Gluten-Free Cat: Strawberries Day 1: The Challenge

I picked up my half share of CSA strawberries yesterday. After excitedly bouncing up and down in the parking lot, marveling at their natural beauty, romanticizing about my farmers from Bountiful Blessings who lovingly picked six pints of berries just for me, I came back to reality. What was I going to do with all of these strawberries?

So I went to the deep pool of wisdom. Facebook.

Now, the Husband is very anti-Facebook, but he's a purest. He thinks it's ridiculous that I have 160 "friends". If I considered the true definition of "friend" he'd be right. I would definitely have a much shorter list, but the concept of "friendship" on Facebook is more loosely defined. I've enjoyed reconnecting with friends from the past, going a little deeper with people that I see for snippets of time throughout my week, and chatting weekly with people that I'd rarely get to communicate with otherwise.

Yes, so to my Facebook Friends I went with my deep question.

What are your favorite things to do with strawberries?

AnnMarie: "If they are as good as you are making them sound, EAT THEM just by themselves. Put your feet up and savor!!!"

Did you notice that there are only five pints in the picture above? I'm surprised that they made it home.

Becky: "I like them in plain yogurt or on top of cereal!"

Breakfast this morning was gluten-free Corn Chex with strawberries and milk. It was a sweet taste of the summer to come before running out the door to teach.

Courtney: "Cut them up on a spinach salad with cucumbers (if I'm feeling healthy), dip them in chocolate if I'm not."

Spinach salad. Of course! Why didn't I think of that? We had Strawberry Spinach Salad for dinner tonight.
Spinach, strawberries, red onion, avocado, feta cheese, pine nuts, and Briannas Blush Wine Vinaigrette. Recipe? Layer it and make it pretty.

And if I'd had any chocolate, a decadent dessert would have followed.

Karen: "Freezer jam. Put them on dutch babies. Eat them hand over fist."

I'm going to have to do a little research on this. The jam part, that is. I'm pretty proficient at the hand over fist method.

Brittney: "Collin make a mean strawberry crepe drizzled with chocolate as well as a YUMMY shortcake. You'd have to figure out a way to make them gluten free, but I know that is part of the fun for you! Oh, and what about margaritas? Duh!"

Oh my, two absolutely amazing options. There has to be a way to make gluten-free crepes. And I don't think I could make strawberry margaritas without sharing them with Britney and Collin! Oh, wait, maybe I could try.

Sue: "Shortcake. My mom's favorite."

Shortcake is one of my mom's favorites too! But my mom made strawberry shortcake with real whipped cream. I'm talking about the whipped cream that comes from a tub, not a carton. Cool Whip. I was quite disappointed the first time I had what others called "real whipped cream" to find out that it was flavorless whipped up milk. Ick. When the the first ingredients in Cool Whip are water, corn syrup, and HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, and not a single mention of dairy, I'd definitely turn my nose up at it today. But who knew better in the 70's?

Gail gave me one of my favorite responses. "A farmer's truck full of manure broke down in front of a mental institution.
Resident shouts through the fence, "What ya gonna do with that stuff anyway?"
Farmer: "Spread it on my strawberries."
Resident: "I know we're crazy here, but we put whipped cream on our strawberries." -Jan Karon, "Light From Heaven" [Mitford series]

So, my Facebook Friends came through for me. I've received some great suggestions, and I have a few ideas of my own. But now it's a race against the clock. How many strawberry treats can I make before the strawberries go bad?