Berry good

So I've decided not to update this at the weekends. This decision was made though after missing my blog posts for the past couple of days, because I had to go to a friend's party, then go to London, where I will be doing work experience with my uncle. At least this means I won't be spending all day bored on the internet, but it does mean I have to start getting up early again. For a couple of weeks at least. Right now I'm at my uncle's house, and foolish me, I left my book which has all the recipes I have collected and written down in my grandma's house. So today, I will give you some ideas about what to do with strawberries. 
Everybody knows that strawberries are the perfect summer fruit for Britain. Sweet and juicy, with that vivid red colour, they are made for lazy days under the sun. Not that we've been getting much sun at the moment. Just rain and rain and more rain. 
Ripe strawberries taste like what sunshine and summer would taste like in fruit form and there are few things more delicious than a strawberry straight off the plant warmed by the summer sun. 

Luckily for me, every year I have been able to eat the best and freshest strawberries, picked from the nearby strawberry fields. I have been going to these fields my entire life, since I was a baby, when my mother would leave me with the person looking after the fields in my car seat. Ever since then going to the strawberry fields is a tradition we all look forward to, and when the sign for strawberry picking comes up, we descend armed with baskets, tubs and  plastic bags, and return laden with the plump fruit, more than we could eat ourselves. We give most of these to friends and neighbours but we ourselves are rarely short of them after this for quite some time. 

 Nothing beats the taste of these strawberries, of which the flavour is so intense that the supermarket ones taste like vaguely sour cardboard in comparison. The best time to go is when the strawberries are so ripe they just fall into your hand, though I have been taught to keep the top intact when picking or they go off faster. 
Given that I left my recipe book, I made a list of easy things to do with strawberries (keeping in mind that I can't cook properly) and tried to keep it to things that even I could do. 


Easy things to do with strawberries

10 - Mango lassi

1. Whip some cream and crumble some meringue with the strawberries for Eton mess, a family favourite.
2. Chop some strawberries and drop into cupcakes, to be eaten fresh. 
3. Blend and strain the strawberries and add to fresh lemonade for a new twist. 
4. Serve sprinkled with sugar and indulge yourself by pouring double cream over. 
5. Hull and quarter the strawberries and add a fruity touch to good quality vanilla or dark chocolate ice cream. 
6. Drizzle some good balsamic vinegar over the strawberries to bring out their natural sweetness and for an easy grown up dessert.
7. Whizz up some strawberries, maybe with a bit of honey, and place in ice lolly moulds, for a great way for kids to keep cool in the sun while getting a healthy but tasty snack. Add a splash of something alcoholic for a grown up treat (but note that too much sugar and alcohol make it harder to freeze)
8. Sprinkle strawberries with freshly ground black pepper (I haven’t tried this one but read about it a while back, and want to try it. Pineapple tastes nice with salt, so this can’t be that bad)
9. Blend strawberries, add mint, plenty of ice, and alcohol of your choice (within reason), and top up with sparkling water for a summery cocktail. Use lime juice, sugar syrup and rum for a strawberry mojito, 
10. Blend strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, any berries really, with banana, yoghurt / milk and honey for a yummy smoothie. My mum made a really refreshing strawberry lassi (you’ve probably heard of mango lassi), which is like an Indian milkshake. 
11. Dip strawberries in melted semi-sweet dark chocolate and leave to cool. Before they’re cooled you can also roll them in chopped nuts or hundreds and thousands. Popping candy might also be interesting. 
12. Use a fan shape as a decoration by cutting the strawberry thinly but keeping the top of the strawberry intact. 
13. Heat butter and dissolve sugar in a pan to create a caramelly type sauce, and use it to coat the strawberries. Leave the strawberries to cool on greaseproof paper, and they’ll have a crispy sugary coating. Be careful not to burn the sugar or it tastes awful, and will burn onto the bottom of the pan which is a pain to clean off. 
14. Fruit salad. ('Nuff said)
15. Freeze them overnight and blend them up. (I'm not sure what will happen with this one because I have never done it. I did it with a banana and it was like a banana sorbet. But I doubt it would be the same with a strawberry. Strawberry slushie maybe?)
16. Use them to top cereal, muesli and porridge for a breakfast treat.
17. Not for eating, but mash them up, maybe with yoghurt or honey, and use as a face mask. The enzymes in the strawberry help break down dirt and dead skin to leave you skin smooth and glowing.
18. Make a strawberry sauce by mashing them with sugar and simmering. Use it to top a baked cheesecake. 
19. Suspend some in jelly (because it looks cool.)
20. Just eat them as they are!

Not gonna lie, I have no idea what I can write about tomorrow, but I'm sure I'll think of something. As always, feedback is appreciated.

Ciao, xxxx