We are about one month away from the beginning of strawberry season. I am starting to plan my canning and freezing for the year and thought you may like some easy ideas to preserve the classic taste of early summer.
When strawberries are ripe for the picking, they are much cheaper (and tastier) than those available at your typical grocery store that are shipped from far away. Because store-bought strawberries need to withstand the rigor of long transport, they are almost always those huge and hard strawberries that are bred for transport and storage.
In contrast, the ones grown at your local farm are so delicious that it hurts, and if you grab them too hard between your fingers they will juice all over you. Now those are some amazing tasting strawberries!
When they are available, we pick them. And not just a few. I generally take two to three picking trips where I pick 5 to 10 pounds of strawberries. And then I get to preserving. My three favorite ways to save strawberries are:
1. Roasted Strawberries
This is one of my all time favorite snacks. I had been eating so many of them that I had to stop for awhile – after all, I was running out. I still have one full quart bag left in the freezer stashed away for special times.
I eat these both warm and cold with goat cheese and crackers. They are deliciously sweet and taste nearly as fresh as out of the field. I wrote about how to make roasted strawberries here.
2. Strawberry Freezer Jam
This is the only kind of freezer jam that I make, and it is beyond good. The freshness of the berries is seriously preserved in this super easy to make jam. I have been making this with my children since they were very young, and they can basically do it themselves at age 7 and 10.
I don’t normally care for strawberry jam too much, but because this is not cooked like other strawberry jams, it really is just like eating fresh strawberries. I use Mrs. Wages No Cook Freezer Jam pectin, but really any no-cook brand will do to expertly preserve your strawberries.
3. Frozen Whole Strawberries
This past year I froze a lot of crushed strawberries for smoothies throughout the year. This upcoming year I plan to freeze all the berries whole so that they can be popped into smoothies individually with no need to thaw a whole pint. While freezing ruins the texture of a strawberry for most purposes, in smoothies they are perfect.
So, what will you be doing with strawberries this summer?
