Today was a day of strawberries! We spent a good 45 minutes cleaning and cutting all of the "jam berries" we had. (My aunt and uncle own a strawberry farm in Chassell, Michigan- The Crane Berry Farm). I did not expect interest to last as long as it did, but the children were super excited about cutting the berries.
After we cut the berries, we made some strawberry drop biscuits:
We also made a pretty cool project from our berries! We took the stems and "icky" spots from the berries and boiled them in a pot with a little bit of water. (about twice as much water as berry stuff) After the mixture came to a boil, We turned it to simmer for about 20 minutes and then strained the juice to make a very nice natural red dye. We added vinegar (about 1 cup to every 6-8 cups of dye).
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. honey
1/2 c. margarine
2/3 c. milk
Strawberries to taste- we added between 2-3 cups (we like lots of berries!)
Mix dry ingredients cut in margarine, add milk and honey. Mix well. Fold in Strawberries. Drop by spoonfuls on baking sheet. (We use parchment paper on a cookie sheet).
Bake in oven pre-heated to 400 for approximately 20 minutes until they look like this:
We also made a pretty cool project from our berries! We took the stems and "icky" spots from the berries and boiled them in a pot with a little bit of water. (about twice as much water as berry stuff) After the mixture came to a boil, We turned it to simmer for about 20 minutes and then strained the juice to make a very nice natural red dye. We added vinegar (about 1 cup to every 6-8 cups of dye).
We used white t-shirts, rinsed them in salt water (1 c. of salt to 8 cups of hot water). Rung them out, and then used marbles and rubber bands to get them ready for the dye bath. I admit that this part was rather challenging for most of the children. For the younger ones, they pointed or pulled at the fabric and I put on the rubber bands. The older ones were able to design their shirts with some extra help to make sure that the rubber bands were tight enough. When the children were finished, we plopped the shirts in the dye bath. (I have been mixing them every couple of hours and will keep them there overnight).
This shirt was only in the dye bath for about an hour. (It was the shirt I used to test the dye). I anticipate that the shirts that sit over night will be much more vibrant. (Of course, I will update this post tomorrow with all of the children's shirts).
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-Sarah