Thursday, March 11, 2010

Spring, Glorious Spring!

I feel, vaguely, like a racer poised at the starting gate. I'm ready for spring and all that comes with it: the vibrant chartreuse of new buds, the bold splashes of newly planted annuals, light and frothy spring dresses, Easter chicks, bunnies, and pastel eggs, bike rides, kite-flying, and yummy picnics, and the great goodbye to all things winter.

And for me, right now, that is symbolized by the first strawberry picking of the season. I called the farmer's market we occasionally frequent this morning, and they told me that the pick-your-own strawberry free-for-all would start on Saturday. Now part of me is itching to go on Saturday, but I'm trying to give way to the more sensible, patient side. It will be extra crowded on Saturday, and if I wait till next week, it will be a fun Spring Break outing for the boys and I. We went twice last year and were a tad over-eager. They were eating strawberries at every meal. Not that they were complaining, but I felt like we'd completely abandoned moderation. Really what I need to do between now and the Great Strawberry Picking is to find some recipes that make delicious use of strawberries.

Any ideas??

I'm feeling like there could be a bout of pickle-making too...

8 comments:

Stacy said...

Not really one for the kids as it's, well, spiked but it could be for you and your husband:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sliced-Strawberries-with-Grand-Marnier-Zabaglione-353422

I just added that to my epicurious recipe box the other day, and I can't wait to try it. But no strawberries here for AGES. *sniff*

I'll try to find something kid-friendly, so I'm not just encouraging drunkenness here. :)

Strawberry rhubarb shortcakes?
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Strawberry-Rhubarb-Shortcakes-1773

Anyhow, the kid-friendly strawberry recipes on epicurious can be found here:
http://www.epicurious.com/tools/searchresults?search=strawberry&type=simple&threshold=53&att=162&pageNumber=1&pageSize=10&resultOffset=1

Stacy said...

Oh, sorry the links didn't work. :(

Alyssa Goodnight said...

The links worked great, Stacy...thanks for the ideas!

Al said...

Pickled strawberries?

Or are you pickling something else?

Al

Publish or Perish

Gage said...

that sounds amazing! so spring-y! oh, how i love strawberries.

Anonymous said...

4 C stemmed strawberries dumped in casserole dish (8X10-ish). cover with one box yellow cake mix. Cover the cake mix with one stick butter cut in squares. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes--eat warm with ice cream.

Sarakastic said...

If I was ever in a field of strawberries I would twirl around but alas all of our strawberries come from California.

Alyssa Goodnight said...

Yikes! No pickled strawberries, Al! Sorry for the confusion--I meant actual pickles (cucumbers).

Thank you, Green Girl, for the very rich-sounding recipe. :)