Happy Pick Strawberries Day!

We love these little red fruits that are bursting with sweetness - with cream, in frozen yogurt or on top of a home baked pie - they are too good to resist. Today celebrates not eating strawberries, but picking them! They are of course only available in certain times of the year, but that time is fast approaching!

Why not go out as a family and visit one of the many Pick Your Own Farms around the country this summer? It's a great activity for everyone to get involved in, and encourage the kids to get their five-a-day! Once you've picked biggest and juiciest strawberries, there are many ways to enjoy them - with ice cream, melted chocolate, or making your own ice lollies!

You can find your nearest Pick Your Own farm here.

www.ellieellie.co.uk

Valentine's Day Sweat Treats

Valentine's Day is a great day to celebrate love and happiness, with your other half, husband or close friends. It's also a great time to get into the kitchen and make some less than ordinary (probably heart shaped) food goodies. We've found some great ideas for valentine's snacks and breakfast ideas that can be easily made on the day!

These delicious looking skewers are simply made from strawberries, marshmallows and brownie pieces. 

These great looking eton mess skewers are made from pieces of shortbread, strawberries and whipped cream. 

Get different types of fruit and cut our heart shapes with a small cookie cutter to make colourful fruit skewers. 

For fried egg lovers, simply cut out a heart shape in some toast and pop it in the frying pan and fry an egg in the middle. 

www.ellieellie.co.uk 

National Strawberry Day!

Celebrate National Strawberry Day with a yummy Strawberry Jam Recipe! 

Ingredients:

• 2lb 3oz strawberries
• 2lb 3oz granulated sugar or caster sugar
• 1/2 lemon (juice only)
• Small knob of butter 

Recipe:

• The day before making the jam, hull and halve the strawberries and check for soft spots
• Remove any soft spots and throw away any berries that are overripe
• Put the strawberries in a bowl with 18oz of the sugar, turning carefully and mixing well - cover and place in the fridge overnight
• Place a saucer in the freezer to chill (you'll need this later)
• Sterilize the jam jars 
• Pour the strawberries, their juice and any residual sugary juices into a very large pan 
• Add the remaining 18oz of sugar and the lemon juice
• Stir over a gentle heat until the sugar has completely dissolved
• Bring the strawberries to the boil and boil hard until the jam reaches setting point (this may take up to half an hour) 
• To test if it has reached setting point, remove pan from heat and place a drop of the jam onto the saucer from the freezer, after a few seconds push the jam with your finger
• If the jam wrinkles it had reached setting point and is ready. If it slides about as liquid, it is not yet set.
• When setting point is reached, stir in the butter, skim off any scum on the surface of the jam 
• Let the jam cool and thicken in the pan for ten minutes
• Stir the jam and ladle it into the sterilized jars 

Enjoy!

You can find the full recipe, plus more here!