Local Berries

So far this year I haven't had much luck at buying local berries around Cloverdale. I like Kraus Berry Farms out in the Otter area of Langley. They're usually big, juicy, sweet berries and at a premium price. But quality is worth it. I'm not out in that area often so I have to make a special trip.

I notice the Blueberry Store on 152 Street is now open, though I haven't stopped in there yet this year. Its on the east side of 152, about a couple of blocks south of the railway tracks at Colebrook Road. I've often pulled in there when stopped by a train. They have decent blueberries and often other berries and produce that are in season. Therefore they are only open a couple of months of the year in the summer.

Last week I stopped at Surrey Farms on the corner of 152 and Colebrook. They often have flats of blueberries and raspberries at $9.99. I bought a flat of blueberries for $9.99, a carton of strawberries for $7 (Yikes!) and a couple of pounds of Okanagan cherries that worked out to just over $6. Kerry likes them so I wanted to get him a treat. The cherries are good.

The blueberries weren't bad. Its the beginning of their season and they're not sweet and big and juicy the way I like. I ate some and froze about the majority. They'll be good for baking over the winter.

The strawberries I bought only because someone I know bought some there and said they were pretty good. I didn't like them. They weren't that big, were more white inside than red, more tart than sweet, and kind of tired looking even though they were picked that morning. By the 2nd day in my fridge they were already starting to turn. I turned them into strawberry smoothies and they were OK but I won't be buying any more strawberries here.

There are several signs up for blueberries for sale on the outskirts of Cloverdale along 152 Street, 168th Street, and 184th Street, among other places. These are farmers selling their berries on tables set up in their driveway or in booths on their front lawn. All cash sales. Occasionally I stop at some of them but more often than not I'm not carrying cash on me. I really need to make it a point to have a couple of tens on me during the summer months of driving around.

Free pancakes at Kraus Berry Farms on Canada Day?

Once again Kraus Berry Farms in the Otter area of Langley is hosting a free pancake breakfast on Canada Day from 9am to 11am. Their address is 6179 - 248th Street in Langley. Their web site is www.krausberryfarms.com

We drove out last year and the place was a zoo. Parking was - well everywhere. In their parking lot, up and down their driveway, and down 248th Street. We rode our motorbikes and the parking attendants shooed us to park beneath a tree near the store so we got up close parking. The line up for pancakes was at least 20 minutes. The pancakes were good and there was homemade berry syrup and fresh raspberries to put on the cakes. There was a donation can for a charity that I don't recall now. Perhaps cancer? We put in a good donation but not everyone showing up for their free pancakes did. We purchased berries and left. Several families stayed after breakfast to pick their own berries. Due to the cold weather raspberries aren't ripe yet. My plants are just starting to turn red the past couple of days, so I don't know if Kraus will have in time for Canada Day.

We often drive out there to pick up fresh berries. If we're very lucky we can catch blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries at the same time, thanks to those everbearing plants. They have the sweetest, juiciest berries but they tend to be higher priced than the farms around Cloverdale, so I don't purchase from them as much as I used to unless I happen to be out in the Aldergrove area.

Are free pancakes worth a half hour drive from Cloverdale and a line up of about the same time not to mention parking hassles. I'll let you decide.

Canada Day free pancake breakfast and raspberry social

Ah yes, never miss an opportunity for free pancakes!

Kraus Berry Farms in Aldergrove is one of my favorite places to buy fresh berries. We go there several times during the summer to buy freshly picked strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. We snack on them on the drive home and still manage to get home with many intact. Their berries are so big, sweet, and juicy. The Kraus farms also has a bakery selling pies and shortcake featuring their berries and sell preserves. They also serve sandwiches and milkshakes. And if you like farm animals, there is a petting zoo to visit.

On July 1 from 9am to 1pm Kraus Berry Barms is celebrating Canada Day with a free pancake breakfast served with their own berry syrup. They're located at 6179 - 248th Street.

And when you're finished at Kraus's farm, head south on 248th Street to the Otter Coop located just south of the Fraser Highway. Between noon and 3pm on Canada Day they're holding a strawberry/raspberry social featuring raspberry shortcake and there will be live music.

Time it right and you can fit in both activities.

And then don't forget to come back to Cloverdale for the Canada Day celebrations at the Millenium Park located at the corner of 64th Avenue and 176th Street. Traffic in that area is going to be a mess after the 10pm fireworks show is finished. If you can walk or take transit that's the best plan. 100,000 people showed up last year and parking is at a premium.

Tea

My mother came from Scotland and was a big tea drinker. While growing up I was constantly putting a kettle on for her or pouring the boiling water into her old metal tea pot. We didn't have a meal called tea like they do in Britain. But during the times I visited my relatives in England I always enjoyed the later afternoon tea. Not that I liked drinking the hot tea, I just liked all the cakes, cookies, and other snacks that came with the drink. I especially liked going to a restaurant for a cream tea. That snack was crumpets, clotted cream, and strawberries.

Even when iced tea drink crystals came out in the late 60's, early 70's I never was a big fan. We had it in the house but I rarely drank it. By the late 70's and 80's I was buying and drinking iced tea made from the drink crystals on a regular basis, but I rarely drank hot tea. When we went out to restaurants I often ordered iced tea to drink, and that was the presweetened drink that usually came out of the same dispensers as the soda pop.

In the late 80's when I began travelling more often to California and Nevada and ordered iced tea with my meal, it came differently than what I was used to in Canada. It was real brewed tea and it was unsweetened. When it arrived at the table I could add sweetener or sugar to it. I began to prefer this over the pre-sweetened tea I got back home.

In 1994 we were in Arizona one winter and wandered into a shop. I saw an iced tea machine and called Kerry to come over and take a look. "Can you believe people would pay money for this" I asked. "All they have to do is boil water in their kettle, make tea, and then put ice cubes in it or put it in the fridge."

But a few years later I remembered that machine. Because now I'm thinking its a real pain to go through the hassle of making tea and then cooling it down so I can have iced tea. but I could find no such appliance in any of the stores I looked at in the Greater Vancouver Area. So I looked on Ebay and bought a used Mr Coffee Iced Tea machine. And then I was hooked. The machine brews the tea and then spits it out into the pitcher which we've filled with ice cubes. So that's the big secret! We made a lot of iced tea. We tried all kinds of different flavored herbal teas. But after all the use the handle came off the pitcher. Crazy Glue fixed that problem but to be cautious after the tea brewed into iced tea we poured it into a second pitcher.

In 2005 we were down in Washington one weekend and had dinner at Red Lobster. I asked for iced tea and the waiter asked if I wanted regular iced tea or Boston iced tea. I asked what the Boston iced tea is and he said it has cranberry juice. I ordered that and I was hooked. While down on that trip we bought a new Mr Coffee Iced Tea machine. And ever since then I've been stocking up on cranberry-raspberry juice that I add to the iced tea as sweetener. We make iced tea a lot, even through the winter months.

But an odd thing has happened. I've started drinking hot tea too. Not a lot and usually just when I have a sore throat. But maybe that's because its winter and old age is catching up to me....