Strawberry Picking

Earlier this week Helena & I went strawberry picking with friends at Whittamore's Farm. It was fun to observe the girls in the new environment.  At first they were pretty uninterested in tasting the strawberries...

but once Helena started, it was hard to get her to stop!

Of course, once they were done eating berries, they were DONE.  No more berries for the rest of the day and their preference would have been no more picking too.

So one mom picked while the other mom read to the girls, gave the girls containers to put lids on, took the girls for walks, played in the straw with them...

and played with rocks.  Rocks are fun for all kids, but I realized out there that Helena almost never sees rocks, being the downtown city girl that she is.  Helena & Holly could have played in the rocks all day long.

Helena & Holly are two and a half months apart, so there still is a developmental difference between the them.  We observed one at the farm - Holly saw the rows of plants and would walk in a line down the straw paths.  Helena, on the other hand, had a really hard time seeing the rows of plants (to be fair, they were a little sparse in greenery!) and would charge right through them over and over and over again.

On the way to the car, Helena found a puddle when her Mom wasn't watching.  This picture was taken right BEFORE she sat down in it!

The girls' favorite part of the farm was definitely the painted animals.  Christa's and my favorite part - the berries and the jam that followed.  Oh, how I love strawberry picking!

Two Questions

Question #1: When will it end?

It = this weather. This cold, damp, windy weather. We were on the University of Toronto's campus today and everyone was wearing warm coats, hats, mittens, scarves, etc. Winter clothes. So strange to think that school is over for the summer when it feels and looks like the fall!

Question #2: Do you have this problem?


Plain yogurt. I can only find it in large containers in the grocery store, but I buy it anyways because it makes such a delicious addition to certain Indian recipes. But then there is all the extra that I never know what to do with it.

With the help of allrecipes.com, I now have the answer:

Strawberry Smoothies.

We discovered the recipe on one of 2011's two glorious 70 degree days. Now we're enjoying the smoothies when we pretend that it's wonderful outside.

Mango Season!

I love a good mango.

At first, I didn't. My first trip to Bangladesh had me leaving thinking mangoes taste slightly pine-y and my interest was gone. But the next time I went, oh my goodness. It was high mango season, and one day three of us decided we'd only eat mangoes all day. By the time dinner came around, we all had had enough, but my love for mangoes had not ended.

But what is a good mango? Sorry, but it's not one of those greenish-reddish Haden mangoes you find at grocery stores throughout the year. Of all those mangoes that I've bought, there was only one that was good.

No, the kind of mango you want is this - an Ataulfo Mango. (There are actually hundreds of kinds of mangoes in the world, but I've only seen a few sold in the North American grocery stores I've been to, and these are definitely the best.) It's sweet and no mango strings can be found within.


The way I determine if it's nice and ripe is by the look and feel. I go for a yellow without brown spots mango that has a little give but not much.

photo courtsey of the blog lipsmacking

We call this the porcupine cut. It's a very easy but nice-looking way to serve mango. Or you can cut it in thirds, slice up the mango from the two sides, and chew on the seed!

For those of you who share my love for the mango, here's an amazingly simple and delicious recipe for a mango coconut sorbet from Moosewood's cookbook Simple Suppers:

Slice up 2 mangos and put in blender. Add 1 cup coconut milk (I used light since it was in our cupboard) and 1/4 cup sugar. Blend. Pour into 2 ice cube trays and freeze. When ready to eat, let thaw for 5-10 minutes. Then blend so it's a bit chunky. Enjoy!