Strawberries

These beauties are showing up all over here in Oregon… at roadside fruit-stands, in markets that carry local produce, in rural u-pick fields and (cue angelic singing) in our garden!  Ours are lumpy and funny-shaped but they are mmmmmm good. 

I don’t even bother to buy strawberries any other time of year, do you? – they are usually tasteless with hard, white centers.

Here are three tips for keeping your strawberries fresh:

• wait to wash them until you’re ready to eat or use them – prevents mushy berries
• keep the stems on until right before eating – they won’t spoil as quickly
• get rid of any berries turning soft or moldly – the rest will quickly follow if snuggled up to these

My “Berries’ board on Pinterest is a source of a LOT of good recipe ideas…

Chocolate Strawberry Nutella Cake
@thepioneerwoman

Strawberry Lemonade Bars
@averiecooks

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler
@twopeasandtheirpod

Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart
@annieseats

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Cake
@mybakingaddiction

Rhubarb-Strawberry Jam
@tastykitchen

Here’s one that doesn’t have a valid link any more but looks super-easy and delicious!

Angel Food Cake and Strawberry Kabobs with Chocolate Drizzle

And just so it’s not ALL sweet…

Strawberry Cucumber Salad @OhSweetBasil

I hope you get some local berries in your neck of the woods and if you do nothing more than eat them right out of the container, you'll have a taste of summer to be thankful for!