In Search of the Perfect Strawberry

Every summer in Pittsburgh, we look forward to strawberry picking season. There's nothing quite like hunting for the perfect, plump strawberries among the rows of fresh strawberry plants.

The day we went out, the weather couldn't have been more ideal. It was a warm, overcast morning with a light breeze - perfect weather for strawberry picking.

My 5-year-old and 3-year-old gladly did all of the work and, surprisingly, only 2 or 3 green berries made it in the batch. They loved sifting through the leaves to uncover the ripe berries and, at times, a bug or two (Connor was much more excited about that part of strawberry picking than Haley.)

I just love days like these. The warm breeze, tromping through the hay, little hands and mouths stained with strawberry juice. It does my soul good.

And don't forget the strawberry shortcake. Lots of strawberry shortcake is good for the soul too, or so I've heard.

After the harsh, cold days of winter, the earth is finally warm and in bloom again, and we welcome it with open arms and stained hands.

After an hour of picking, we managed to gather almost 10 pounds of fresh strawberries. There may have been a few that disappeared along the way into little mouths, but thankfully the staff said we were welcome to eat as much as we want as we picked. The surviving berries have all since been cleaned and frozen, ready to be made into smoothies in the very near future.

And, of course, strawberry shortcake.