Berries, Syrup and Jam... Oh My!

It was picking day, a now 4 year tradition that has morphed into not only a once or twice a season event, but a weekly event as Brittany and I try to fill up our pantries for the winter! We usually head out to a pre-determined farm on Wednesdays, but two weeks ago our chosen day was Thursday. When planning on heading out on another day of the week I thought, "oh, sure, I can do that... I am flexible" HA! Justin Bieber says Never Say Never... but here it is, ladies: Never go picking on CSA day!

Blueberries, Raspberries and Marionberries...

I came home from picking with not one, not two, but three different kinds of berries... three flats full of berries and soon a 15 gallon tub of produce was to show up! Needless to say our little "one bun" kitchen was full, full, full! So, I did what any good house holder would do...

Blueberries straining for blueberry syrup

Blueberries ready for the freezer... yes, those are little ramekins that I use to make a shelf... brilliant, right?

Raspberry jam in the making

Raspberries ready to head into the freezer (I freeze these in single layer on cookie sheets before they head into those little plastic tubs)

Blueberry syrup ready to head into the pantry for pancakes and ice cream topping!

What happened to those Marionberries you ask? Well, a girl can only take so much! The Marionberries waited patiently for me in our extra fridge out in the garage. I thought I would send them straight to the freezer, but the next morning I felt guilty and quickly whipped up a batch of marionberry jam before freezing the remainder of the flat :)

A few things that did not make it into the pictures were a raspberry infused vodka and a marionberry infused vinegar... hopefully those turn out as wonderful as they sound!