I think I have fully shed my city skin this past weekend and become a true living off the land girl. I even went so far as to liken myself to Laura Ingalls Wilder. What else can a Brooklyn girl do when she is skipping through a strawberry patch with a little cardboard basket? Last summer I caught the strawberry picking fever as Greg and his parents took me to Bishop's Orchard and I knealt down in the dirt and plucked my very first gorgeous red strawberry. In fact, the photo I use for this blog comes from that very day.
On Saturday we went with our lovely friends, Tom and Meaghan, to a different farm, Jones Farm, which is known for its colassally beautiful yet fairly pricey Christmas trees. First the Berry Ferry (which is a big truck thing you would imagine would be used for hayrides) took us out to the fields...a mere 72 seconds away...and deposited us among the rows upon rows of strawberry bushes. We knealt down migrant worker style and begin plucking away and dropping our treasures into the cardboard basket provided. As it was the end of strawberry season, many of them were going through the stages of decomposition, but we did manage to fill our basket to nearly overflowing. All in a day's work.
The other wonder of Jones Farms is Jones Winery!!! Heck, we were thirsty farmers and deserved some cocktails! We drove the three minutes to the winery and it was a sight to behold! The tasting area was a beautiful open sunny room with a long counter for tastings. Unfortunately the tastings were over when we arrived but they did let us have a few samples. Greg tried the strawberry wine called Strawberry Serenade. It was 65% grape wine and 35% strawberry wine and was carbonated so it was like a strawberry champagne....so refreshing and such a burst of strawberries in your mouth. I tasted the apple pear wine called Harvest Time, which was dry and crisp and tasted like biting into a tart apple with notes of sweet pear. We purchased Strawberry Serenade and Tom and Meaghan purchased Harvest Time. When we emerged we noticed the outdoor patio sitting area...oh my god! Small iron tables and chairs were set up where you can sit and sip your wine and look out onto the vineyards. Greg said that if we had taken a photo of it people would think we were in Italy and I concur. We swore we'd be back soon to do the tastings and sit on the patio.
We ended the beautiful afternoon by picking up groceries at a local organic market in Hamden, CT, called Thyme and Season which we are huge fans of. They carry amazing produce, local baked goods by a company called Judies which makes fantastic breads, and fabulous organic cheeses to name a few things. We went back to Greg's house and proceded to have our own episode of Iron Chef and the secret ingredient is....strawberries! As Tom is a chef, as well, we attacked Greg's little kitchen and prepared several dishes for dinner. Tom made a wonderful flatbread with fresh mozzarella and strawberries macerated in blueberry infused balsamic vinegar. I made a salad of red leaf lettuce, feta cheese, toasted pecans and can you guess????? Strawberries! My dressing was made with raspberry infused balsamic vinegar and olive oil. We also had some potato pierogies we picked up at a market and some of Judy's amazing bread. We opened the two bottles of wines and toasted to a fantastic day.
What was so satisfying about the day was that we knew where everything came from that we were consuming. The next day we shared our strawberries with Greg's parents and his mom made a wonderful shortcake by immersing them in heavy cream and then spooning the mixture onto slices of pound cake. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I remembered how my grandmother used to serve strawberries in cream in her little yellow Depression glass bowls.
Anyway, I must run. If I don't make the remainder of our strawberries into jam today, they will be goners. Check out Jones Farms at www.jonesfamilyfarms.com. Happy picking!
Love,
Robina
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