@Raggedy Ann

Sounds divine! Any secret tips you'd like to share?

Thanks for stepping in for CStMS. Sorry to hear of her troubles.

My weekend cooking plans went out the window. I had an aunt die yesterday so I made a big pan of chicken divan for the family (and one for us, too.). I spent the day with them. Today is catch up on my chores that didn't get done. Oh well!

I love strawberries, too. I have a brother in the Oxnard area and was just there in March. Strawberry fields galore! However, I, like jbob, know to only eat organic strawberries. I only learned this a couple years ago, so I'm sure my body is already filled with food chemicals. Heck - any of us only learned about organic vs. not, in recent times!

Cloudy today - maybe we'll get some sprinkles!

Have a beautiful Sunday, everyone!

@The Aspie Corner

Oh, how I remember those long days while going to school. Admire your stick to it attitude. Hope you enjoy your weekend.

I haven't been posting much as of late because it's been down to the wire. It'll be nice to have a break. Why I keep doing this, I have no idea.

In any case, have a good morning.

@Lookout

Enjoy the harvest time in Alabama. Thanks for the washing tip. Have a great day!

...and we've been eating fresh ones all week. I agree with jbob's comment above. the outer seeds of this berry hold chemicals. Many people suggest soaking your commercial veggies and fruits in a solution of 10% vinegar to 90% water. Make the mixture, and let the produce sit in for 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and allow to dry before storing.

Thanks for the OT anja, good luck with your media project.

Thinking of you too CStMS if you stop by. Hope we might see each other in white springs the end of next month.

@enhydra lutris

I liked that tip about cutting the biscuits and placing them close to each other when baking.

I like the idea of not twisting the cutter and then keeping them touching to enhance the rise, which leads to the idea of rectangular bicuits, cut on a sheet pan with a bench knife and not separated at all before baking.

Sounds like an interesting experiment!

P.S. I've added the yield to the recipe. Thanks for catching that. I didn't have a lot of time to put this OT together and found myself finishing it off around 2:00 am in the morning. Was a bit bleary eyed at that point.

sympathy and best wishes. Thanks also for the link, I'll have to try her dessert biscuits. My mom used homemade biscuits, but unsweetened, I am certain. They left a lot to be desired in a dessert. I like the idea of not twisting the cutter and then keeping them touching to enhance the rise, which leads to the idea of rectangular bicuits, cut on a sheet pan with a bench knife and not separated at all before baking. No time to try right now, but worth a future experiment, I think.

I like strawberries, but not overmuch. I think I ate far too many as a younger person that simply weren't that ripe or sweet. I love Jarritos brand Fresa, a slightly carbonated variant of Agua de Fresa, as well as the non-carbonated versions one so often finds in Mexican eateries. I also like our home grown but only one variant.

We have 3 types of strawbs in our yard. One is a tiny wild one, spreading growth habit, here when we moved in. Too small, really, to eat and gone as soon as ripe. We have no idea what eats them and don't care, since we don't. Another, larger, also spreading CA native we picked up from somebody selling local natives, which we are trying to use for a ground cover in a part of the yard. I haven't noted any fruit, but that isn't its purpose anyway. If it gets some, something eats them and that is ok. Back in our garden zone we have two planter boxes of carefully planted and maintained strawbs intended for eating and when ripe they are very good. They ripen on a massively uneven schedule such that for a large portion of the year we get one or two per day, or every other day or every three days or whatever, so they aren't for making dessert but instead for "Oh look, we got a strawberry today" pick and eat or bring in and halve to share.

I have to concur on organics only, we get them at a local farmers' market and they are really good. Some of the worst toxins out there are used on commercial strawberries, especially as soil fumigants, and mishandling and other accidents routinely sicken large numbers of farm workers and those residing near the farms and, in some cases, nearby schools full of kids. The farm workers plus such groups as Pesticide Action Network have been fighting for decades to get them banned but have only got them more tightly regulated as to handling and application.

Recipe: Serves how many? Alternatively, how many portions?

Have a great one.

@smiley7

Sounds like a great idea. Count me in. I'll PM you to get the details and any suggestions of how I can help.

Your good works enrich c99's community and i've stopped by to invite you and everyone to participate in c99's fund drive.

Made an announcement yesterday on OT:

Our c99 is in need. Announcing the First Annual c99 Fund Drive which we hope to launch Wednesday, May 1, at 3pm Eastern Standard Time.

The simple theme of this endeavor is "What does c99 mean to you?"

Please private message me, smiley7, by Midday this coming Tuesday with a paragraph or two sharing your feelings about our special community. Also, please include artwork, music, poetry, humor or anything you desire and your responses will become the body of our organic fund raising appeal.

The need is critical. The campaign will concentrate on the importance of recurring monthly gifts.

Thank you in advance for lending a writing hand.

Hoping you and everyone can pm me or be available on Wednesday to help kick of the campaign and have a fun and productive conversation in doing so.

@lotlizard

I had a friend once ask me if there was a heaven, what would it look like to me. I answered that it would look like the library in "Beauty & The Beast" where I could finally find the answers to all my questions.

Make one helluva of a book after that kind of research project, eh?

Great quote.

Behold the truth before you: A clean life, an open mind, a pure heart, an eager intellect, an unveiled spiritual perception, a brotherliness for one’s co-disciple, a readiness to give and receive advice and instruction, a loyal sense of duty to the Teacher, a willing obedience to the behests of TRUTH, once we have placed our confidence in, and believe that Teacher to be in possession of it; a courageous endurance of personal injustice, a brave declaration of principles, a valiant defense of those who are unjustly attacked, and a constant eye to the ideal of human progression and perfection which the secret science depicts — these are the Golden Stairs up the steps of which the learner may climb to the Temple of Divine Wisdom.
      — Helena Petrovna Blavatsky