Strawberries

About

Strawberries are a vining perennial plant that produce very sweet fruit, bringing joy to the northern hemisphere every June! They are usually red but can also be pale pink. The berries are relatively perishable, but using them quickly is not often a problem.

Storage

Store in the fridge, in a non-flexible container with good air flow, for up to a week.

To freeze, remove the tops by gripping all the leaves and twisting gently. First lay them out on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer for a couple of hours to solidify them. Then move them to a sealed container and keep frozen up to a year. This initial step on the baking sheet prevents the berries from sticking together so you can just use a few at a time.

Strawberries are also relatively low-risk to can because of their high acid content. Jam and preserves are great first canning projects. Strawberries don’t have much natural pectin, so if you like a thick jam, be sure to use pectin. You can easily can frozen strawberries if you don’t have time now, or want to save them up for a bigger batch.

Cooking

Strawberries make a great addition to any dessert, fresh or cooked. If you want them to be sweeter, try mixing them with a couple spoons of sugar and letting them sit overnight for an simple, easy topping.

Recipes

• cover them in chocolate
• put them in a pie
• put them on ice cream
• top them with whipped cream
• cook them down with sugar for a sauce
• do all of the above at once
• Strawberry Basil Salad
• check out one of our favorite canning resources
• this website is also reliable for canning