• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

A Field Trip Life

Books, places, and books that take you places

  • Home
  • About
  • Places
  • Celebrate
  • Review Policy
  • Contact Me

Field Trip Notes: Staycation Edition

June 30, 2016 By Claire Annette Noland 2 Comments

Looking back over my calendar I realized that I didn’t travel at all during the month of June. I am always going somewhere so this seemed really odd. I guess you could call it a stay-cation.

First of all, the Kings River water was released from the dam. Since we have been in a drought for a number of years, this was cause for celebration. We put the jet ski and the boat in and settled down by the river. What a difference water makes!
girls reading the girls

We are reading The Girls by Emma Cline. It was written by the sister of Roxanne’s good friend, Elsie.

Around my neighborhood, we mark seasons by the stages of fruits and nuts. We have come to the end of blueberry and apricot season. I took a walk and brought home a load of both.

These apricots are sold at a fruit stand in the orchard around the corner from out house.

apricots

 

Isn’t this mural outside of the Berry Lady Farm Store sweet?

berry lady sign

 

Have you ever made a cake in an iron skillet? Well, I found a number of recipes, played around, and came up with a scrumptious upside down cake. I will admit right up front that I love cooking but I am the first to use short cuts. I used a cake mix instead of doing everything from scratch and was able to whip this up in no time.

Just melt some butter in a skillet, add brown sugar and fruit, top with a cake mix and bake. Easy!!!!

blueberry apricot cake

blueberry batter

blueberry cake 2

 

Sorry I didn’t take a photo of the upside-down cake after flipping it out of the skillet. I’ll need to make another one.

blueberry cake slice

 

 

Apricot Blueberry Upside-Down Cake

Preheat oven to 350°

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
  • 8 fresh unpeeled apricots, halved and pitted
  • 1/3 cup of butter
  • 1 cup of brown sugar
  • 1 cake mix (I used Trader Joe’s vanilla cake mix)
  1. Prepare the cake mix according to the directions on the box
  2. Melt butter in a 10 inch cast iron skillet over a low heat
  3. Add the brown sugar to the butter and stir it with a fork
  4. Place the apricot halves in a circular pattern in the skillet
  5. Scatter the blueberries between the apricots
  6. Pour the prepared cake mix over the fruit
  7. Bake the cake until it rises and springs back when pressed (45 mins)
  8. Run a knife around the edge and carefully invert the skillet onto a platter. The cake should slide right out.
  9. Serve warm with whipped cream.

blueberries gayle

Gayle Willems of the Berry Lady Farm Store (pictured above) displays a copy of Peter in Blueberry Land by Swedish author, Elsa Beskow. I decided that we needed a copy for our agriculture related book collection. I ordered it and it came in a miniature edition. I just love little versions of favorite books!

blueberry land

Originally written in 1901, this precious story tells about young Peter who wants to give his mother a basket of blueberries on her birthday. He has trouble finding any until he meets the blueberry king who shrinks Peter and calls to the blueberry children to help in the search.

blueberry land 2

Elsa Beskow’s books are so charming! They are old-fashioned as compared to most books published today but the illustrations are sweet and the stories are filled with magic and adventure. Share this book with a young friend along with some blueberries for a perfect summer treat.

Bocce ball is our favorite field trio game which we play wherever we go. This month we played at our friend’s, the de Hoops, dairy. The cows were very interested in what we were doing.

bocce ball 1

 

bocce ball 2

The Kingsburg Library just opened a special section for very young children. I took Thomas for his first library visit. He made a friend and into the local paper!

Thomas library 1

 

 

Have you ever stayed home for a vacation instead of traveling? Here’s a fun post with ideas about how to travel right where you are.

I’d love to hear about your vacation experiences in your own town.

 

 

Filed Under: Books, Family, Farm Fresh, Field Trips, Food, Places Tagged With: Apricot Blueberry Upside Down Cake recipe, Berry Lady Farm Store, Bocce Ball, Kingsburg - things to do, Kingsburg Library, Peter in Blueberry Land, Staycation

« Palindromes – how many can you think of?
Beatrix Potter is 150 – It’s Time for a Party! »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. evelyne holingue says

    July 21, 2016 at 1:12 am

    How did I miss this post, Claire? So many great things in there. First the book you mention Girls which caught my attention at the bookstore the other day. On my reading list on my way from Maine to California. Then your recipe! And the blueberries. Being in Maine where blueberries are a big thing, I can relate. In terms of great books around the blueberry crops I recommend Cynthia Lord’s MG novel A Handful of Stars.
    Bocce balls remind me of the French petanque game which I played with plastic balls when I was too young for the real ones, way too heavy and dangerous for children.
    Of course, I love the photo of this adorable baby of yours.
    evelyne holingue recently posted…Let’s Eat. Let’s Read. Let’s Celebrate the 4th of July.My Profile

    Reply
    • Claire Annette Noland says

      July 21, 2016 at 7:23 pm

      Hello Friend! I’m just back from Florida.

      Our family loves bocce ball. We have our own rules and we wander and play wherever we are.
      My daughter’s good friend’s sister wrote The Girls so we all started reading it on it’s release day.
      I hope you are enjoying a lovely and creative summer.

      Reply

Join the Discussion! Cancel reply

Please submit your comment with a real name.

Thanks for your feedback!

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Welcome

Hello. I’m Claire Annette - reader, writer, teacher, and field trip planner extraordinaire. Here at A Field Trip Life you will find ideas for adventures large and small and the kids’ books that inspire them. Sign your permission slip. Let's go!

Connect With Me!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS

Join the Fun, Subscribe to a Field Trip Life!


Search

Categories

  • Adoption
  • Biographies
  • Blogging A to Z
  • board books
  • book maps
  • Bookish Field Trips
  • Books
  • Celebrate
  • Chapter Books
  • Christmas Books
  • Citizen Science
  • Cybils easy readers/ early chapter books
  • Early Chapter Books
  • Easy Readers
  • Family
  • Farm Fresh
  • Field Trips
  • Food
  • Graphic Novels
  • Inspirations
  • Library Love
  • Mermaids
  • Multicultural Children's Books
  • picture books
  • Places
  • Quotes
  • Uncategorized

Popular Posts

  • Who Doesn’t Love a Challenge? Blogging A to Z 2016 21 Mar , 2016
  • Reflections – 10 Thoughts about the A – Z Blog Challenge 04 May , 2015
  • A- a reader’s field trip to Australia 01 Apr , 2015
  • B is for Brazil 02 Apr , 2016
  • H is for Hobbit on an alphabetical journey through literary maps 09 Apr , 2018
MCBookDay-white-21-300x234


Discover. Play. Build.

Sites to See

An Unconventional Librarian
Atlas Obscura
California Through My Lens
Cynical Sailor and His Salty Sidekick
Evelyne Holingue
Frantic Mommy
Jen Robinson's Book Page
GROG Blog
Growing Book By Book
Hawwa's Mail Adventures
Holt International Blog
Jama's Alphabet Soup
Julia's Bookbag
Jump Into a Book
Kid World Citizen
Orange Marmalade
Picture Book Builders
Pragmatic Mom
Rule Your Realm
This Picture Book Life
The Little Crooked Cottage
Sub It Club
Susan Branch
Tina's Tidbits
Writing for Kids (while raising them)
Load More...
Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2018 · FieldTripLife · All Rights Reserved
Designed by: iBoost.co