

And sadly, the strawberries are finished for the summer.

They will be back next June.

Yummy Goodness!

This frozen delight will be very refreshing at about 3 o'clock this afternoon.

I popped these in the freezer last night with very simple ingredients.

Before I began, I measured the amount of liquid I would need to fill my four cups.

It measured to 1 1/3 cups of filling.

Next, I measured 1 cup of lemon yogurt

1/4 cup smashed raspberries

1/4 cup smashed blueberries.

Divide the yogurt into 3 equal parts.

Mix each berry type into one of the yogurts.

Fill the Popsicle cups 1/3 full with the raspberry mixture.

Place into freezer for 10 minutes to allow the first layer to firm slightly.

Layer the plain lemon yogurt on top of raspberry layer and top with the blueberry yogurt mixture.

Place the center stick into the pop and freeze until firm, or overnight.

And this is what came out of the freezer this morning!

I was tempted to eat it this morning but my husband convinced me to wait.

But I took one bite...see if he notices.

Enjoy!

Berry Season is in Full Swing

And it appears that I have ignored this blog!

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

With a name like that, I had to make this recipe.

This morning, I popped this in the oven before heading out for a walk.

When I returned, the house smelled like heaven!

Needless to say, the cake is gone...nothing but a memory.

I found the recipe here. 

Very simple, using ingredients you probably have on hand.

black and red currants

I did a little research on currants.

And I found out they are easier to handle and clean if they are frozen first.

So, in to the freezer they went.

First on the cookie sheet until frozen and now they are waiting for me in freezer bags.

I have some recipes I am going to try.

And I am open for suggestions...

How do you use currants?

Frozen Daiquiri Mix

And I did manage to make some Strawberry Daiquiri Mix.

The recipe can be found here.

Our season is about to begin!

We are busy getting the market ready for our opening day,

 Saturday, June 1st.

Today, I had time to make a batch of freezer jam. Yummy!

The fields will be muddy with all that rain in the last week,

 so wear your boots.

Our Hood berries will be ready for picking and maybe

 the Puget Reliance too.

The price is $1.50 a pound for u-pick 

and $2.25 a pound for ready picked strawberries.