Fresh Strawberry Recipes

Eight quarts of strawberries didn't look like that much yesterday when I was picking them. However, after making preserves and strawberry oat squares ... and preparing another quart to put in the Cuisinart Ice Cream Machine tonight ... I think that we're going to be challenged to eat the rest on our cereal!

My son will be home from college on Saturday, however, so maybe not. He loves strawberries, as I remember from his latency stage. Strawberry pancakes! We'll have them to celebrate his homecoming. Hey! Perhaps we can top our strawberry pancakes with the strawberry preserves. Uh, too much?

The preserves didn't quite set, but I'm not complaining. Let's call it strawberry topping. It was thickish in consistency, although not spreadable. It mixed well with the fried eggs and bacon and we sopped up what was left on our plates with wonderful slices of bread from the Wine and Cheese Shop at Kingsmill. Love their bread.

Most of the recipes I located for no-pectin strawberry preserves were simply a mixture of strawberries, sugar, vinegar, and salt. One that I used called for 2 pounds of strawberries (the conversion is about 3 3/4 cups whole strawberries to a pound), 5 cups of white sugar, 2 tablespoons of vinegar and a pinch of salt. I used lemon juice instead of vinegar. The mixture was combined in a large pot and brought to a rolling boil, and then cooked while stirring for 15 minutes. If you're going to try this at home, the temperature of the mixture should reach 220 degrees. Once done, I ladled the mixture into sterile jars and processed in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. I think that perhaps I was heavy on my quantity of strawberries, which may be the reason for not achieving a spreadable texture.

I found another recipe for strawberry squares, so used some of the preserves in them. The recipe calls for combining 2 cups of oats, 1 3/4 cups of whole wheat flour, 1 cup of softened butter, 1 cup of packed brown sugar, 3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 cup nuts (the recipe called for walnuts, but I used sliced almonds) and 1 cup of strawberry preserves. Mix everything but the preserves until well mixed and crumbly. Spread half in a greased 9 by 13 pan. Spread the preserves on top of this layer. Then crumble the other half of the oat mixture on top and pat it in place. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes and viola! Cut the squares before the baked treat is cool so that the squares won't crumble too much and will have nice edges.

I think we'll have the strawberry oat squares with strawberry sorbet tonight for desert!



If a trip to Hidden Brook Farm isn't in the cards for you, be sure to get yourself to the nearest Farmer's Market soon. Hidden Brook Farm is a vendor at the Williamsburg Farmers Market and College Run Farms is bringing strawberries to the market this weekend too.