"Self-sufficiency does not mean 'going back' to the acceptance of a lower standard of living. On the contrary, it is the striving for a higher standard of living, for food that is organically grown and good, for the good life in pleasant surroundings... and for the satisfaction that comes from doing difficult and intricate jobs well and successfully." John Seymour ~ Self Sufficiency 2003

Tuesday 28 October 2014

Strawberry glut

My strawberry plants are certainly loving the dose of alpaca poo I gave them at the end of last winter.  They are all producing madly - almost too many to eat or process quickly enough.

Naturally, first on the list was dessert of fresh, ripe juicy strawberries - with cream or ice cream.  Yum :)
Fresh strawberries and ice cream
Then, naturally, I have made 12 jars of strawbery jam, and a few of bottles of strawberry cordial.

But, there are just so many jars of strawberry jam that we can consume in a year and, for the cordials, my fridge space is limited.  Why aren't there recipes for strawberry cordial which do not need refrigerating?  How did they do it in days of yore?

And, unfortunately, our weather is not ideal for solar dehydrating at the moment - so that is not one of the options open to me.

So, I have had to scour the net to find options of preserving them in different ways.
From left to right:
Strawberry infused vodka and the first batch of
strawberry jam
And I came across strawberry infused vodka ;)
The strawberries 
will be removed and the vodka strained of "hairs"
prior to being decanted into a more traditional
vodka bottle :)
So, that's exactly what I made this week - and will probably still make next week LOL

We don't drink a lot of hard tack - more beers for RMan, and white whine for me - but we do have neighbours who will appreciate being gifted with a bottle - for birthdays and Christmas.

One less "gift" to strike of the list :)

Bearing in mind that I do not have an electrical dehydrator, nor the "spare" power to run one overnight, does anyone have recipes for preserving strawberries which can remain at room temperature and which do not involve making jam, or refrigerating cordials / infused vodka or freezing?

18 comments:

  1. I'm struggling to absorb the concept of "too many strawberries"!!! ;)
    Syrup? I think once made, it would be shelf-stable like jam, wouldn't it? Then it could be used as syrup or in baking, like maple syrup. Can fruit leathers be made without a dehydrator? Too bad the solar dehydrating isn't an option at the moment :(

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    1. Quinn - LOL - s'true. I sound spoilt don't I :{

      Would I have to water bath the syrup? Nope, as far as I know, fruit leathers require dehydrating - either solar or electrically.

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  2. Hey Dani,

    How about dehydrating in an oven on very low temp?

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    1. DFW - Sob - the weather is too warm to light Rosie, plus, unlike an electric oven, it's not easy to "regulate" the temperature in the oven... Certainly, I couldn't set it to just below 100oC and it would stay there LOL

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  3. I can think of worse things than a strawberry glut, LOL. That's awesome that you have so many. I was thinking like DFW, could you put them in the oven at a low temp and let them dry up that way?

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    1. 1st Man - I know - I feel terrible saying I have a strawberry glut. But, it's true LOL

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  4. That all looks so good! Could just eat strawberries with a dollop of Cornish clotted cream on them now :)

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    1. Chickpea - Oh yes - clotted cream. Haven't had that in decades - since I was last over there walking familiar roads and visiting family...

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  5. You could stick them in a box and ship them to me!!!
    :D

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  6. Strawberry ice cream would be fab.

    jean
    x

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    1. S&P - Hmmm, I need my new (larger) fridge / freezer combo before I can keep quantities of frozen berries... :)

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  7. Mash them with icing sugar makes a concentrated sauce? Posh name for it I think

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    1. Shirley - I wonder if I'd have to preserve that sauce? Or freeze it? Time for me to get googling... :)

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  8. I never heard of mixing strawberries with vodka, but it sounds pretty good. I like strawberries, but they don't grow here very well. The soil is mostly just flinty clay.

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    1. Harry -Neither had I, but I can imagine that it could make a refreshing summer drink when mixed with soda or lemonade and plenty of ice :)

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  9. I just did two posts about dry canning and making dry prepper soup, then I was on to candle making using beeswax as an air purifier, and now my mind is positively squeezing itself to pop out an idea for your strawberries. I'm assuming you've googled and did a Youtube search. That's where I get most of my ideas for kitchen exhaustion..... pickled strawberries....nope. Now I must Youtube for suggestions. Not that I HAVE strawberries, but I can't let a problem pass me by without at least trying.

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    Replies
    1. lotta joy - Oh, if you could find a recipe for preserving strawberries (apart from jam) which to not require freezing or refrigerating I would be soooo grateful...

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