Soon after buying our house, we discovered that our home was called “The Birdhouse” by many of our neighbors. It made sense to us since the previous owners had attached funky birdhouses around the exterior of the house in an attempt to stop the birds from pecking holes into the side of the structure.

At first, I wasn’t too keen on the little houses but when spring came, we realized it was too late to remove them as birds had already set up house in anticipation of their growing families. As the summer rolled on, we became enamoured with the cycle of bird life that we watched from our deck and windows, especially when the young chicks took flight for their first time, and so, the houses have stayed.

Since Thanksgiving our home has been filled with friends and family. We love waking up to the sleepy-heads who make their way to the kitchen in the morning while Ric whips up hot chocolates and his killer lattes for all. We sit around our big table that overlooks the tall pine trees and deer that wander through our yard.

We chow down croissants and homemade organic strawberry jam before we head to the slopes…

…pull out the sleds (there was even some lugging going on) and ice skates.

This is what matters to Ric and me the most, our children, friends, family and creating memorable shared experiences with all of these people who mean so much to us. What a fun winter this has been.

Since I have yet to find an organic jam that isn’t made of pulverized fruit to the point of tasting like baby food, I make my own in small batches using frozen organic fruit. It works out well since I don’t have to deal with sterilizing cases of jars, preparing tons of fruit and all of the mess that goes along with it – this is so simple to make. Also, I like to taste chunks of fruit in my jam so I chop the fruit to the size that appeals to me.

Enjoy!

Our Birdhouse B&B ~ Quick and Easy Organic Strawberry Jam ~ by Eva Marie