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teachingmyown
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| Posted: May 26 2007 at 8:02pm | IP Logged
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We went strawberry picking today. What a wonderful time we had! The kids were very meticulous searching for the perfect strawberries, while dh could fill a basket in ten minutes.  The baby found her new favorite food. Oh, how I wish I owned a camera that worked.  She was so cute, covered in strawberry juice in her little strawberry gingham outfit. 
Anyway, we picked about 50 lbs! (I had no idea, I just have a lot of kids and each one wanted to have their own basket!) So now, totally undomestic me has to figure out what to do with them all.  Obviously, I plan to freeze the majority of them. And I have some orders for pies,jams and such. Oh boy!
Is there anything special I need to do before freezing them? Anyone have favorite recipes for jams, or suggestions for how to make it properly. This is really new to me and I don't want to waste anything. I won't even tell you what it cost us.  Just about our grocery bill for the week. Okay, not that bad, but not quite what we were planning.
But it was worth having a great family day. We even got ice cream cones. What a treat!
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Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: May 26 2007 at 8:08pm | IP Logged
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50 pounds.. wow... well I guess it's about what I've bought.. I got 48lbs now that I think about it I just did it in two batches.
Jam is easy.. just get the pectin (that's what makes it "gel") and follow the directions..
for freezing I just wash and stem them first...
You might want to freeze some sliced so that you can thaw for things like ice cream topping or shortcake.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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organiclilac
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| Posted: May 26 2007 at 8:25pm | IP Logged
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Hmm, this may be impractical with 50#, but I wash them and pick the stems, set them on towels to dry, and then freeze them on cookie sheets before I put them into freezer bags. Enjoy your berries! We are making shortcake tomorrow.
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Tracy, wife to Shawn, mama to Samuel (4/01) and Joseph (11/11), and Thomas (2/15)
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MichelleW
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| Posted: May 26 2007 at 8:39pm | IP Logged
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My kids like freezer jam (the directions are in the pectin box). My fil likes cooked jam. I make both.
I usually freeze most of my berries in the summer. There is just so much to do without making jam all summer long! I usually freeze in sizes for either jam-making later, or adding to lemonade to make strawberry lemonade, or for strawberry bread, etc. Don't freeze wet. I wash and then allow berries to drip dry in a colander and then bag and freeze.
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MarieC
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| Posted: May 26 2007 at 8:43pm | IP Logged
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MichelleW wrote:
| My kids like freezer jam (the directions are in the pectin box). |
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I learned to make freezer jam a couple of summers ago (from the recipe on the box) and it's so easy....no messing with actual canning...very easy for a beginner.
It would be a dream come true for my family to have 50#!
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Out in the Orchard
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DominaCaeli
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| Posted: May 26 2007 at 9:10pm | IP Logged
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organiclilac wrote:
| Hmm, this may be impractical with 50#, but I wash them and pick the stems, set them on towels to dry, and then freeze them on cookie sheets before I put them into freezer bags. |
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This is exactly what I've done too. Great for smoothies--yum!
Celeste
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chicken lady
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| Posted: May 26 2007 at 9:11pm | IP Logged
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Good for you.....strawberry jam is a easy intro into canning! Just follow the directions on the pectin box, your dc will have wonderful x-mas gifts to give out!!
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Celeste
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| Posted: May 26 2007 at 9:28pm | IP Logged
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I third the freezer jam suggestion--it is so much faster, and my family thinks tastes better, than cooked jam. Tastes like fresh-picked strawberries. And the color . . . I'm sorry, I had to clean off my keyboard. And the bonus is you freeze it in those semi-disposable plastic faux tupperware containers. Not as pretty as mason jars, but much cheaper.
Celeste
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joann10
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| Posted: May 26 2007 at 9:52pm | IP Logged
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We love the freezer jam around here also. Last year, 9 kids ate all the jam I put away for the winter by August.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: May 26 2007 at 10:00pm | IP Logged
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shelf space is much easier to come by here 
my freezer gains space through teh summer.. so sometimes I can put berries into it temporarily.. but I fill it before winter.. so berries have to be jammed and canned
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
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Paula in MN
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| Posted: May 27 2007 at 6:47am | IP Logged
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DominaCaeli wrote:
organiclilac wrote:
| Hmm, this may be impractical with 50#, but I wash them and pick the stems, set them on towels to dry, and then freeze them on cookie sheets before I put them into freezer bags. |
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This is exactly what I've done too. Great for smoothies--yum!
Celeste |
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Same here! And I do make freezer jam -- super easy and the kids love it.
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 Paula
A Catholic Harvest
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Anne McD
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| Posted: May 27 2007 at 6:02pm | IP Logged
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teachingmyown wrote:
| Is there anything special I need to do before freezing them? |
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I'll be honest, I've never intentionally frozen strawberries before, but according to Alton Brown of Good Eats on the Food Network, you need to freeze them with dry ice if you want to be able to defrost them and eat like fresh picked strawberries again, instead of runny ones that would be great in a recipe.
One thing he said in the show that isn't mentioned on this page is that when you open your freezer bags to put the frozen strawberries in, make sure you open the bag in the cooler where the air is super cold, and wear REALLY heavy duty protective oven mitts when handling dry ice.
HTH!
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and baby on the way! 10/14
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Topic: Strawberries
