We should just never go to pick-your-own-anything

[siercia]

Who came home with 32 POUNDS of strawberries this morning?

Yeah, that would be me and Wiley.

Still not worse than the time we accidentally spent over $100 picking apples, but probably close.

What's really astonishing is that we've already powered through one of the flats - Wiley's got ice cream started, we made smoothies (grown up ones for the, well, grown ups) for an afternoon snack, I made strawberry shortcake for dessert tonight, and I have a batch of preserves cooling on the stove as I type. Pending finding canning lids tomorrow, they'll be getting canned tomorrow evening. If not, I imagine I'll freeze it for later.

Sheesh. Should never ever be allowed to pick my own anything.

But, it was a great day!

We got up at the freaking crack of dawn to go to the farm we love for apple picking in Amesbury. We got there at about 8:30, and there was nearly no one else there. We fortified ourselves with fresh cider donuts, then headed off to pick. Getting there early was awesome, because the fields were FULL of perfectly ripe berries, since no one had been out there yet. Seriously, we amassed our 32 pounds in well less than 45 minutes.

We drove home, popped back out for an open house (yuck - was neither the perfect space nor the perfect location - we'll take one without the other, but there's no way we uproot for neither).

When we got home I made us lunch with some of our farmshare goodies, then while I hit the store, Wiley got on the strawberries. He hulled the entire first flat for cooking this afternoon. When Widget and I got home, I started pulling things together for dinner, and Wiley started the ice cream from the Cook's Illustrated recipe I had found for him... that was a little more than he's been planning on. The moment I wished I'd had my camera at the ready was when I suggested he try separating the eggs with his hands instead of the shells... and he squeezed his yolk a leeeeetle too hard. Oooopsie.

But we had fun, and between the strawberries and my dinner workings, I think we used up every bowl larger than a cereal bowl (and some of those as well) in my entire kitchen. It was something, all right.

Now to figure out what to do with those other 22 pounds of strawberries.

Comments

[halleyscomet.livejournal.com]

I have a strawberry wine recipe, Champaign Yeast and I believe all the additives we would need to implement it. I think all we'll need is corn sugar, but table sugar will do, if you don't mind the fermentation taking a little longer. :)

[siercia]

Interesting... what would making that entail?

And are you proposing we donate strawberries to your endeavor, that you donate the rest of the stuff to one undertaken by us, or a joint endeavor (sharing the yield for any of the above, of course!)

[halleyscomet.livejournal.com]

A joint endeavor of course. :)

I'll check the recipe when I get home tonight. One nice thing about fruit wines is you can supposedly get a decent "second wine" from the remaining pulp after the primary fermentation. We'll want a bucket as opposed to a tapered carboy so we can get at the pulp. I may have something that will work. I need to check how many strawberries are needed for a 1 gallon vs 5 gallon batch.

Are you carboys glass and tapered or plastic buckets?

[halleyscomet.livejournal.com]

From my copy of "Winemaker's Recipe Handbook":

For each gallon of wine:

3.5 lbs strawberries
7 pints Water
2 lbs sugar
1 tsp Acid Blend
1/4 tsp Tannin
1/2 Tsp Yeast Nutrient
1 Campden tablet, crushed
1 package Wine Yeast
1 straining bag, nylon or muslin.

Basically, you:
1. Wash and stem the strawberries.
2. Mash the strawberries in the bag
3. Squeeze the juice into the fermenter.
4. Dump in everything except the Yeast
5. Wait 24 hours so the Campden can sterilize the must (Unfermented wine) and gas out.
6. Add the Yeast.

When Specific Gravity reaches 1.000 in about three weeks, siphon it off the sediment and let it sit for another two months before bottling.

I have all the components needed except the Wine Yeast. I do however have Champaign Yeast, which we can easily use instead. You only need 1 package of yeast for anything less than five gallons. We can make a starter with some sugar and nutrient. That way, when the yeast is added you can have a couple pints of fiercely bubbling material.

If you like I can just provide the needed chemicals and a copy of the recipe. Scheduling dictates that I won't be able to dedicate much actual time to the process unless you freeze the berries and we do this the first weekend in July. I have a number of brewing related activities scheduled for the Fourth of July weekend, so you could come over and start wine from frozen strawberries while I'm boiling Wort. :)

If you freeze the berries, I'd recommend mixing them with some sugar first, and keep track of how much sugar you use at the time.

According to the directions the wine will be very dry, so if you want a sweet wine we'll need to add a little sugar and some stabilizer before bottling.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Fun! I envy you the strawberries. Should've gone picking myself today.

[siercia]

See e-mail, I'm sure we can share strawberries.

They'll likely still be picking for another week or so if you want to get out. If not, they're not *that* much more expensive to get them pre-picked at most of the farmstands.

[rudbekia.livejournal.com]

I'm laughing *with* you! 32 pounds of strawberries, that must've been a sight.

[siercia]

Actually, it was astonishingly NOT that much - three of those long flat boxes they give you, not piled particularly high at all.

Heavy little suckers, is what they are!

[digitalemur.livejournal.com]

When in doubt, wash, slice and freeze as many as you can in freezer bags? It's what my mom does but she has a chest freezer so I realize you may not want to stuff your freezer with fruit. Still, we used to come home with 20-24 quarts from a single outing, and she'd make 2 pies, ice cream, preserves and freeze the rest, so you do not sound crazy to me.

[siercia]

That is exactly the plan for tomorrow night if we can't think of anything better to do with the rest.

[musemom.livejournal.com]

You can keep a few pounds for just munching on the next few days. When I have extras, which is so painfully rare, I sugar them as if for shortcake, let them sit and make the nice sauce and then freeze them, and freeze some without the sugar. Then you have shortcake, ice cream, or smoothies anytime you are ready. A frozen banana and a frozen strawberry mixed with some nice cold yogurt. yum.

[halleyscomet.livejournal.com]

They do seem to freeze better after a sugar treatment. I think its because so much of the liquid sweats out of the berry into the resulting sauce.

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

Wow. Deliciousness! Strawberry rhubarb fool is a lovely dessert that can you use up a pint of strawberries with.

[siercia]

Ooooh, that's one I've never tried. It looks delicious!

I pity the rhubarb FOOL!

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

it's super easy to make, and delicious with ice cream!

[mrshammer.livejournal.com]

Oh my gosh, that sounds like a lot of fun. Certainly freezing them would be ideal. Lately, I place what I can't polish off in the freezer, hulled but whole and use them for smoothies that way. Usually with a little honey, a banana half and flax seed. ... or with pancakes !

[siercia]

I was fun! All the rest are happily stored away in the freezer for later in the year. I love strawberries so so much. Smoothies are definitely in our future, too!

[old-blevins.livejournal.com]

All this talk of Strawberries, pies, cider donuts and jam is killing me! All things that I desperately love even though I couldn't make a pie crust to save my soul.
The farm you mention in Amesbury, would that be Amesbury, Mass? The name please, please, please.

[siercia]

Yea, Amesbury MA - the farm is Cider Hill Farm, and it is lovely! Definitely worth the drive.

[old-blevins.livejournal.com]

Thanks
I've driven a lot farther than that for food. I can't help it. Food and cooking are an obsession. But I still can't make a pie crust like my sister used to but it's fun eating the experiments!