We've been eating lots of strawberries and now that we are starting to get tired of eating them fresh, I'm starting to look for ways to preserve them. We made a batch of strawberry jam (5 half-pints and 1 pint) which will be all the strawberry jam we could possibly eat in a year. We are going to freeze some whole for smoothies and make fruit leather out of some. Hopefully we will also have the opportunity to go to a U-Pick strawberry farm in the next week or two. In the picture below, you can see the jars of strawberry jam and also two jars of something else.
Those are two pint jars of red onion pickles. Well, technically, the Ball Blue Book calls it Vinegared Red Onions, but we just call them pickles. We (especially Hubby) like these on sandwiches and salads. Yummy!
Isn't that pretty :)
I have a couple of questions for comments. First, do you usually do anything else with strawberries to preserve them? The only other thing I can think of is maybe strawberry syrup, which I think would be nice in lemonade. My second question is are you preserving anything now?
Those are two pint jars of red onion pickles. Well, technically, the Ball Blue Book calls it Vinegared Red Onions, but we just call them pickles. We (especially Hubby) like these on sandwiches and salads. Yummy!
Isn't that pretty :)
3 comments:
I have been waiting for local strawberries for so long now. I had begun to despair, but I found out that my favorite farmer @ the market will have some tomorrow (Tue) and I reserved a flat. Yes, 12 pints. Rh was cracking up because he figured out I was buying 3 gallons of strawberries and he wanted to know what was I going to do with all that. 1 flat is not all I'm going to buy LOL.
I plan to freeze this first batch, either in halves or whole. We'll use these throughout the year for smoothies. Since berries are "low carb" fruit, I can eat these regularly.
If I decide to buy more, I'll put some up in jelly/jam. I am not planning to make any blackberry preserves this year. I think I still have 4 pints from last year. The kids just don't eat enough pbj to justify making a whole other batch. I thought about making some for trade, but the only person who might want to trade would be Mr. V (he of the urban farm) and I'm pretty sure Mrs. V puts up her own jam. I might ask them if they want to come over for a berry picking (ya'll too, if you come back home during May!)
Mostly I've just been enjoying fresh lettuces from the farms and I am anticipating strawberries @ cream for dessert tomorrow night!
Oh, thank you for the invitation to berry picking. If we are in town in May, I'll let you know - we'd love to come!!
I make strawberry jam, as well as mixed berry jam. I make extra and give it as gifts. I like strawberries in Strawberry Spinach Salad and fruit salads. In the spring and summer I bake with strawberries i.e. muffins, bread, pies, and scones. I also freeze any strawberries before they turn and use those berries in smoothies.
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