Bring on the berries

It's berry season, folks, and I'm so excited. We've been stocking up like crazy at the store and farmers' markets lately.

Our first weekend back from Italy, we picked up a quart of strawberries and two pounds of rhubarb from the market. Then, later in the week, we added four more quarts of strawberries and six pints of blueberries to our stockpile.

Fresh berries are absolutely one of the best parts of summer.

We've been enjoying the berries raw, we've frozen some, and of course, there's been some baking. In between trips to the basement as the tornado sirens went off, we started our weekend with a little strawberry-rhubarb jam making session (we used this recipe, which we doubled).

Aren't they pretty? I love the way the flavors turned out, but Matt would suggest using a little less lemon, in case you're looking to tackle the recipe.

Then, we had some friends over for brunch on Sunday, and I made a strawberry-rhubarb coffee cake using this recipe, which was delicious. Super easy and great to make ahead.

I'm still debating how to use up my last few stalks of rhubarb.... Any ideas? These muffins from Smitten Kitchen are looking very tempting.

Now I'm just waiting for my favorite berry of all, blackberries, to start rolling in.