Actually, it’s probably not as bad as it would have been if I had picked them too. Instead, we hired the old babysitter to pick them for us at a local u-pick spot. She’s younger (by half) and it doesn’t hurt for her to crawl around picking strawberries like it does this 40-something. I’m not that bendy anymore.
I have now processed 12 litres of strawberries into 22 jars of strawberry freezer jam, 5 bags of macerated berries (also for the freezer) and we’ve had them for dessert twice now (not including the 2 extra bowls I had for lunch and breakfast). If it wasn’t for being invited to the farm for dinner last night, I wouldn’t have eaten anything but red berries all day. No, that’s wrong – I briefly forgot the trip into the museum for a strawberry social. So there was cake mixed in with the berries at one point at least.
tall kid at the strawberry social
I did learn something about berry processing this weekend that I had not previously thought about. I’ve been doing it wrong for years apparently. You should wash the berries first, before hulling them, then they don’t get waterlogged in the resulting holes and overly mushy, especially if you intend to freeze whole berries. My father in law found that gem while leafing through one of my library cookbooks.
My other favourite tip for strawberries is to put some Amaretto on them. If you are serving them over ice cream, let them macerate in a little bit of Amaretto and sugar. I even added some to the jam that I made. It didn’t seem to affect the gelling at all, and added the taste that we like. I always double the jam recipe (on the pectin box), so the amount I splashed in was probably somewhere between 3 tbsp and 1/4 cup (who measures, really?).
And I’ve still got strawberries in the fridge.. so now its a toss-up between strawberry jam on toast for breakfast or strawberries on yogurt and granola. Or both.
and this is what happens when you leave your camera and children unattended while you run into the bank before heading to the strawberry social
that’s better
lightlycrunchy 
love the hint – love the pic taken when you went to the bank
She didn’t tell me about it, either, just left it for me to discover this morning. Joke’s on her, now!
When you freeze them whole what do you do with them after …just thaw and put over ice cream or make strawberry shortcake? BTW I got a neat thing through the email about how to take the centre out…with a straw. You put the straw (I use a plastic one) and push it up from the bottom to the top and it takes the (hull?) out. You likely have a utensil that does it for you but we’d never done it…always cut them in half and took it our….Diane
Yep, on ice cream or yogurt or in smoothies. I actually like them better in a bit of syrup, then you can use them as a dessert topping without doing anything to them.
I’d heard about the straw trick, but these were so ripe that the tops twisted right off with no extra work needed.
Ahhh I thought I might have told you something you didn’t know….darn!!! lol Diane
Believe me, there’s a lot I don’t know. I just recently read about the straw trick too. It sounds pretty easy.
I tried it…it is…something safe kids could probably do..I was just kidding you…Diane
Strawberries, yum. We can eat and eat and eat them.
One of my fave things to do with the strawberry tops is to macerate them with lemons and sugar for a day, then remove the lemons, blend the rest up and strain it. Voila! Strawberry syrup for the kids to use in their homemade lemonade. 🙂
Enjoy your strawberries!
Great idea, might try that one out, too.
Yeah, it’s a great way to use the strawberry tops on the way to the compost pile. 🙂
Great post – made me chuckle – like your sense of humour.
It all sounds good, I can’t lie. I’ve been craving the summertime bounty… It just doesn’t get much better than fresh!
Ooh, strawberries with amaretto sounds divine! I love them with some Grand Marnier, but I may have to try that out very soon…
I’ve never tried them with Grand Marnier, but I bet it’d be good. Now I want to go and dig through the booze cupboard to see if we have any..
My harvest is pretty small this year, being as I just put them in and have had to share them with the four-legged neighbors. But there is usually a few to pick daily, it’s my guilty pleasure.
New layout? This all sounds so wonderful!
Lol I love those photos 😀
Wow – I thought I’d had quite a batch of strawberries with my one and a half kilos!
Those photos are priceless. As are the mounds and mounds of strawberries. Freezer jam is our favorite. My kids won’t touch the store bought stuff 😉
The husband said that he doesn’t think I made it clear enough just how important strawberry jam is around here. Apparently my strawberry jam making skills are part of the attraction for him. 🙂
From your blog, I’d say you have multiple attractions, but hey, if strawberry jam is what whets his whistle, then that’s fantastic 😉
Nice job. You will be very glad to have those berries in the dead of winter. Thanks for the tip on washing before hulling, (didn’t know that’s what you called pulling the stems out, either :-))
If they last that long! My husband loves strawberry jam so much that I may have to make more this weekend to get us through.
You have been so busy with those strawberries! Last strawberry season I used my friend Barbara’s recipe to make strawberry and rhubarb jam. The two fruits just seemed to compliment each other. Incidentally, you really do make beautiful children!
Thankyou! They are some happy mixture of recessive genetics on both our parts.
As you can probably tell, I love rhubarb and strawberries too. The husband is already worried that we’ll need to make more jam.
Heidi, I’ve nominated you for the One Lovely Blog award.
Thank you!
Your jam looks wonderful! And Amaretto? Wow does that sound amazing!! But I have to tell you…I cracked up at your ‘not so bendy’ comment! I’m almost always behind the times when it comes to television shows but I caught an episode of Friends on re-run a few years ago where Phoebe said, “I’m very bendy.” I remember laughing out loud WISHING I was still “Bendy”. Like you, this 40-Something is also not so bendy these days so you’re not alone! 🙂
Glad I’m not the only one. I like to think of myself as selectively bendy, these days.
Have you ever tried strawberries with a splash of balsamic vinegar? I promise you, they are even more beautiful like that sometimes. 🙂
I remember my grandmother doing them up with balsamic vinegar once and we all loved it, but haven’t tried it myself. I did think about it this year, but then stuck to the old tried and true. Next year, definitely.
Our season is very much still here so I can try your Amaretto which sounds very special! 🙂
I would love to make some more jam, but heard the berry patches closed down earlier this week. Hope you like it. Someone else commented about Grand Marnier and strawberries, which I think sounds great too.
Another to try! 🙂
I would love to make some more jam, but heard the berry patches closed down earlier this week. Hope you like it. Someone else commented about Grand Marnier and strawberries, which I think sounds great too.