It’s official. Summer fruit season is here! I love this time of year. My kids and I just went and picked strawberries and red raspberries at the Green Barn Berry Farm in Muncy. They are so wonderful there with such a beautiful place. If you are looking to pick, it’s worth the trip!

Now, you can’t pick these, but I just wouldn’t feel right now sharing this with you all. When you go to check out, they have lots of bakery items there. My daughter, as you all know, has a major sweet tooth. Eats, breathes, sleeps, sweets. She noticed the cookies in 0.0267 seconds.

“Oh, Momma!!! They have cookies! Can we get some? Pleaseeeee!!”

I told her she could get a cookie. They had dollar sugar cookies that were shaped like cute little strawberries. Ty and Kenz each got one with a juice box they had in a cooler. My son let me have a bite of his cookie on the way to the car. It was amazing! Tyler isn’t a sweets person, so I knew it had to have been good. That’s when I knew the chocolate chip whoopie pies I bought to have with dinner would be amazing, and they were! They were honestly one of the best bought whoopies I have ever had. Made by “We Sister’s Bakery.” So, if you go pick, don’t pass up those incredible bakery items they have there! Treat yourself after picking; you earned it.

I love getting stocked up for winter. It always starts with incredible jellies. This year I made strawberry, banana split, strawberry raspberry, and raspberry jelly. They turned out perfect, and our freezer is stocked back up.

I also chopped up a couple of quarts and made a strawberry sauce for strawberry shortcake over the fall and winter. Oh, my goodness, there’s nothing like strawberry shortcake in the dead of winter.

When I have people for dinner, it’s fun to lay out three or four kinds of different jellies. They also make great little gifts for a hostess.

My favorite thing to use with my jelly is a multigrain English muffin in the morning with a little peanut butter and a smidgen of jelly. One of my favorites!

I hope you find a jelly you enjoy. Don’t be intimidated; it’s so easy to make. As long as you follow the directions and measure correctly, it will set. I promise! Give it a shot; once you make jelly, you will never want to buy store-bought ever again. Happy Picking!

Strawberry or Raspberry Jelly
Ingredients:
• 2 cups crushed strawberries or raspberries. Buy or pick 1 qt. fully ripe berries. Picked are best, but whatever you prefer.
• 4 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 pkg. SURE-JELL Fruit Pectin
Directions:

Rinse (5) 1-cup plastic containers and lids with boiling water. Dry thoroughly.

Discard stems. Crush berries thoroughly, 1 cup at a time.

Measure exactly 2 cups prepared fruit into a large bowl. Stir in sugar. Let stand 10 min., stirring occasionally.

**It’s important to measure everything exact or it won’t set. **

Mix water and pectin in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Continue boiling and stirring for 1 min. Add to the fruit mixture; stir 3 min. or until most of the sugar is dissolved. (A few sugar crystals may remain.)

To make the strawberry/raspberry jelly, I just used 1 cup raspberries and 1 cup of strawberries, then mixed together.