Canning Frenzy

Throughout the summer and fall, as fruits come into season I prep them and freeze them.  Then I have a big canning day when I make jams, jellies, butters, sauces and marmalades.  After a very full day of canning, I had over seven and half dozen jars of various sizes filled with all sorts of yummy treats.  I usually try a couple new recipes each year and there are some tried-and-true recipes that I make each year.  This year, I made marmalade for the first time and look forward to making it again next year.  I also made apple peel jelly for the second or third time but this time I added mulling spices to give it a unique flavor.  I look forward to enjoying them and sharing them in the year ahead.

Strawberry Salad

Strawberry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

One of our summer volunteers makes a salad similar to this every summer for our staff meals.  It is so refreshing and delicious so I tried to duplicate it.  I used a premade dressing and a salad mix to make it easy and fast.  I used the roasted almonds available in small snack bags at Walmart for $1 each.  I think it is pretty close to her salad.  I threw in some blueberries I had on hand too and it tasted great.

Ingredients
Garden salad mix
Fresh strawberries, chopped
Red onion, chopped
Almonds, roasted and lightly salted
Creamy poppyseed dressing

Optional additions
Blueberries
Cooked chicken
Grapes
Orange sections
whatever else your tastebuds may enjoy

Strawberries

The Lord provided 10 pounds of strawberries this past week.  After I cleaned and sorted them I had about 9 pounds that I cut up and put in the freezer.  I plan to use them this fall to make strawberry jam. Yum!