Today was a beautiful Michigan fall day. The air was crisp and the sky was bright blue. It was perfect day to pick raspberries! So, Caroline and I drove 15 minutes to my friend Anne's house and spent the morning picking raspberries. Two years ago, Anne and her husband David bought an old farmhouse out in Mason and planted 1,000 raspberry plants on their property for a future u-pick operation. In addition to their raspberries, they raise 12 chickens for eggs, and grow a lot of their own food. When we arrived, there was (literally) 20 lbs of basil on the kitchen counter waiting to be dried or turned into pesto. They hope to open their raspberry operation for u-pickers next year but for now, their friends are the lucky ones who get to pick (eat, pick, eat, eat, eat, eat) the berries. Earlier this year, Caroline tried frozen raspberries that I thawed, pureed, and mixed into her oatmeal. She ate them but her lips were puckered as if she had just finished sucking on a lemon. Today was her first experience picking and eating fresh raspberries. She loved it! Anne and David planted a couple of different varieties and both were melt-in-your-mouth sweet. We walked down the long rows with Anne and her 2 year old son, Quin and picked as many berries as we could. Caroline held on tight to my basket...until she decided to dump out all of the berries and eat them off the grass! We still came home with a couple quarts of beautiful red raspberries.
Caroline's Lunchbox Menu, September 17: Breakfast - O's, red raspberries; Lunch - navy beans, whole wheat elbow macaroni, Sun Gold cherry tomatoes, zucchini; Snacks - cantaloupe, Ak-Mak crackers
Childcare Center Menu, September 17: Breakfast - apple juice, Cheerios, Life, Golden Grahams; Lunch - spaghetti with ground turkey sauce, salad, bananas; Snacks - pudding, crackers
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2 comments:
Lucky Caroline...NOTHING like a fresh raspberry, sweet and warm from the sun! Sort of sad that there are many that don't even know what a real, fresh one tastes like. No wonder so many kids think they don't like fruits and vegetables.
You mentioning your friend's 20lbs of basil makes me think it's time to harvest mine before the frost takes it away.
Recipe for Pesto Butter:
4 oz. unsalted, soft butter
2 tbsp pesto
2 tsp freshly chopped basil
2 tbsp finely grated parmesan
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
Christine
Preparation
Mix butter with all ingredients, wrap in cling film and make a roll out of this. Let cool in fridge.
Slice a piece of roll and place on hot food.
The pesto butter sounds wonderful. I know what you mean about kids and fruits and vegetables. I think that if kids had a chance to grow/pick ripe fruits and vegetables, they would eat them.
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