July 7, 2003
Strawberries

The strawberries around here are amazingly good this year. They have been in the stores for a while and they just seem to keep coming. A friend, whose parents own a farm, brought some fantastic berries over to us last week. Adam repaid her by washing her car while she was visiting inside with me! Hey, it's what he does. If you know Adam, you know he just can't help himself when it comes to being outside near a car that could use a wash, and having a hose nearby.

On the other hand, those of you who know me, know that if someone brings me some kind of food, I can't help myself either. So, those berries went to good use right away. Some of my favorite recipe for farm stand findings, come from my signed copy of Lynne Wilson's The Wilson Farm Country Cookbook. When I was engaged to be married, my mother -in-law wanted to throw a shower for me. She lived in Washington, DC and we were in Connecticut. She had the wonderful idea to have a shower by mail. She sent out cards to every one requesting that they each send something to me, to arrive during a certain week. The gift should be something "regional" and something particular to the area of the person sending the gift.

The shower was fun and I found myself receiving some wonderful things. My favorite things were, no surprise, the cookbooks. The San Francisco a la carte and the Wilson Farm Country Cookbook (from a farm in Lexington, Mass) are my favorites. I also received some Dedham pottery, some pineapple bowls from Hawaii and some wind chimes from California.

If you've never had a cold soup- try her recipe for the chilled strawberry soup. It is really a treat.

Chilled Fresh Strawberry Soup

From the Wilson Farm Country Cookbook- so good when it's strawberry time! I even spoon it onto strawberry shortcakes!

1 quart strawberries, washed and hulled
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/8 tsp salt
dash cinnamon
1/2 cup sour cream

1. Combine the strawberries, water and sugar in a 3 qt saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil.
2. Lower the heat, remove the cover, and simmer, uncovered, until the berries are very soft- about 15 minutes.
3. Puree the mixture in a food processor, then strain it through a sieve or cheesecloth to remove the majority of the seeds*. Return it to the pan.
4. Stir the cornstarch. cream, salt and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Stir the cream mixture into the strawberry mixture and heat until the soup begins to simmer. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes or until slightly thick.
5. Remove from heat and chill for at least 2 hours. Top each serving with a small spoonful of sour cream.
Serves 4-6
* I usually skip this step, as the seeds don't bother me that much.

Berry Ice Cream

From Joy of Cooking. Any type of berries can be used with this recipe.

Mash:
1 quart berries

stir in:
7/8 cup sugar

chill and combine with:
4 cups heavy cream
dash cinnamon

churn freeze mixture.

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