The first strawberries are coming in! Normally, I'd get half a dozen red ones when they first come on, these are the first ones I've gotten this year. From the looks of the strawberries that aren't quite ripe yet, this is going to be a bumper year for me! This is a good thing because I make Jam. Everyone loves the classic strawberry and a new favorite I stumbled on is triple berry. When I was making jam last year, I had a few strawberries, a few blueberries and a few blackberries left over, not enough of any of them to make a full batch of jam so I just chucked them all in the pot together and made jam. Everyone loved it. This year, I've experimented with some strawberries that I got from the Farmer's Market and made some Strawberry-Vanilla jam with some vanilla bean paste. I need to tweak it a bit, I think it needs a little more vanilla but everyone who has tried it has loved it.
Even if you don't grow strawberries yourself, go find a U-pick place or even just your local farmer's market and get some freshly picked ones. There truly isn't a better tasting strawberry!
A little hint, if you don't make jam and just want some wonderful berries when they aren't in season and so reasonably priced, you can freeze them. I put wax paper on sheet pans and just take the green tops off the strawberries...do NOT wash them until you are taking them out of the freezer to use them or they'll get mushy. I spread the berries in a single layer on the wax paper and pop the sheet trays in the freezer until the berries are frozen solid. Then just move them to a Ziploc baggie and seal and put in the freezer. They are great to use later this way and you get that fresh, in season taste.
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