Farm Fresh Food & Fun

by Carrie Wells, Ed.D.

While the rest of the country is freezing their butts off, we actually get a month or two of really beautiful weather in South Florida. That's when I like to get off my butt and do something really fun outdoors. This past weekend, we went to some of our favorite places: Bedner's and the Girl's Strawberry Patch. They are about 40 minutes north of us, but so worth the drive.

Bedner's is both a you-pick farm and farmer's market. They had beautiful tomatoes and peppers to pick. Lydia had a fun time looking for the right color peppers and tomatoes (we told her not to pick the green ones, just the red - she did a pretty good job). Bryce enjoyed resting in Richard's Ergo. After picking our fresh fruits/veggies, we enjoyed some delicious BBQ. Lydia liked the brisket and corn on the cob. I liked the baked beans and collard greens. Richard liked it all!

Then we went to the Girl's Strawberry Patch. I've posted about it before - it's this crazy place behind a somewhat run-down looking strip plaza. The front is an old-time candy store and ice cream parlor. Behind it, though, is this huge hydroponic you-pick with animals (donkeys, tortoises, rabbits, geese), statues, trees, antique cars, and all sorts of stuff! We picked some awesome strawberries and green beans...and shared some delicious birthday cake-flavored ice cream. 

Lydia picking strawberries

I made some scrumptious menu items with our fresh produce. Here are just a few!

From-scratch vanilla cupcakes, whipped cream, and strawberries 

Caprese salad with freshly-made pesto

Whole wheat crepe with strawberries and chocolate ganache

Family Time (Day 26 of 30)

Spent a nice day with the family today. Jamie came over along with my parents. We just hung out and talked a bunch. Lydia had a lot of fun playing with everyone! She even enjoy playing with Poppa's harmonica. My little dancer and musician!



We all went to Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza for dinner. I tried something new - the pizza with sausage, meatballs, and ricotta with hot peppers on the side. Yum! I feel almost like Bryce (that seems to be "Baba"'s official name now) was with us tonight because he was wiggling around so much. Nice to see our little family beginning to grow.