In the fall, we love to go apple picking.

In the summer, we’ve actually never done anything (in terms of fruit picking). But since having Eleanor, we find ourselves wanting to experience more, if nothing more than to get her involved in outdoor activities. This weekend was beautiful and after a quick search, I found a strawberry festival happening at Lanni Orchards in Lunenburg.

I couldn’t believe how juicy and flavorful the fresh strawberries were! You could actually smell them in the air. From the front of the row, it doesn’t look like there’s much to be seen, but once you get down low, the bushes were overflowing with them. We purchased a small carton and spent about half an hour looking for the best of the best.

We’ve also discovered that Eleanor loves strawberries. She enjoyed picking them off the bush and sharing a few with her dad. By the end, her mouth and hands were covered in juice. Thank goodness I had some extra cleaning wipes in the car; there was only so much that water could do.

With the abundance of fresh strawberries, I didn’t want to risk not eating them up fast enough before they went bad. If you’ve been following my blog long enough, you’ll know how much I love to bake. I didn’t want to invest the time in baking a pie or strawberry shortcake, so I decided on a tried and true breakfast item: muffins.

I gathered up my ingredients and had my trusty sidekick to supervise.

Strawberry Muffins
Makes 12 Muffins

Ingredients
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup white sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup strawberries

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 375*. Coat a muffin pan with non-stick spray or use paper liners
2) In a small bowl, combine oil, milk, and egg. Beat lightly. In a larger bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Toss in chopped strawberries and stir to coat with flour. Pour in milk mixture and stir together.
3) Fill muffin cups about 2/3 of the way. Bake for 25 minutes, or until your toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and then remove from the pan.

Side note: I just received a new 50mm lens for my camera and I obviously have some work to do with setting up my shots. If you’re familiar with using the “nifty fifty”, any advice would be greatly appreciated!

What’s your favorite strawberry recipe?