Sweet, sweet strawberries!!

Oh the sweet, sweet strawberries!

 

 

Last night our family went strawberry picking north of Wichita at Jester Creek Farms.  Without many words, here is our wonderful experience...

 

 

Oh, the excitement!

Three generations, picking strawberries together.

 

 

Part of our efforts.

 

Taking a break to picnic.

Cutting fresh picked strawberries for...

 

...enjoying strawberry shortcake in the patch!



 This morning, as Chris and I sampled the strawberries, we compared them to some we purchased at a local store.  A rare event, the ones at the store were actually ripe all the way through, instead of white.  Can you guess which is which?

Left:  Jester Creek Farms  Right:  Store bought

The store bought strawberry was almost right on the fresh picked in taste, but what was that missing  A zippy flavor at the end of the tasting experience.  I quizzed Chris, thinking my mind was trying to make the fresh picked taste better.  His response, "It's the full strawberry flavor with something missing."  Yup, something is missing, it's a small difference, but it's there.  And yes, it was worth a few hours, on a beautiful evening, in a strawberry patch a few miles from my home.  Building an experience with my family and friends, getting fresh air, learning from my parents about the strawberry patch my grandparent's owned.  What's that credit card commercial say...Priceless. 

While discussing the tasting experience, I discovered that women have better taste sense than men.  Chris learned in culinary school that women can often dissect a dish by the taste and smell better than men.  And oh, the smell.  Chris processed our strawberries after I was in bed with the kids, and talked this morning the wonderful smell of strawberries. 

How did the end of our evening go? 

Well, the baby screamed all the way home, but the strawberries were worth it!