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I See Red in My Harvest Basket

June 5th, 2010

The strawberries are in full swing here at Chiot’s Run. We’ve been picking them every day, getting a quart or two each time. Strawberries are one of those things that signify the beginning of summer here in NE Ohio. You know when the local strawberries are ripe summer is finally here.

I’m hoping to get a strawberry pie made next week. I may freeze a few later in the season to enjoy in muffins this winter. I think I’m one of the few people that doesn’t make strawberry jam. I prefer elderberry, blackberry or black raspberry.

Our favorite way to enjoy homegrown strawberries is in strawberry shortcake. Not those spongy sweet discs you buy at the store, we make lightly sweetened biscuits flecked with crystallized ginger for our shortcakes (recipe in comment section below). We crumble some shortcake in a bowl and top it with macerated strawberries (you know cut, sprinkled with sugar and chilled for an hour or so to produce the syrupy sweetness). Then we pour some raw milk on top and dig in. Such a wonderful meal on a hot day!

What’s your favorite way to eat strawberries?

19 Comments to “I See Red in My Harvest Basket”
  1. Susanne on June 5, 2010 at 6:05 am

    What a way to enjoy strawberries… have to try it, too. Hope my 4 plants container will produce enough for a little one at least :-)

    What’s your recipe for the biskcuits?
    .-= Susanne´s last blog ..In so many words =-.

    Reply to Susanne's comment

    • Susy on June 5, 2010 at 9:30 am

      Strawberry Shortcakes
      2 cups of flour (I usually use white whole wheat flour for at least half the flour)
      1 Tbsp baking powder
      1/2 tsp salt
      3 Tbsp sugar
      1/4 cup cold unsalted butter (or chilled coconut oil)
      1/4-1/2 cup diced crystallized ginger if desired (when using this I reduce sugar to 1 Tbsp)
      1 tsp vanilla extract
      3/4 cup cream, whole milk, or buttermilk (I usually use buttermilk since I have lots from making butter)

      Preheat oven to 425 and grease baking sheet. Mix dry ingredients together in bowl, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Mix in crystallized ginger if desired (I usually add about 1/4-1/2 cup). Pour in most of cream or milk and vanilla, then mix until just moistened (if mixture is dry add more cream). I usually make mine a little wetter and simply drop spoonfuls on to cookie sheet instead of forming into biscuits.

      If you want formed biscuits turn onto the counter and knead a few times until dough comes together. Flatten and cut into circles. If you want drop biscuits add a little extra milk/cream/buttermilk until mixture is soft enough to drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Sprinkle tops lightly with some granulated sugar (just a teaspoon or two will do the entire batch). Bake for 12-15 minutes or until very lightly browned.

      Crumble in bowl, top with macerated strawberries, and cover with milk.

      Leftover biscuits can be toasted, cooled and they will be crispy for the next serving.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  2. Ken Toney on June 5, 2010 at 9:44 am

    I just picked 12 lbs. yesterday. We have 2 4 x 8 beds of June bearers and I’m making 3 beds of ever bearers. I’ll be freezing the best looking strawberries, and using some for ice cream and sherbet. The biscuits recipe sounds delicious. I’ll have to try it.
    .-= Ken Toney´s last blog ..Chicks – Week 3 =-.

    Reply to Ken Toney's comment

  3. tj on June 5, 2010 at 10:40 am

    …You lucky, lucky girl! Those look delish’! :o)

    …Thank you for the recipe too – I’m gonna try that…

    …Blessings… :o)

    Reply to tj's comment

  4. Lona on June 5, 2010 at 1:13 pm

    Your strawberries look so good. I love them and yours look so yummy.
    .-= Lona´s last blog ..Blustery Friday Blooms =-.

    Reply to Lona's comment

  5. Rose on June 5, 2010 at 1:20 pm

    We just went to a Pick Your Own today – they’re grown in a greenhouse so are actually ready even with the rubbish spring we’ve had. My favourite way is to eat them fresh and right where they are, warmed from the sun.

    ….as a matter of fact, I think I’m about to go and have a few more.
    .-= Rose´s last blog ..It pays to persevere =-.

    Reply to Rose's comment

  6. Mrs. Santos on June 5, 2010 at 1:26 pm

    Hello~ I’ve been following your blog for a while now and I ENJOY it so much. Thank you for sharing and all your beautiful pictures. We are also growing strawberries, just now starting to garden and “farm.”

    We have a small u-pick farm where we try to have something to pick every season. So far, we have done christmas trees, then daffodils, and hopefully this summer will be berries…hopefully. We live in the NW and may get too much rain for a nice harvest THIS year…but soon. Your berries look great. We will do a pumpkin patch for the fall.

    Anyways, here’s a link to our berry endeavors. I really enjoy your blog.

    http://santostimes.blogspot.com/2010/05/can-you-call-us-farmers-yet.html

    Reply to Mrs. Santos's comment

  7. mamaraby on June 5, 2010 at 3:36 pm

    I personally love strawberries just about anyway I can get them. This is the first year we’ve been able to harvest some of our own strawberries…while I’d like to say that we’ve made tasty deserts or chocolate dipped ones with them mostly they’ve been eaten straight off the vine. My husband picked a cereal bowl full of them this morning and my two and five year old polished them off in record time.

    We don’t have enough strawberries/plants to satisfy my desire to save them for later so we’ll still need to pick some at a local farm. When we do it’s my goal to make something special aside from the frozen/dehydrated/fruit leather ones.
    .-= mamaraby´s last blog ..Folk Music Fridays – “Flying Red Horse” =-.

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  8. pam on June 5, 2010 at 3:42 pm

    Our strawberries have just finished. I miss them already!
    .-= pam´s last blog ..Weekend Cat Blogging #261 =-.

    Reply to pam's comment

  9. Janice on June 5, 2010 at 4:19 pm

    A quart or 2 each time? Heaven! I’m a strawberry jam person and like to add other fruit like raspberries, blackberries, or even peaches. A favorite dessert of ours is chocolate covered strawberries. We also enjoy strawberries in the morning with plain yogurt and a glop of honey or sliced with cereal.
    .-= Janice´s last blog ..Ready for plying =-.

    Reply to Janice's comment

  10. Sustainable Eats on June 5, 2010 at 6:10 pm

    We are just starting into berry season here as well, although many are rotting this year. When you make blackberry jam do you de-seed? Or do you have those lovely small seeded blackberries native there?
    .-= Sustainable Eats´s last blog ..Quick Virtual Tour by http://www.DigtheDirt.com =-.

    Reply to Sustainable Eats's comment

    • Susy on June 5, 2010 at 11:13 pm

      We have the wild big seeded blackberries. I usually strain out about 50-75% of the seeds and l leave the rest in. My mom prefers to strain them all out, but I like a few seeds in my jelly.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  11. MAYBELLINE on June 5, 2010 at 6:39 pm

    Pick. Rinse. Eat. Repeat.
    Do you know what variety of berries you’re growing?
    Your shortcake sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
    .-= MAYBELLINE´s last blog ..I’m a Pepper. You’re a Pepper. =-.

    Reply to MAYBELLINE's comment

    • Susy on June 5, 2010 at 11:18 pm

      I have ‘Sparkle’ ‘Allstar’ and ‘Earliglow’. Early, mid and late producers, although it seems they all kind of produce at the same time. A few early berries and a few late ones, but mostly they’re all producing together.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  12. Joshua on June 5, 2010 at 10:44 pm

    This is my first year growing strawberries. They’re everbearing, so I’m picking the flowers until July, and then I’ll let them set fruit. I can’t wait!

    My favorite way to eat strawberries is raw, right from the container, basically without stopping until they’re all gone, or I get sick to my stomach, but that’s never happened yet.
    .-= Joshua´s last blog ..State of the Wallow Update: June 4, 2010 =-.

    Reply to Joshua's comment

  13. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by mark mile, Susy Morris. Susy Morris said: I See Red in My #Harvest Basket http://goo.gl/fb/APqZK #fruit #homegrown #strawberries […]

    Reply to Tweets that mention I See Red in My Harvest Basket | Chiot’s Run — Topsy.com's comment

  14. Kelly on June 6, 2010 at 10:16 am

    Fresh and now is my favourite way to eat them, but Hubby’s Strawberry Shortcake is a close second (he does it like you do with biscuits broken up and strawberries and whipped cream poured over).
    .-= Kelly´s last blog ..Herbs =-.

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  15. Sandy on June 6, 2010 at 7:41 pm

    So jealous! Ours our just barely turning pink. I can’t wait!
    .-= Sandy´s last blog ..Drizzle gardening and my new toy =-.

    Reply to Sandy's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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