Last weekend, Bobby and I went on a date to pick strawberries. If that isn’t the quintessential New England activity, then I don’t know what is…

We could have picked a TON of strawberries, but we restrained ourselves due to previous experiences where our ambition during picking outpaced our endurance to wash, chop, and deal with them properly afterwards. As such, we stuck to about 6 pounds worth.

The different shades of the berry cartons captured my heart.

Six pounds is still a lot of berries! I was a madwoman in the kitchen the following day because I was determined not to let a single berry go to waste with mold on it.

I made strawberry salsa:

I made strawberry rhubarb pie-in-a-jar. (They’re a little frosty looking because I have them in the freezer, waiting to be popped in the oven whenever we need a quick and tasty dessert.)

I made this strawberry rhubarb soda syrup to be added to cocktails or mocktails:

AND I put the strawberries to work for a Folk-Art Friday photo shoot! Let the record show that this bear thinks you’re AWESOME. Like, the berry best. He loves you berry much. You get the idea…

Thanks for keeping me company on this Friday. I think you’re so berry, berry great.