Over the last three weeks I have gone strawberry picking 3 times, and come away with 77 pounds of strawberries. At this point, I would be happy to never see another strawberry for the next year! I have made quite a few yummy things out of them though, so it was worth it. I have canned 25 pints of strawberry jam, and 12 half pints of jam to save for Christmas presents. I have frozen 12 pounds to use this winter in smoothies. I also made a batch of Strawberry sorbet for Matthew that turned out a little too sweet, but delicious just the same:
I also tried my hand at making fruit leathers, and they were tasty but I cooked them too long. Still, they didn't last long around here:
Of course, a lot of them got eaten in strawberry form, and last night we made a delicious strawberry shortcake. I used a recipe I found on Food Network, and will post it below...it was SO easy and really fluffy. I still have a big bowl of them in my fridge, which will need to be used today so I think I will make more fruit leathers, since those can be frozen and kept for up to a year and maybe some more strawberry shortcake...or some fresh strawberry ice cream...some strawberry Popsicles...the possibilities are endless!
This is the last week that the berries are in season here in Oregon, so now I am eyeing my cherry tree and am going to work on canning and drying a bunch of those. I would never have planted a cherry tree, and in fact wanted to cut it down this year and replace it with something we would eat, but since its here I feel like I should take advantage of it. Then it will be blueberry and raspberry season next month, and cucumbers and tomatoes are already starting in the garden, so I will be busy preserving them too. Its SO much work to do this....but I feel so much pride and happiness looking at row after row of homemade healthy food that my family can eat this coming year. I almost cant wait for fall to be here to see how much I managed to get preserved. I have started a little tally on the sidebar, of what we have picked, and how we have preserved it.
Strawberry Shortcake Recipe from Mary Nolan at Food Network:
Ingredients Enjoy!
I also tried my hand at making fruit leathers, and they were tasty but I cooked them too long. Still, they didn't last long around here:
Of course, a lot of them got eaten in strawberry form, and last night we made a delicious strawberry shortcake. I used a recipe I found on Food Network, and will post it below...it was SO easy and really fluffy. I still have a big bowl of them in my fridge, which will need to be used today so I think I will make more fruit leathers, since those can be frozen and kept for up to a year and maybe some more strawberry shortcake...or some fresh strawberry ice cream...some strawberry Popsicles...the possibilities are endless!
This is the last week that the berries are in season here in Oregon, so now I am eyeing my cherry tree and am going to work on canning and drying a bunch of those. I would never have planted a cherry tree, and in fact wanted to cut it down this year and replace it with something we would eat, but since its here I feel like I should take advantage of it. Then it will be blueberry and raspberry season next month, and cucumbers and tomatoes are already starting in the garden, so I will be busy preserving them too. Its SO much work to do this....but I feel so much pride and happiness looking at row after row of homemade healthy food that my family can eat this coming year. I almost cant wait for fall to be here to see how much I managed to get preserved. I have started a little tally on the sidebar, of what we have picked, and how we have preserved it.
Strawberry Shortcake Recipe from Mary Nolan at Food Network:
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds strawberries, stemmed and quartered
- 5 tablespoons sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- Whipped Cream, recipe follows
Directions:
Mix strawberries with 3 tablespoons sugar and refrigerate while juices develop, at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add heavy cream and mix until just combined. Place mixture in an ungreased 8-inch square pan and bake until golden, 18 to 20 minutes.
Remove shortcake from pan and place on a rack to cool slightly. Cut into 6 pieces and split each piece in half horizontally.
Spoon some of the strawberries with their juice onto each shortcake bottom. Top with a generous dollop of whipped cream and then the shortcake top. Spoon more strawberries over the top and serve.