* Sunshine Soup *

November is one of those months that evokes the need for some soul food. 

Soup is one of my comfort soul foods ~ especially on a cold dreary day like today.

Here's a simple sunshine soup recipe to warm the spirit ~ a rich velvet goodness! 

This photo taken today in my back yard ~ believe it or not this is a color photo!

This sunshine soup is inspired by and dedicated to my father that passed away in November thirteen years ago. I thought of him as I prepared the butternut squash from our garden and created this soup. As a child I remember him loving butternut squash ~ saying it soaked up the suns rays all summer and held them inside... so that when we ate it later in the year we would be eating sunshine. I'll never forget that. This soup's for you Dad...

Country Don
A painting of my father done by my talented sister.

Sunshine Soup

 Roses too, always remind me of him ~ many, many years ago when I was twelve, he bet me a dozen roses I would marry my buddy Schroeder. I giggled at his prediction and thought he was so silly ~ turns out he was right. Two years after he died I did marry that boy. He knew and I know smiles down with an "I told you so"!

***

To make this soup you will need

1 butternut squash

2 small sweet potatoes or 1 large (I love the organic ones they simply glow with color!)

1 can of coconut milk ( I love the "Thai kitchen" organic ~ so rich and creamy)

3 or 4 cups chicken broth (veggie broth would work great too)

a nugget of fresh ginger

a splash of maple syrup

salt to taste

To begin roast your butternut squash (cut in half and seeds taken out) and sweet potatoes (whole and pricked with a fork) at 350 for about an hour (basically until soft).

Peel your nugget of ginger and grate it into a blender or food processor.

Peel skins off your cooked (and hopefully somewhat cooled) squash and sweet potatoes and add in with your ginger.

Blend in batches with coconut milk and enough broth until you have a smooth blend. 

Place it all together in a pot.

 Add the rest of your stock, a swirl or two of maple syrup, salt to taste and if you choose ~ add hit of cayenne as the finale (or just to your own bowl if you are serving up wee ones)

Sit down with someone you love and enjoy the "sunshine"!

I love soup and am always on the look out for new recipes to feed my clan.
If you have one you are willing to share ~  please link to it in the comment box. I look forward to the many simmering pots full of nourishing goodness 

inspired by YOU!

Turns out the soup was a BIG HIT with my girls ~ which is always a victory in my home!

In honor of a man that shared so much sunshine.

 gratitude

~ Shanti ~ 

It's Celebrating The Garden Week... Rockin' Recipes For Cucumbers, Kale and Carrots!

The Harvest Has Begun...

This year we acquired our seeds from Terra Edibles ~  a Canadian seed company that sells organic, heirloom seeds. We have been very amazed by the beautiful, vibrant food we have been able to grow and enjoy!

Our Red Russian Kale ~ love the velvety tender leaves!

Wow! Shanti, you can make a ton of kale chips with all that Red Russian Kale! Thank you, magical beings, for having me here again to share some Feel Good Guru recipes! I love playing with food, I love eating, and I love sharing my kitchen chemistry! Shanti asked me to post some recipes for Kale, cucumbers and carrots, so featuring those crunchy, cleansing beauties from the earth, a few of my absolute fave summer fixin's:

Kale gets a bum rap. It’s an under-appreciated cruciferous that needs our help to elevate its status to the clean green lean superfood that it is. I think the reason people don’t like kale is because they’re trying to eat the rough leaves right off the stalk, raw, and that can be a little, er, too healthy-tasting. But there are easy ways to prepare kale to make it delish.
Kale is one of those superfoods available year round, and one that should not be ignored by health-minded peeps. It’s incredibly versatile, extremely nutrient-rich and low in calories. Yes! Yes! Yes! Kale contains cancer-fighting phyto-nutrients, tons of vitamins A and C, calcium and iron, and compounds that actually signal our body to produce more detoxification enzymes. So why not use kale at every opportunity we can? Yes?

I try and get my kale on regularly, in soups, salads, on its own marinated in a little olive oil and apple cider vinegar, “hidden” in bean and rice dishes, or…as kale chips! Crunchy and full of flavor, kale chips can take the place of your packaged dead potato chips. It’s a superfood that’s super simple to prepare:

Kale Chips the Feel Good Guru way

1 large bunch of leafy red kale
drizzle olive oil
sprinkle sea salt
sprinkle Nanami Togarashi (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Wash and completely dry kale.

Pull the woody stems from the leaves and break up into bite-sized pieces into a bowl.

Drizzle with a little olive oil. (Just a drizzle! Maybe only a tablespoon.) Sprinkle with a little sprinkle of fine sea salt. Sprinkle with a dash of Nanami Togarashi - (this is my favorite "secret" ingredient - it's a delicious, exotic blend of chilis, orange peel, black sesame and seaweed, and can be found at Japanese markets.) Massage ingredients into the kale leaves with your hands.

Place just one layer on a cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes. Pay attention because it happens fast. You’ll hear it sizzling away in the oven. Take them out when they’re nice and crunchy and slide easily from the cookie sheet.

You can sprinkle on a little nutritional yeast or a pinch of garlic powder, or use your own favorite spice combo for a tasty, crunchy bowlful of superfood nutrition everyone will love!

Thanks Moi for that great recipe...I must share that my girls devour a tray of kale chips in the blink of an eye. They are a huge hit in our home!

Our Purple Dragon Carrots ~ the girls love eating these sweet, almost spicy veggies!

 Shanti, you asked for a soup recipe here, but those Purple Dragons would make the most beautiful Raw Carrot~Walnut Pate! Here's how for a large batch that'll last a week in the fridge:

FGG's Raw Carrot~Walnut Pate

4 large garden carrots, grated (approx 4 cups, packed)
4 handfuls organic walnuts (approx 2 cups)
1 small red pepper, diced
2 Tbsp miso
3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
fresh ground pepper to taste
2 sprigs fresh garden rosemary (or any other fresh-picked herbs)

Blend everything in a cuisinart until smooth. Form into a block on a plate and refrigerate for an hour before serving. You'll have extra, so just scoop into a bowl and reserve for another day. This goes great with endives as an elegant appetizer, makes a wonderful veggie dip, and spreads beautifully on crackers or bread.

Our Lemon Cucumbers ~  love their bright, crisp tenderness!

Mmm! Lemon cucumbers go so well in a tabouli! Here's my recipe for Lively Tabouli from Feel Good Fast:

Lively Tabouli
For 4:
2 bunches fresh organic parsley, chopped finely (about 2 cups chopped)
1 cup organic quinoa
1 cup cooked chickpeas (or 1 can, drained)
2 small cucumbers, diced
4 small organic tomatoes, diced
3 lemons, juiced
olive oil
sea salt to taste

Wash, rinse and soak chickpeas overnight (about half
a cup dried will yield one cup cooked). Cook chickpeas and set aside to cool.

Wash, rinse and cook quinoa. Set aside to cool.

Chop parsley and put it in a large mixing bowl.

Add diced cukes, diced tomato, chick peas, quinoa, lemon juice, a nice slather of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.

Taste and adjust to your liking. Serve with Raw Carrot~Walnut Pate and kale chips for a summer fresh, super-light, cleansing, feel good tastebud extravaganza!

***

 Bountiful Gratitude to the Fabulous Feel Good Guru! Thank you Moira  for joining us this week and offering your inspiration and gorgeous recipes.

How delicious the harvest is...
What are some of your favorite ways to enjoy the garden's bounty?

In gratitude
~ Shanti ~

It's Celebrating The Garden Week...Bodacius Beets, Beautiful Basil and Buddha Burgers!

Ah! Summer garden scrumptiousness! There is no better time of year to eat your veggies. Foods are at their peak nutrition the moment they pop out of the earth. You know it. You can taste the goodness dancing on your tongue. You can feel it singing through your bloodstream. Food is medicine, and summer veggies are beautifully healing. Much of the produce showing up right now at the farmers' markets and in our gardens can actually help lighten and brighten our energy by cleansing out the system, helping to get rid of toxins, and giving us a supercharged dose of immune-boosting phyto-nutrients. Eating with the seasons puts our bodies in sync with nature. Treat your beautiful belly to a bounty of healing veggies this season!

I'm Shanti's sister, Moira, and I'm honored to have been asked to share with you a few delicious summer recipes from my new e-book "Feel Good Fast ~ 21 Days the Feel Good Guru Way - your seasonal, plant-powered guide to a cleaner, greener, leaner lifestyle." I hope they inspire you to love yourself up with healing cuisine! From the heart~

 

Bodacious Beet Salad 

Just looking at a beet, we intuitively know it’s good for us, and because we eat with our eyes as much as our mouths, the glorious red beet is naturally attractive. In Chinese medicine, red is the colour associated with the heart. Beets are notoriously good for the blood ~ cleansing and nourishing. In Yogic tradition, red is the colour associated with the root chakra, where our deepest instincts of survival, grounding and stability are housed. Do your body a wonderful service and eat beets! This salad is simple and delicious. All you need in advance is some leftover millet on the stove (or brown rice, or quinoa, or bulgur).

2 large portions or 4 smaller:

2 small beets, grated

2 medium carrots, grated

one quarter English cucumber, diced

a small bundle of chives, finely chopped

a quarter red onion, finely diced

1 cup of cooked millet, brown rice, quinoa,

couscous or bulgur

small bunch of parsley, chopped

4 or 5 tablespoons of flax seed oil

juice of 1 lemon plus a teaspoon of grated

lemon rind

sea salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and top with toasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds. Serve with garden greens.

It’s Pesto Season!

No - Oil Vegan Pesto

So many ways to make a pesto, so many ways to eat it! Traditionally you’d blend basil with olive oil, garlic, and parmesan cheese and toss it with pasta - easy-shmeasy.

This one’s a fresh green version with arugula and spinach, ripe avocado instead of olive oil and a generous blob of mild miso for a “cheesy” flavor. The avocado gives it a great creaminess that sticks to the noodles.

An awesome parmesan cheese replacement for plant-powered peeps is a blend of walnuts, nutritional yeast, and sea salt sprinkled over the whole thing.

Here’s how for 3 cups of pesto you can toss with penne noodles or any pasta, use as a delicious spread on toast, stir into rice for a creamy risotto or dollup into carved zucchini or cucumber rounds for an elegant raw h’ors d’oeuvre.

2 ripe avocados

1/2 pound of organic arugula

1/2 pound of organic spinach

1 small bunch of basil

1 small bunch of parsley

5 cloves of garlic

3 Tbsp mild white miso

1 cup of hemp seeds

Blend all ingredients except hemp seeds until creamy. Add hemp seeds and pulse. If you like it a little thinner, add a drop of water. For a little “zing” add a squeeze of lemon. For vegan “parmesan," pulse together about a cup of organic walnuts with half a cup of nutritional yeast and a tsp of Celtic sea salt. mmm

Garlic...

Is there a more perfect food on the planet? I don’t think so! Garlic could very well be the most super Superfood alive! It’s cleansing, detoxifying, and alkaline, can lower your blood pressure, can help stabilize your weight, can cut your risk of catching a cold or flu in half, and studies have shown that eating a clove a day could help prevent cancer.

I use garlic in literally every savory sauce,soup, dressing, stew, hot pot, pesto, or pie. I can’t remember the last time I had a flu...and there are no vampires lurking around my house;)

Buddha Burgers 

There’s nothing better on a warm summer evening than burgers on the barbie! Try making some with leftover beans and grains you have in the fridge or on your stove. Short grain brown rice makes a perfect base for burgers because it’s sticky, and beans, blended or mashed, make a great "glue." Any veggies you toss in are bonus nutrition, and a handful of nuts or seeds gives it all a fabulous crunch.

from scratch, makes a dozen:

Make a small pot of organic brown rice (maybe 2 cups or so) with extra water so the rice is sticky. (Usually it's 2 to 1, so go 2 and a half water to one portion rice.)

Cook a small pot of organic lentils (again, no more than 2 cups) in a separate pot, again, with more than enough water. You want them soft and wet.

In a cuisinart or blender, blend one block of medium-firm tofu.

In a large bowl, mix all the above ingredients.

Stir in a handful of organic rolled oats, a handful of sunflower seeds, a handful of sesame seeds.

Chop or grate one carrot, one celery stick, one onion into small dice. Toss them in and stir. By now, the texture should be dense and sticky enough to form into patties. If it's too runny, add more oats.

Now for the spice: you'll want some sea salt and pepper to taste, a little bit of dried sage (careful with this, it's a strong flavour), a sprinkle of thyme (again, a little goes a long way), a teaspoon or so of dried oregano and dried basil, and the secret ingredient - nutritional yeast. Add up to a cup of this. It's delicious, loaded with protein and vitamins, specifically B vitamins, and imparts a lovely cheesy flavour to the burgers.

Taste the mixture and adjust the seasoning to your liking. Then form into patties and place on an oiled cookie tin. Bake at 300 for about 20 minutes, then flip them and bake 20 minutes longer. You can make these in advance, and keep them wrapped in twos in saran wrap in the fridge. Then they're ready to just quickly grill on the bbq, for that delicious smoky summer flavour. 

Serve with all the regular fixin's, and drizzle with my favorite tahini-garlic sauce. Yes! More garlic!

Tahini Garlic Sauce:

3 Tbsp tahini

2 large cloves garlic, chopped

3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp maple syrup or agave nectar

just enough water to create a creamy consistency

Blend all ingredients, adding water at the end to make a nice creamy consistency you can pour or drizzle. Taste and adjust flavours. I always like more garlic;) Keep in mind, though, it will get more garlicky in the fridge as it sits.

A BIG thank you to my very talented sister  Moira for sharing her delicious, fresh food creations. Moira is a fabulous, vegan chef and has been my inspiration in the kitchen many, many times over. I really enjoy the way her recipes are so perfectly balanced in flavor and always impress the taste buds. I have done one of her feel good fasts and she is bang on...I did feel good fast! I plan to dive into another of her  feel good fasts soon ~ one more way to take advantage of the garden's bounty while it is peaking out!

In the spirit of feeling good fast

~ Shanti ~ 

Edible Flower Feast!

As the garden bursts forth in all of her gloriful bounty, my truest joy are the edible flowers. I love going out  to the garden in the morning, admiring the dew sparkling on their petals and taking in a deep breath of the dark, damp earth.  I love the buzz and the hum of the bees dipping and diving to sip on their nectar and the explosion of of eye candy color greeting me.

Here is a tribute to one of my morning walks and the enjoyment that ensued...  

 One of my favorite edibles, the calendula flower

The borage  inviting me to get up close and savor its exquisiteness

The hollyhocks towing above me in all their regal splendor

 Being in the presence of such beauty, I felt their beckoning to be touched tasted and experienced...so I decided to indulge myself!

A garden flower mandala!

After playing with the flowers we gathered them all up for our edible flower feast.

For the flower feast we we whipped up some of our favorite healthy icing (coconut milk ~ only the top half that stays hardish ~ with maple syrup), put it in the icing piper and squeezed a spiral of coconut goodness into each flower.

hollyhocks and borage

The girls and I enjoyed licking drips of coconut nectar and nibbling a variety of flower petal flavors.

nausturtiums with bee balm petals

calendula with a borage star garnish

squash blossom with bee balm petals

Here is a wonderful list of edible flowers you can grow!

• Calendula/pot marigold (Calendula officinalis) comes in yellow, gold, or orange flowers with a tangy, peppery taste.
• Garland chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum coronarium) produces mild-favored, flowers in shades of yellow to white.
• African marigold (Tagetes erecta) has white, gold, yellow, or red flowers with a strongly pungent flavor.
• Signet marigold (Tagetes tenuifolia) features white, gold, yellow, or red flowers with a citrus flavor.
• Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) has flowers in shades of white to red, with a watercress and peppery flavor.
• Pansy/viola (Viola spp.) has violet, white, pink, yellow, or multi-colored flowers with a sweet flavor.
• Petunia (Petunia hybrida) has a wide range of colors and a mild flavor.
• Garden salvia (Salvia officinalis) features blue, purple, white, or pink flowers with a slightly musky flavor.
• Pineapple sage (Salvia elegans) has scarlet flowers with a sage flavor with pineapple undertones.
• Radish (Raphanus sativus) has yellow, spicy-hot flowers.
• Snapdragon (Antirrhinum spp.) has a wide range of colors with a bland to bitter flavor.
• Scented geranium (Pelargonium spp.) has white, red, pink, or purple flowers with flavors such as apple or lemon, depending on the variety.
• Scarlet runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus) has bright orange to scarlet flowers with a mild, raw bean flavor.
• Squash (Cucurbita spp.) has yellow to orange flowers with a mild, raw squash flavor.
• Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) features white, yellow, orange, or burgundy flowers. Unopened buds taste like a mild artichoke. Flower petals are bittersweet.
• Tuberous begonias (Begonia x tuberhybrida) have white, pink, yellow, red, orange or multi-colored flowers with a citrus flavor.

Edible Perennial Flowers

Flowers of these perennials and herbs offer a broad range of flavors.

• Baby's breath (Gypsophila sp.) has white or pink flowers with a mild, slightly sweet flavor.
• Bee balm (Monarda didyma) features red, pink, white, or lavender flowers with a tea-like flavor that's stronger than the leaves.
• Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) have white, lavender, or purple flowers with a strong onion flavor.
• Dianthus/Pinks (Dianthus) have pink, white, and red flowers with a spicy, clove-like flavor.
• Daylily (Hemerocallis spp.) comes in a wide range of flower colors with a slight asparagus or summer squash-like taste.
• Borage (Borago officinalis) has blue, purple, and lavender flowers with a cucumber-like flavor.
• Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) have yellow, slightly bitter flowers.
• Red clover (Trifolium pretense) has sweet-tasting, pink or red flowers.
• Hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) come in a wide range of colors with a bland to slightly bitter flavor.
• Tulips (Tulipa spp.) come in a wide range of colors and have a mild, slightly sweet flavor.
• Violets (Viola odorata) have violet, pink, and white flowers with a sweet to slightly sour flavor.

Thank you to edible landscaping for this list.

How fast the summer has seemed to fly by. As August is coming to a close I hope to spend more time in the garden, filling myself to the brim, before the garden goes to bed until the next growing season.  Feeling the need to * just be * in the garden,  so that during the long winter months I have a reserve of sunshine and flowers hiding within.
May you enjoy to the fullest these last weeks of glorious summer!

In the spirit of bare feet in the dewy grass

~ Shanti  ~

Celebrating the Gardens Bounty Week! All Hail the Mighty Zucchini!

The trouble is, you cannot grow just one zucchini. Minutes after you plant a single seed,

hundreds of zucchini will barge out of the ground and sprawl around the garden,

menacing the other vegetables. At night, you will be able to hear the ground quake

as more and more zucchinis erupt.

- Dave Barry

Well, we're back from our blog "vacation"!  This past week has been full of fun, and gave me a chance to get caught up on some of the work going on in my garden!  When I went out this morning, much to my dismay, there were 10 zucchini just aching to be picked.  While I LOVE zucchini and the bounty of my garden, to be honest I just wanted to turn my head and be in zucchini denial!   Once picked these wonders of the garden just have to be used up.  In gratitude though, and in knowing that people in this world of ours are suffering and hungry...no zucchini will go to waste!  Thank goodness though, for a friend who came over and took away two of the biggest one's for baking!

Here are a few creative and tasty ways to use up a zucchini!

First off...bring on the zucchini latkes!

You will need

1 zucchini...medium sized

2 potatoes

1 carrot

2 eggs

1/2 cup flour, (white or whole wheat)

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil, (or other vegetable oil)

So...get out your grater, and shred your zucchini, potatoes and carrot.  Put it all in a large bowl.  Add the eggs, flour and salt and pepper...stir it up.

Fill your fry pan with oil...at least a couple of cm worth.  Heat it up and drop in your batter by the tablespoon full.  Flatten it down and fry for 3 min per side.  Get out your sour cream and/or maple syrup and devour!

I usually serve this dish with a side salad, however on this night we are also drowning in beans, so beans and side salad it is!

The next best thing to do with zucchini is to make Chocolate Zucchini Bread!

You will need:

3 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup applesauce

3 eggs

2/3 cup soymilk

2 cups shredded Zucchini

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Oil up 2 loaf pans.  Then get a large bowl and pour in all of your dry ingredients, give it a stir to get out any lumpy bits.  Make a well in the middle and add all the wet ingredients.  Stir it up and pour into your prepared loaf pans.  Put into an oven set to 350 degrees for 1 hour.

That's it!  What I've been doing is making two at a time and freezing one of the loaves for later!

And here is another favourite recipe from the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  It can be found HERE!  Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Honestly, try them...they're delicious!  And if you haven't already read the book, then GO and read it NOW!!!!  I insist!

Any of the leftover zucchinis that aren't used for baking get grated and put into freezer bags, in 2 cup amounts.  This way when I want to bake something in winter I have the perfect amount of zucchini per bag!

What do you do with your zucchini's...please share your ideas and zucchini inspiration!

Happy harvesting!

xo maureen

Picnic At The Beach...Ideas and Inspiration!!!

For those lovely hot summer days many of us have been enjoying I wanted to share some of my favorite picnic basket ideas for those beautiful beach days!

First I would like to suggest sun tea ~ best  to make the day before and have it chilling in the fridge ready for your thermos. There are so many options for sun tea, from boxed tea, to flowers, to herbs from your garden. The one we made most recently was chocolate mint and rose petal tea ~ a delightful blend.

A pretty simple procedure ~ Collect your leaves and petals (and rinse well) or choose a couple bags from your favorite boxed tea and place into jar of cool water (with a hint of honey if you desire). Put the jar into the sweet sunshine and let the sun work it's magic!

More sun tea tips and inspiration ~ Here.

Another  staple that often finds its way into our beach cooler is the hearty and wholesome hummus ~ so many varieties but this is my personal favorite...roasted beet hummus. You can get the recipe here from a past post of mine.

 I also like to pack a healthy, power house filled snack my girls can grab and go with in their beach play. These chew chew energy bars seem to do the trick!

Finally a good grain salad always travels well and fills the belly with a light fullness. Here is my black bean quinoa salad recipe... a refreshingly flavored blend of protein and veggies.

Hope you enjoy these bountiful beach additions!

savoring summers sun kissed  sweetness

~Shanti ~

ps...Please check out our real life friend over at Rural Rainbow Ramblings she's got some lovely summer salad ideas, with links to recipes on her blog as well!

The BEST damn raw energy balls ever!!!!

Here's a quick, easy, delicious and nutritious recipe!!!    Perfect for those summer days when you just want a quick "something" to get you through the day!!

You'll need:

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup dates or dried apricots

1/2 cup peanut, almond butter or tahini

Put all of your ingredients together in the food processor...

Process until it's all ground together...

Then roll into balls

Alternately, you can also press it into an 8-inch square baking dish, and stick them in your fridge, cutting them into "bars" and eating!  Balls or bars, store them in the fridge!

Matilda pretty much devoured most of our treats!!!

Oh...and as a bonus, here's one of my other favourite raw ball recipes!!  If you like halvah, this one tastes just like it!!!

1 cup tahini

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup dates

1 tsp vanilla extract

-process all the ingredients together...roll into balls...refrigerate!!! 

These are my personal favourites!!! 

Happy eating!!!

xox maureen

Maureen's Famous Strawberry Preserve Recipe!!

It's strawberry season here in Ontario...this is one of my favourite times of the year, because it all starts with the strawberry...the other berries will soon be following, and I just can't wait!!   I've been making a conscious effort in the last few years, to put away as much food as possible, pick things in season,  and spend less at the grocery store!  With the strawberries I picked, we made 25 jars of jams and preserves, and managed to freeze 4 bags full.  I'm hoping to get out once more before the season is over...strawberries don't tend to last long in this house, especially in the dead of a Canadian winter!!

I want to share with you my recipe for Strawberry Preserves...this is my absolute favorite thing to do with berries!!!  There is nothing like cracking open a jar of these...I had a friend who told me she had a bath, and ate the whole jar with a spoon in the tub, (I consider that to be a great compliment)!!

To make the preserves you will need...

8 cups strawberries

2 Tbsp bottled lemon juice

5 cups sugar

7 half pint jars, (250 ml size)

To start, clean and stem the strawberries, then cut them in half.  Put berries lemon juice and sugar into a large saucepan.

Stir, bringing the mixture to a boil.  Cook the mixture on med heat until the preserves thicken...this usually takes about 30-45 min.  Depends on how thick you want them to be.

Remove pan from the heat and skim off the foam that has formed...

Ladle into hot, steralized jars...seal the jars and put them into a water bath canner for 10 minutes.  Put the jars on a flat, dry surface and leave them alone for 24 hours.

Now avoid the temptation to eat them right away...save for fall and winter when you desperately need a strawberry fix!!

Trust me...you want to make these!! 

Happy pickin' and preservin'

xo maureen