Strawberry BONANZA

This weekend, our big activity was strawberry picking. One of my favorite things about living in Maine (much like living in Oregon) is berry picking - there's just nothing like fresh, sweet berries. We went with our friends, Rick and Hannah. Hannah is 11 and had a blast - she and I were picking together and she was dead set on "beating the boys" by getting the biggest and "reddest" strawberries. She even told her father, after he put some strawberries in her only half-filled box, "Daddy, don't contaminate my berries with the GREEN ones!"

Rick, Hannah, and Dru picking

I can still pick berries - 9 months pregnant and all - it's just a tad more challenging

Big Bad Berry Buster

Making the most of time together....

In the end, we'd picked over 27 POUNDS of strawberries - we weren't paying attention to how heavy our boxes were getting. At $2.25/lb you can imagine how the cost added up fast.

Then it was a matter of what do we DO with 27 lbs of strawberries??? Here sat one of the two boxes in our kitchen as Dru and I contemplated that.


So, I got busy and went to work. I made three new strawberry recipes that called for fresh strawberries. I've put the recipes and pictures here - all are delicious and definately worth a try if you have access to fresh berries.

Strawberry Shortcake

-2 cups flour

-1/4 cup sugar

-4 teaspoons baking powder

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-few grains of nutmeg (make sure it's only a few!)

-6 tablespoons cold butter

-1 egg, well-beaten

-1/3 cup milk

-4 cups fresh strawberries

-3/4 cup brown sugar

-whipped cream

Prepare strawberries an hour to two before serving. Rinse, hull and slice strawberries; place in a bowl. Add brown sugar and let stand for at least 1 hour at room temperature.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Work in butter with pastry blender or fingertips; add egg and milk. Mix just until dough is moist. Turn dough into a buttered and floured 9-inch round cake pan and pat into shape. Bake for about 15-20 min's in a 400 oven, or until golden brown. Remove from pan and split horizontally with a serrated knife. Butter the cut side of both layers. Put layers together with strawberries and their juice between the layer and on top. Garnish with whole berries and serve with whipped cream.

This is how mine turned out..

Strawberry Cream Pie (EASY!)

-1 pint strawberries

-1 pkg. Jello vanilla instant pudding and pie

-1 cup sour cream

-1/4 cup milk

-2 teaspoons grated lemon rind

-3 1/2 cups Cool Whip topping

-1 prepared 9-inch graham cracker crust

Hull berries and set aside. Combine pie filling mix, sour cream, milk, rind, and 2 cups of the Cool Whip in a bowl. Beat with wire whisk until well blended (approx. 1 minute). Spoon 1/2 the filling into the crust, arrange the berries stem side down in the filling and press down. Top with remaining filling. Freeze 1 hour or chill in refrigerator for 3 hours before serving. Garnish with remaining topping and additional strawberries if desired.
Dru really liked this and it was super easy...

Strawberry Soup

-2 cups fresh strawberries

-1 cup sour cream

-1 cup half & half

-1/4 cup sugar

-1 tsp brandy extract

-1/2 tsp vanilla

-mint for garnish

Combine all ingredients in blender; blend until smooth. Pour into chilled soup bowls. Garnish bowls with strawberries and mint leaves. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

This is still chilling in our fridge - we're almost strawberried out! We'll try it early this week.

Dru also made homemade strawberry ice cream in his ice cream maker - very delicious. The rest of the strawberries (about 17 pounds worth) we froze to enjoy a little at a time for up to a year. And THAT'S what you do with 27 lbs. of strawberries. :) ENJOY!