Wimbledon, Eat Your Heart Out! Everything you wanted to know about strawberries, and then some more! (Strawberries)

Member Name: jammaker49

Product:	Strawberries
Date:	16/05/02 (786 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lovely fresh ripe, juicy strawberries, Can become over-run if not thinned out, leadint to a glut of strawberries

Disadvantages: Can become over-run....but is this really a disadvantage?

STRAWBERRY FOLK LAW

"Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did." (Dr. William Butler, 17th Century English Writer) Dr. Butler was referring to the strawberry. Strawberries are the best of the berries. The delicate heart-shaped berry has always connoted purity, passion and healing. It has been used in stories, literature and paintings through the ages.

In Othello, Shakespeare decorated Desdemonda's handkerchief with symbolic strawberries.

Madame Tallien, a prominent figure at the court of the Emperor Napoleon, was famous for bathing in the juice of fresh strawberries. She used 22 pounds per basin, needless to say, she did not bathe daily.

The American Indians were already eating strawberries when the Colonists arrived. The crushed berries were mixed with cornmeal and baked into strawberry bread. After trying this bread, Colonists developed their own version of the recipe and Strawberry Shortcake was created.

The English "strawberry" comes from the Anglo-Saxon "streoberie" not spelled in the modern fashion until 1538.

Many medicinal uses were claimed for the wild strawberry, its leaves and root.The ancient Romans believed that the berries alleviated symptoms of melancholy, fainting, all inflammations, fevers, throat infections, kidney stones, halitosis, attacks of gout, and diseases of the blood, liver and spleen.

HOW TO GROW STRAWBERRIES

Strawberries are among the most widely grown fruit in the home garden. Strawberries prefer a well drained soil, high in organic matter. They need full sun for the highest yields, at least 6 hours per day. Do not plant strawberries where peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes have been grown. These plants could harbor verticillium wilt, a serious strawberry disease. Strawberries need about one inch of water per week during the growing season.

Plant strawberries as soon as the ground can be worked
in the spring. This is usually in March or April allowing the plants to become well established before the hot weather arrives. Do not work the soil if it is wet. Wait a few days until it dries.

Try to plant strawberries on a cloudy day or during the late afternoon. Set the strawberry plant in the soil so that the soil is just covering the tops of the roots. Do not cover the crown. After four or five weeks, the plants will produce runners and new daughter plants. . Water with one inch of water per week to promote growth and to make new runners for next year's crop. It is best to remove any flowers that begin to form in the first season, in order to allow the roots to fully establish, ready for the following year’s crop.

Allow some of the new plants which form along the runners to root, ready for next year’s crops. Remove any unwanted runners, or you can quickly become over-run with plants. A strawberry patch will continue to be productive for three to four years as long as the planting is maintained.

Strawberries are very susceptible to frosts in the spring. Mulches that have covered the plants during the winter months should be removed in the early spring but should be left ready to cover the blossoms in the spring when frost is predicted. Old blankets or sheets can be used for protection against frost. In the autumn, between mid-November and mid-December, apply a straw mulch three to four inches deep over the rows. This mulch will protect the plants from cold temperatures that can kill the buds and injure roots and crowns.

Remove the mulch in the spring when the strawberry leaves show yellow. Leave some of the mulch around the plants to keep the fruit from soil contact and to conserve soil moisture. Try and keep the young fruits off the soil, by placing some of the mulch material, or loose straw underneath the plants. This will help to keep the fruits clean, and will also keep out some of the slugs and snails and
other creepy crawlies that like to feed off the ripening fruits.

Harvest strawberries by removing them from the plant complete with their leaves. This makes for less bruising of the fruit. The leaves and centres can be removed later.

To be eaten at their best. Strawberries need to be consumed within one day of harvesting. Because they contain a lot of water, the fruits soon begin to dry out, and the strawberries will lose their juiciness and taste relatively quickly.

NUTRITIONAL FACTS ABOUT STRAWBERRIES

1 cup sliced fresh strawberries contains:
Calories 50
Protein 1 gram
Carbohydrates 11.65 grams
Dietary Fiber 3.81 grams
Calcium 23.24 mg
Iron 0.63 mg
Magnesium 16.60 mg
Phosphorus 31.54 mg
Potassium 44.82 mg
Selenium 1.16 mg
Vitamin C 94.12 mg
Folate 29.38 mcg
Vitamin A 44..82 IU

Eight strawberries will provide 140 percent of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin C for kids.

Strawberries are the first fruit to ripen in the spring.

One cup of strawberries is only 55 calories.

Strawberries are a member of the rose family.

On average, there are 200 seeds in a strawberry.

The strawberry is the only fruit with the seeds on the outside of the fruit.

The flavour of a strawberry is influenced by weather, the variety and stage of ripeness when harvested.

There is a museum in Belgium just for strawberries.


MY STRAWBERRIES!

I have just walked down the garden and gulped! The end of the garden has been taken over by triffids! Well, it seems that way, but in fact, our strawberry bed has suddenly spread, and threatens to over-run the garage! Due to the lack of frost, we seem destined to have our best year ever. The whole patch is just one mass of flowers, and some of the fruits are already forming.

I don’t know about you, but in my opinion, nothing beats the real English Strawberry.
I know you can buy strawberries (well that’s what the packaging says!) all year round now, but let’s face it. There is just no comparison to the real thing. A REAL English strawberry, grown on English soil and eaten with cream or ice cream, dipped in sugar, sipping a glass of champers………*slaps myself back to reality*

Now comes the crunch. I am going to have FAR too many strawberries for even me to eat! And believe me, I can eat quite a few! They don’t freeze well, unless they are going to be used for jam, so what can I do with them? Obviously I’m going to freeze some! But even I don’t want a whole freezer full of strawberries, or a whole cupboard full of jam!

Here are some recipes for using strawberries, which in some cases will also freeze to be used later.

1) STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM

Ingredients

2 eggs
250 g strawberries
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Few drops red food colouring
2 oz icing sugar
125 ml double cream (lightly whipped)

How to make

1) Separate the two eggs
2) Puree the strawberries with the lemon juice and food colouring
3) Mix the puree with the egg yolks
4) Whisk the egg whites with the icing sugar
5) Fold whisked egg whites into strawberry puree
6) Fold the cream onto the mixture
7) Freeze in a plastic container
8) To serve, remove from freezer and leave in refrigerator for one hour before needed

Variations

a) Add a splash of white wine instead of the lemon juice
b) Chop a dozen strawberries and add to the mixture just before freezing.
c) Do both of the above….pure heaven!

2) STRAWBERRY SORBET

Ingredients

2 egg whites
4 oz castor sugar
Half pint strawberry puree
Few drops lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice

How to make

1) Whisk the 2 egg whites
2) Whisk in the castor sugar.
3) Mix the strawberry
puree, food colouring and lemon juice together.
4) Add the whisked egg whites, and whisk for a further minute.
5) Freeze in a plastic container.

Remove from freezer and leave in fridge for one hour before serving.

Variations

a) Use a mixture of strawberries and raspberries.
b) Use half strawberries, half orange segments. Serve in half an orange skin.
c) A splash of Cointreau or Grand Marnier instead of the lemon juice.

3) STRAWBERRY FOAM CASTLE

Ingredients

One large orange.
3 sugar cubes.
350 g strawberries
25 g gelatine
50 g castor sugar.

How to make

1) Scrub the orange, then rub skin with sugar cubes until sugar has absorbed zest.
2) Cut a thin slice from centre of orange to reserve for decoration
3) Pare a slice of rind thinly from one half of orange and save.
4) Squeeze juice from orange.
5) Put 5 strawberries to one side for decoration.
6) Measure 4 tablespoons cold water into basin, add gelatine and stir over a saucepan of hot water until gelatine has completely dissolved.
7) Put sugar cubes, orange juice, strawberries, gelatine and castor sugar in liquidiser and run machine until all ingredients are well blended
8) Top up to one pint with cold water.
9) Place liquidiser goblet in fridge until mixture is half set
10) Return goblet to machine, and run again until mixture is pale and fluffy, and almost doubled in volume
11) Pour mixture into jelly mould and chill until set.
12) Remove from mould by placing in hot water for a few seconds, invert onto a serving plate.
13) Shred reserved orange rind finely, cut orange slice into quarters and slice the 5 remaining strawberries.
14) Arrange strawberry slices and shredded peel around serving plate and place 2 orange wedges and one whole strawberry on top of jelly.

Serve with cream or ice cream.

Variations.

a) Whisk a little orange liqueur
into the cream before serving.
b) Drizzle a little strawberry puree over the turned out jelly for decoration.

The above recipe can make use of some of those slightly squashy strawberries that don’t look appetising enough to serve whole. Unfortunately, this recipe doesn’t freeze, but will keep in a fridge for 3 or 4 days.

4)STRAWBERRY WHIRLS

Ingredients.
a) For the biscuits

200 g margarine
50 g castor sugar
200 g plain flour

b) For the filling

200 g strawberries
200 g full fat soft cheese
Icing sugar.
Vanilla essence.

How to make.

1) Switch oven on, gas mark 4, 180 degrees C, 350 degrees F
2) Grease a baking sheet.
3) Cream margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.
4) Add flour and mix well.
5) Place mixture in piping bag fitted with large star tube.
6) Pipe 12 whirls on baking sheet, allowing room for spreading.
7) Bake in centre of oven for 10 – 15 minutes until golden brown, then leave to cool.
8) Wash and dry strawberries. Reserve 6 for decoration, and cut remainder into quarters.
9) Place cheese and 2 tablespoons icing sugar in a bowl, and beat until light and creamy, then add a few drops vanilla essence.
10) Fold strawberries into cheese mixture, and use to sandwich biscuits together.
11) Sprinkle top of each whirl with a dusting of icing sugar.
12) Place one whole strawberry on top of each whirl to decorate.

Variations.

a) Replace vanilla with a few drops of sherry
b) If you do not like cream cheese, replace with a thick cream.

Of course all the above need to be accompanied by a glass of well chilled bubbly, and served sitting out in the garden on a lovely summers day. Wimbledon, eat your heart out!

And if all else fails, you can always make jam!


(Facts and Folk Law taken from http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/strawberries/facts.ht ml)
The rest
is all mine!

Lesley 15/05/02

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