Strawberries

For us here in Queensland it’s the middle of the strawberry season. Mmmm I love fresh strawberries and they are so cheap right now.

I bought a couple of kilograms on the weekend.  I washed them, hulled them (cut off the tops), then very thoroughly dried them.  I popped them into a couple of zip loc bags, then in the coldest part of the freezer  for a quick freeze (for my freezer it’s the top near the fan output).

I now have a stash of strawberries for out of season use but may have to do this again to really keep me going. To buy a box of frozen strawberries in our local shop it’s just over double the price of doing this myself with strawberries I’ve chosen.

In our house we love the frozen berries for smoothies.  For muffins and cupcakes.  To make a roughly chopped simmer sauce/topping for pancakes.  Make a coulis to drizzle over ice cream.  How about chopping strawberries into quarters pop in a container in the fridge to sit for a bit while whipping some cream, then fold the cream and strawberries with any juice together, dollop on chocolate cake, brownie or other favourite cake, pancake or pikelet.

I never add sugar to fresh fruit to me it defeats the purpose of having a piece of healthy fruit.

My Nana used to grow strawberries, when we were a kids she used to hide Easter eggs through her garden for us to find. She also made the most beautiful strawberry shortcake flan.

I’ve tried growing my own strawberries I was told they were easy, but it seems I don’t have the knack for them.