Strawberry Fields Forever

So we went strawberry picking and true to form I had fun, Fidge had fun, and that Dood...well that Dood ate strawberries. Sometimes I think if he doesn't have a game controller, a car, or a ball in his hands he truly doesn't know what to do so he makes us all miserable...and by us all...I mean me. 

Anyway, back to the strawberry patch. It was full of yummy berry deliciousness. 

As I mentioned I had fun, Fidge had fun...

And well Dood...

He ate quite a few. After receiving our instructions on where to pick & what to look for the last thing the gentlemen told Dood was, "Hey bud, don't eat more than 15." I think he got pretty close. Every time he picked one he wanted to "hold it" instead of putting it in the basket. In fact, if Dood was in the picking mood we may have come away with more than the 3.25lbs that we did. 

Oh & about those 3.25lbs of strawberries. Let's just say by the end of the week we'll be ready to pick cherries later this month. 

But I made some tasty treats. 

Of course with strawberries comes chocolate covered ones. I used the bigger long stemmed berries for that, much easier to dip in chocolate. And what goes perfect with shortcake? Strawberries & whipped cream of course. But my fav and most difficult of all was making homemade preserves. Apparently it IS too hard for me to jam (and if you can name that reference you get 100 pts & you can stay). I used the ripest berries for this process and since I didn't want to use pectin (a fruit thickening agent) making preserves with just berries, lemon zest/juice, and sugar was a very long process but over a fresh biscuit...OH MY LAWD!!! That stuff out of the jar...please...forget about it. 

So lovely readers what other strawberry recipes  or ideas do you have for me? Have you ever been fruit picking and did you enjoy it? Does anyone want to watch that Dood the next time we have family fun at the orchards? Also a bonus 50 pts for the title reference!