Cranberry-Basil Spritzer

Cranberry - Basil Spritzer

 In a medium saucepan over medium - high eat, bring 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar to a boil. Stir to dissolve sugar. Add 1/2 cup basil leaves, remove from heat, let steep for 20 minutes. Strain syrup and let cool for at least 1 hour. In a large pitcher, combine syrup, 2 cups unsweetened cranberry juice, and 1/4 cup fresh lime juice. Fill pitcher with 1 liter chilled club soda, then add 4 lime slices, 1 cup fresh cranberries, and 1/2 cup basil leaves. To serve, pour spritzers over ice, top with a splash more club soda, and garnish with basil.

 Yummy! 

After trying this spritzer, I plan to serve this as our Thanksgiving drink.

 Enjoy!

On the Road Friday - Wisconsin Cranberries

Today we are taking a trip to watch a Cranberry Harvest.

Last weekend we had the opportunity to watch how cranberries are harvested. Amazing! We appreciate being able to show our boys the hard work that goes into having  our food on the shelf of a grocery store. Great folks working hard. And the outcome...good stuff for all of us.

So off we go!

 Some of you may not know that cranberries do not grow in water. And you are asking "Then why do we see them in water?"

 Check out my earlier posts that give you all the fun facts about Wisconsin Cranberries. You will find a wonderful recipe too.

Wisconsin Cranberries part 1

Wisconsin Cranberries part 2

Wisconsin Cranberries part 3

 Now you know all about cranberries. :-) 

I find it so cool that they float.

 Harvesting cranberries on a cool and misty day. We visited Copper River Cranberry Company, located in Merrill, Wisconsin.

 Cranberries being harvested and dumped into the truck. The truck will head to the Ocean Spray plant. The truck will be weighed. I wonder how many pounds of cranberries we see?

 Preparing the next cranberry bed for harvest.

 Beautiful Cranberries.

Did you know, I can eat them fresh. I just pop them into my mouth. Actually, everyone in our family can. Yummy.

 Pushing the berries into the harvesting ring.

 This bed is all ready to be harvested. The truck will come and they will begin to suck the berries up. A sepearator will place the berries in the semi trailer and the leaves, stems and other junk into the dump truck. 

We enjoyed learning more about how and where our food comes from. How about you? Have you ever visited a farm or watched a crop be harvested?

I would like to visit all the farms and meet the folks who farm. My top three crops that I would like to see are pineapple, cotton and coffee.

Hope you enjoyed today. And the next time you are in the grocery store, you can say "Yay, I know just how cranberries are grown and harvested."

Thank You Farmers!!

Have a great weekend.

Still Blooming

It is October, right? Usually, Northwest Wisconsin has been hit by a hard frost. And I would have already cleaned out my garden. But not this year! This year will go down in the record books.

October 9th! And still blooming pretty!

Bumble Bees are still buzzing.

We are still picking and eating cherry tomatoes.

My son Atticus loves to eat cherry tomatoes. He usually cleans off the plant before I can pick any. :-) We call him "The Bear".

God is so fun! Flowers blooming, cherry tomatoes and fresh lettuce in October. In Wisconsin!! Have a great day my friends.