Berry Season!

I woke up this morning, my first Saturday after school started, and was lying in bed wondering what to do for the day.  My mind was wandering through thoughts of laundry and vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms and washing my car.  I suddenly remembered something infinitely more fun!  Its farmer's market season!  I jumped out of bed, brushed my teeth, threw on some clothes and drove to the nearest one.  Being that the weather has been so crazy this summer, I didn't know what to expect.  Imagine the happiness I felt when the first stand I found was the Tagges!  I used to work for them.  And to add to the happiness, guess what they had?  BEAR LAKE RASPBERRIES! 

I was surprised they had such a great deal on them and that I had actually shown up on the week they were there!  These things are like gold!  So I bought a three pack, two raspberries and one of Thayne's famous Arapahoe blackberries.  No way can I eat that many berries in a week so I'm freezing them.  Its really easy so I thought I'd share.
First you just want to wash them and let them shake off as much water as they can.

Next step is to spread them out on a cookie sheet to let the remaining moisture absorb into a paper towel or just evaporate.  Heaven knows its hot enough right now to do that!

FYI- I've never actually frozen berries before, but from working for the Tagge's, I've certainly explained it enough times to try it out!  Cari always said the most important step was to make sure they were dry before you put them into freezer safe bags.  Otherwise, the moisture crystallizes and damages the berries.  The final step after drying is to place them into bags and freeze them!  I try to lay them flat so they don't mush until they're frozen solid.

And that should take care of it!
P.S.  I also bought fresh new red potatoes and garlic, along with some zucchini.  Guess what I'm having for dinner? :)