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Monday, April 22, 2013

Strawberries...it happened like this

I love strawberries. How about you? They are soooo expensive! Right? The delight of eating them year round is something I will pay for when I can, which is not often anytime of the year. Eating local is important to me, so during the season I do try eat local. Buying enough local produce to freeze or otherwise store is beyond my resources.

local strawberries--$12
 
It took awhile to get these ready for the freezer since I cannot stand long and wanted to do this at the sink. 
 
irresistible as I worked
 
After I crushed the strawberries, I added 1/4 cup of sugar and put them in the refrigerator overnight. 

ready for milk on Sunday morning
 
My favorite way to enjoy strawberries is to put them, crushed and with sugar, in a bowl and eat with a generous portion of milk. Since my milk somehow froze, I put slushy milk on the already chilled strawberries. That was divine.
 
So far, I have frozen 3 half-pint Ball jelly jars and 1 4-oz jar. Strawberry jelly is out. I cannot stand strawberry jelly in any form because it is too sweet. I have probably tried more homemade and store bought that was all too sweet than most people.
 
These are the first local strawberries that were fit to eat. Most are very bitter, even when they are ripe. The local strawberries are white inside. The outside is a beautiful red. They require lots of sugar to be edible. I was telling a local farmer about this problem when she told me to try another vendor and pointed him out.
 
When I mentioned local vs California strawberries, Charlie was angry as I. He swore he would never eat another local strawberry and stick with California. Is it the variety or the fact they were picked too early? The outsides are perfect and look very ripe.
 
this was very white powder yesterday
taken this morning
NOT dirt
 
The only problem was that some of them had a powdery substance that was white and looked like it was in the seed holes and cap. I am either eating mold or poison. Which do you think? Since they appeared to have been sprinkled with something, it must be poison. I tried to wash and scrub it off, but finally cut some of it away. You can imagine how strawberries take to scrubbing!
 
I love strawberries!
 
One day, when I make strawberry shortcake, I will give you my recipe and post a picture of my homemade shortcakes.
 
Your turn
Do you eat strawberries and milk? What is the white powdery substance?


11 comments:

  1. I sometimes make a milkshake with those 2 ingredients but not had them your way. I don't buy strawberries, husband once bought some and they burnt his moubth when he ate them. We now only eat what we grow or go without.
    I hope what you ate wasn't mould. I hope it wasn't poison...but what else could it have been.
    I'm glad that I Iive in a climate where I can grow them for most of the year.

    Barb.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Barb,
      Oh, I make milkshakes, too. I wonder what it was that hurt his mouth. Poison? That would be great to be able to grow strawberries most of the year.

      Delete
  2. We eat fresh strawberries and blackberries in cream sprinkled with a little sugar. yummmeh!

    I used to have a nice strawberry patch until concrete was poured near it and most of the plants died. I am going to start more this year.

    I think when mold starts on strawberries it is a greyish color so I don't know what your white substance is.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Linda! I love strawberries too! I hope the local u-pick farm is ready after seeing these! There's no telling what the white powder is! Hopefully it all got washed away! I have had them with milk, but now I just eat them plain. Nothing better! I make strawberry jam for my son, who loves the stuff! Too sweet for me though! Blessings from Bama!

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    Replies
    1. Bama Girl,
      You are so right about strawberry jam being too sweet. No, I could not wash it all away. Some had to be cut away, but I probably ate some. It is the end of May when I am answering. I did not get ill or die.

      Delete
  4. I don't know what the white powder is, but I like strawberries with powdered sugar. That's my idea of white powder. Strawberries and milk? No, thanks. The Hurricane lives in the Bay Area and she loves getting local produce.

    Love,
    Janie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Janie,
      I will have to try powdered sugar on strawberries.

      Delete
  5. Oh Yes! Lightly sweetened strawberries or blackberries with a splash of cream or milk is clearly the way to go!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Janet,
      I hope to get strawberries the first of June, so I will have a bowlful with milk over them.

      Delete
  6. Strawberries mold pretty quickly around here with the heat. It looks like the mold we sometimes get.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stacy,
      These were local and picked the afternoon before, he said. If these were CA strawberries, I might not be surprised. Thanks for confirming it looks like mold. It has been awhile since I ate them, so maybe it won't kill me.

      Delete

Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.