Tis the Season...

For strawberries!And for you locals, you should head out to Fitch's Farm Market in Avon, Ohio to pick some scrumptious, ripe and beautiful strawberries!

What could be more fun than a hayride out to the fields? This is new this year, since they rotate crops and the berries are in the back of the lot this year. My sons were in heaven...
Took all the kids and some extras too. We had a ton of strawberries, and left with red hands and feet, eager to eat more!
Thought I'd share a fun tip I learned from Mrs. Fitch herself (she was my 8th grad home ec teacher way back when...)
After you wash and dry the berries, take a straw and start from the bottom, going up.
It will take the stem out (if there is one) and core the white, bitter part of the strawberry, all at once! Cool trick. The kids love this part.
Now, with the super huge ones, you leave the stem on, wash and dry them, and dip those suckers into a vat of chocolate. Perfect for a Father's Day after-dinner nibble...
And if that doesn't suit you, flash freeze them like my friend Molly Umland told me about. Wash them well, put them on a cookie sheet separated, and they'll freeze like little ice cubes. Put them into bags, and then thaw as needed. Cool trick--I tried that one too...thanks Molly!

And last but not least by any means, my favorite strawberry thing to do is to cut them up and put them into a bowl, add 1/2 cup sugar, and let them sit for 20 minutes or so. The juice from the berry makes its own syrup, and I freeze them that way. When I want to make pancakes or waffles, I simply thaw them and put those on top instead of the syrup--and a dab of whipped cream!! YUM. This is also great for cheesecake and pound cake in case you want to try those options. And they made my strawberry smoothie taste like sheer heaven last night.

Are you hungry yet?