“Can we make stwawbewy umm…..Ummmm….. po….ummmm” “Popsicles?” I say with a huge grin. That was the first sentence out of Little Man’s mouth this morning. Yes, we can make popsicles, jam, and many other strawberry filled things because yesterday me, my mom, and my toddler picked 20 lbs of “teensie tiny” strawberries from a farm about an hour from our house. Do I have time to make popsicles, jam, and other strawberry filled things right now? No. Why? Because tomorrow I’m headed up to Northern Michigan for a wedding. I’m actually typing this from my hairdressers chair getting my roots done. How’s that for multi-tasking? So, what do you do with 20lbs of strawberries? You freeze them, because you can the frozen strawberries to make whatever you want and they will still taste fresh and just as delicious as they did right when they were picked. Seriously, why go through the hassle if heating up the house making a bunch of canned strawberry jam when there’s room in the freezer and you can freeze fresh berries and make fresh strawberry jam from frozen berries to keep in the fridge throughout the year!
Last year, Little man and I went picking and had plans of making some jam right away. Then days went by and eventually I decided to freeze the berries to make jam later. When you make the effort to go to the farm and pick them fresh in blaring heat, you should really do something with them right away. This year I learned and decided to freeze them this morning. Don’t get me wrong, waiting a few days doesn’t affect the quality a ton, they were still DELICIOUS when I used them to make my GF Crepes Filled with Strawberries. But, the fresher the better. Btw, the strawberries were in the freezer for like 9 months and were still amazing!
So this morning, Little Man and I washed and cut the stems off of 20 lbs of tiny strawberries. I even let him use a knife to cut the tops off of some “his self”. He did so good that I actually had to take a little video. I was super impressed. Anyways, heres how to do it. Also, don’t throw away all of the strawberry tops. I used those to make a strawberry syrup (waste not)!
How To Freeze Starwberries
1. Wash your strawberries well. I personally like to dump them in a large bowl and submerge them in water, drain, then repeat two more times. Then put tue berries in a colander and rinse well.
2. Cut off all of the strawberry stems and reserve them in a bowl). Place the strawberries in a single sheet on a sheet pan (like so….)
3. Place in freezer for 2 hours or so and then place in a zipclock bag or a vacuum seal bag.
Once frozen you can use them in baked goods, to make a topping for ice cream, to fill some amazing gf crepes (like these) or more. What are your favorite strawberry recipes? I’m thinking about trying to make a pork tenderloin sauce….
I love to use the hulls (leafs plucked) and put them with lemon slices in water to infuse. Tastes like strawberry lemonade but with almost no calories!
Yum!