My love affair with strawberries started at a very early age. When I was just learning to talk, “stroppies” was one of my first words. And I sure ate a lot of “stroppies”. Luckily, I grew up in San Diego, where they have a long growing season thanks to copious amounts of sunshine. As kids we often frequented the pick-your-own strawberry fields and gorged ourselves on our basket full of bright red treasures immediately after returning home. Strawberries are just beginning to pop up on the market scene – as they’re Spring’s first fruit offering – and they’ll become more prevalent in the coming weeks.
- How to Pick: Choose bright red, firm berries with bright green caps. Strawberries are very susceptible to pesticides so this is one fruit you want to buy from the market (ask if they’re pesticide free and/or organic) rather than at the store (unless they’re labeled organic!). If you are venturing out to a pick-your-own field, pinch the stem rather than the berry and pull with a slight twisting motion to fill your basket with the delicious treats.
- How to Store: Don’t wash berries until just before you eat them as they decay much quicker if you wash them ahead of time. Store them in the refrigerator unwashed and uncovered for 3-4 days max. After that, they will begin to shrivel and lose their fresh flavor.
- How to Use: Strawberries are good in just about anything. Chop them into your morning oatmeal or cereal, slice them into a salad, make them into jam, or use them in your favorite tart, pie or shortcake recipe. Strawberries make a delicious topping on ice cream sundaes and are just as delish eaten straight from the fridge as a snack.
- Recipe Ideas: Bon Appetit is currently featuring White Chocolate Dipped Strawberries with Citrus Sugar in their April 2010 issue; Apartment Therapy’s The Kitchn shares their recipe for Strawberry-Yogurt Popsicles; try Smitten Kitchen’s Strawberry Rhubarb Pecan Loaf; David Lebovitz feaures his Strawberry Granita and his Goat Cheese Custard with Strawberries in Red Wine Syrup; and on Friday I’ll share my version of a Strawberry Crumble.
- Fun Facts: Legend has it that English children gave strawberries their name in the nineteenth-century, as they would pick the fruit, string them on grass straws and sell them as “Straws of berries.”
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Mmm, I just picked up a gorgeous box of Strawberries last night!!
Also, according to NPR there is a glut in the market and strawberry prices are uncommonly low right now so do your part and shop away!!! http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125569225
We love strawberry season, too. I only wish strawberries and peaches were “in season” together! I enjoyed reading the fun fact about how they got their name.
I am so excited for the arrival of strawberries!
Timely entry! Just read a great write-up about making homemade strawberry rhubarb preserves. I may venture into my first jam-making endeavor in the next couple weeks.
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