This weekend we went strawberry picking! This was one of the things on our summer bucket list, so I'm really glad we found a place that still had some. Our summer has been so hot already that we don't have too many farms with berries left.
A side note about strawberry picking... Starting at age 7 and until age 18, I picked berries in the summers. To make money for college. I worked in berry fields, on my knees in between the rows, up to 8 hours a day, 6 days a week, for the 5-6 weeks of the berry season. Then I would pick raspberries or work on raspberry picking machines. Those were long days, but working in the fields with my friends was fun sometimes. We were paid by the pound of berries that we picked. And the "berry boss" made sure we did a good job. So part of the thrill of taking my family to pick them was to show them how hard I had to work, even at an age much younger than my girls are now.
Anyway, we picked berries, and ended up with WAY more berries than we had planned to get...but it was so much fun! So now I am looking for all kinds of things to make with strawberries, especially since they are pretty soft already.
Here are the ten things I've made with strawberries, with links to recipes as available.
1. Strawberry freezer jam (from the SureJell recipe)
2. More strawberry freezer jam.
3. Another batch of freezer jam.
4. Strawberry Pizza (recipe below).
5. Strawberry Pie.
6. Strawberry bread.
8. Strawberry and chocolate crepes.
9. More jam.
10. Strawberry brownies with Strawberry mousse on top.
Whew! Good thing I can freeze a lot of it! So far, the crepes and the coffee cake are my favorite besides the jam.
Here's my Strawberry Pizza Recipe
Crust: spread Pillsbury Sugar Cookie dough on 13" pizza pan (greased) and bake @ 350 for 10-12 minutes. Cool completely.
Filling Layer: Blend 8 oz cream cheese with 8 oz cool whip and spread over cooled crust.
Cover with whole berries (point up).
Glaze: 2/3 cup sugar, 2/3 cup water, 1 heaping Tablespoon cornstartch in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until thick and clear. Add 3 Tablespoons of strawberry gelatin. Let cool so it doesn't melt the cream cheese layer. Spoon over strawberries. Keep chilled.
Do you like strawberries?
