Strawberries

The strawberry picking at our farm share is over. But it is a happy time, not sad. Since Memorial Day we have picked 32 quarts of strawberries! I have more strawberries than we could possibly eat before they go bad. It will only be a sad day if these berries go to waste!  I have been scouring the Internet for some preserving ideas. Somewhere in my research, I read that whole frozen berries do not defrost well. They get all mushy and soggy. So I will freeze some to drop directly in smoothies, and the rest of the berries will turn into jam or oatmeal topping (if they are not eaten first).
There are lots of different recipes for strawberry jam. I am trying a few different methods this year, so I can taste them all and figure out what I like best. So far I have a freezer jam, that I am not sure set properly, we will see how it turns out once we open a jar. I also made a canned strawberry jam that set well, but we have not tasted it. The other canned jam I made is a strawberry pineapple jam that turned out excellent! We barely waited long enough to let it set before we tested it on our toast. It set well and tastes heavenly, in my humble opinion!

I also crushed some strawberries and froze them plain in jars to top our oatmeal and ice cream. Can't wait to enjoy these in the fall and winter. Now I just need a bigger pantry and a bigger freezer!