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Thursday, June 6, 2013

What to do with all those strawberries?

Of course, we have eaten PLENTY of strawberries since we went picking earlier this week Yoder's UPick. However, we still had PLENTY more! I've always liked the taste of strawberry freezer jam, so thought we'd make more of this. It is very fresh tasting, though some say it is a little runny.

We washed and hulled our strawberries, cutting them in half or so. Then we started mashing. The recipe on the back of the Freezer Jam Fruit Pectin said to use a pound (4 cups mashed).




In another bowl, I mixed the sugar and the pectin. I like that this variety uses significantly less sugar than others do. 


I measured out the strawberries and stirred with the dry mixture. 


We stirred for at least three minutes. 


Then we ladled the jam into jars for the freezer, leaving space to expand. We waited 30 minutes before sticking these in the freezer, per the directions.


We still had berries left and rhubarb from the Harvest Market at Woodlawn Nature Center. My husband mentioned rhubarb pie. I don't think I've had much rhubarb in the past--now I want more! I also wouldn't mind freezing/canning it as well. The recipe was really quite simple. We cut, measured, and mixed the rhubarb and strawberries. I followed this recipe for the pie, using cornstarch rather than the tapioca (easier to find in the pantry!), yet topped with a crumble topping. 


I mixed it with the sugar and cornstarch. I let it sit for about 15 minutes.


I poured it into a pie crust and topped it with a "crumble" recipe rather than another pie crust lattice, as it sounded easier to make (maybe 1 c. brown sugar, 1 c. rolled oats, and 1/4 c. butter--nuts would also be good). It baked for about an hour! Delicious! My husband always makes me strawberry pie for Mother's Day and my birthday . . . this may be the new recipe! I loved the little bit of tart with the sweet!