Judy P's Tickle Trunk

It’s strawberry season in Nova Scotia. Two seasons ago I happened by a strawberry stand in Great Village where they had the most beautiful berries I have ever purchased; plump, red, and nigh on perfect. I bought a flat at the time and took a business card which I carried around for two full years. I called ahead to perorder a couple of weeks ago and last week I when was passing through Great Village again I stopped at Bower’s Berries to pick up my order. Wow, is it possible that they were even better this year?

The field next to Bower's berry stand

This year I purchased a flat and a half. I ate a whole quart driving home as the smell of strawberries coming from the back seat was tantalizing. So juicy. So tasty. There is one quart left now and I am still not tired of them. Really, could one ever tire of good strawberries? These were beautiful; red right through to the core. We had strawberry rhubarb crisp, strawberry rhubarb pie, I froze half a flat and made jam from the remainder. There were decorative strawberries on our desserts and they made a great addition to salad. And a mighty fine snack.

This year I opted to make freezer jam instead of cooking down the fruit. I like that the nutrients aren’t destroyed by cooking and that the fruit maintains its brilliant colour. Best of all, the sugar required is just a fraction of that required for traditional jam or that made with Certo.

Instead of chopping the berries on a block I just put them in a big stainless steel bowl and cut them up using a pasty blender (the kind with four blades). I used Gardenfare freezer jam powder which doesn’t set it up real firm but also calls for less sugar than other brands. It was delicious and I have enough jam to see me through the winter. I hope. In making the last batch I had a little left over after I filled the last jar and I used it as topping on squares of frozen lemon yogurt souffle cake. Yummy!