Farmer’s Market Friday: Strawberries

Just a few more days till Mother’s Day and what better choice to celebrate with than strawberries. I love when the local berrries are in season, freshly picked, there are few things better. So today I’m excited to share recipes that take full advantage of there wonderful flavor.

Strawberries

this recipe!

Photo source

While growing up I spent many days with my Mother either tending our large garden or helping with preserving all the bounty that our garden provided. With five kids there was always a hungry mouth in the house and growing our own vegetables was the way to provide for us all.

Over the years we raised just about every type of vegetable imaginable. We also had our own mini orchard with apples, peaches, plums, pears and cherries. I climbed that cherry tree too many times to count, only got caught a few. We even grew raspberries along with our strawberries. There was never enough strawberries for everyone so occasionally we would head over to the local strawberry patch and spend the early morning picking. With six pairs of hands it didn’t take long to pick our containers full.

But our day was just getting started and we would spend the rest of it in the kitchen making freezer jam, hopefully enough for the whole year.

These memories are just a few of my favorite, I hope you spend this Mother’s Day making memories with your Mom.

Here’s a few recipes using my favorite fruit…

• Strawberry Stuffed French Toast
• Strawberry Freezer Jam
• Strawberry Fruit Base
• Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler
• Easy Strawberry Pie
• Fresh Strawberry Layer Cake
• Gourmet Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
• Strawberry Cheesecake Milkshake

So load up on strawberries this weekend and if you can’t get your fill at your local farmer’s market here’s some Strawberry Picking Tips courtesy of PickYourOwn.org.

Tips on How to Pick Strawberries

• Grasp the stem just above the berry between the forefinger and the thumbnail and pull with a slight twisting motion.
• With the stem broken about one-half inch from the berry, allow it to roll into the palm of your hand.
• Repeat these operations using both hands until each holds 3 or 4 berries.
• Carefully place – don’t throw – the fruit into your containers. Repeat the picking process with both hands.
• Don’t overfill your containers or try to pack the berries down.

Linking to… Weekend Wrap-up, Saturday Night Special, Saturday Sevens, Made by you Monday, Ingredient Spotlight, Show & Tell Friday

Chef