On the fourth Becca and I went out to pick more berries. We were being super obsessive and wanted to get out there when the farms opened, so we got up at the crack of dawn, grabbed some coffee, and drove out to the little island with berry farms only to run into a fourth of July marathon. So instead of driving a few miles to the farm we had to drive the other direction on the island loop and it took about 45 minutes of patiently driving through throngs of runners. Good for them for getting up and running a long distance on what turned out to be a hot day, but we were anxious to get to the berries so it was an annoying little detour.
Anyway, we finally made it to the farm and had way too much fun picking raspberries, marionberries and blueberries. We rushed home and made a batch of raspberry jam and a batch of raspberry/mango jam. Then when Becca packed up I realized I still had a lot of raspberries to process, and the house was already 100 degrees, so I made what turned out to be a large batch of raspberry jam without pectin. I thought I might pass out waiting for the fruit and sugar to get to the gelling point.
That left a lot of unprocessed marionberries. I made a very tasty marionberry crisp and Don has been making marionberry margaritas for anybody who walks in our door. Hopefully I'll get some of those berries in the freezer today so I can make jam down the road. I may also try making some freezer jam. People seem to like freezer jam and I've never made it or had it.
In case you are unfamiliar with marionberries, they are a local blackberry that is highly treasured. I held off on being a part of the marionberry craze for the first almost 9 years that I've been here, but I have to admit they are really wonderful.
Next up are more blueberries and peaches. I learned from Don's main construction guy about some good spots to pick fruit closer to our house, so I'm hoping to get out there soon.
On the Toast front, the drywall is going up, Don and Jonathon (one of the chefs) are priming the outside of the building today, we have the bamboo for the table tops ready to be cut down, I picked out new seat fabric for the chairs, which Lisa is going to upholster for us up in the Emerald City, and it looks like we'll be open close to when we want to be. Yay! I'll try to get more photos soon.
Anyway, we finally made it to the farm and had way too much fun picking raspberries, marionberries and blueberries. We rushed home and made a batch of raspberry jam and a batch of raspberry/mango jam. Then when Becca packed up I realized I still had a lot of raspberries to process, and the house was already 100 degrees, so I made what turned out to be a large batch of raspberry jam without pectin. I thought I might pass out waiting for the fruit and sugar to get to the gelling point.
That left a lot of unprocessed marionberries. I made a very tasty marionberry crisp and Don has been making marionberry margaritas for anybody who walks in our door. Hopefully I'll get some of those berries in the freezer today so I can make jam down the road. I may also try making some freezer jam. People seem to like freezer jam and I've never made it or had it.
In case you are unfamiliar with marionberries, they are a local blackberry that is highly treasured. I held off on being a part of the marionberry craze for the first almost 9 years that I've been here, but I have to admit they are really wonderful.
Next up are more blueberries and peaches. I learned from Don's main construction guy about some good spots to pick fruit closer to our house, so I'm hoping to get out there soon.
On the Toast front, the drywall is going up, Don and Jonathon (one of the chefs) are priming the outside of the building today, we have the bamboo for the table tops ready to be cut down, I picked out new seat fabric for the chairs, which Lisa is going to upholster for us up in the Emerald City, and it looks like we'll be open close to when we want to be. Yay! I'll try to get more photos soon.
Comments
Are they organic? It's so hard around here to find anyone that grows berries without tons of pesticides.