Image: Tish Boyle

Makes one table centerpiece

Special equipment:

• 1 floral foam or green styrofoam cone (measuring 4-5 inches in diameter at the base and 12 inches high)
• 1 box of toothpicks

Supplies:

• 4 one pound containers of fresh Driscoll strawberries
• 1 bunch fresh mint
• 1 slice from a carambola fruit (also known as star fruit)*

*Note: If you can’t find a carambola, you can use a 1-inch star-shaped cookie cutter to cut out a star shape from a mango slice instead.

Directions:

1. Wash the strawberries and blot them dry with paper towels. Pull off the green stem from each strawberry. Reserve a perfect strawberry for the top of the ‘tree’.

2. Push a toothpick halfway into the side of the cone, about 1/2 inch from the bottom edge. Secure a strawberry to the toothpick, piercing it through the stem end. Secure another strawberry right next to the first one. Continue securing strawberries to the cone in circular rows up to its top, covering the cone completely. Secure the reserved strawberry to the top of the tree.

3. Remove some mint leaves from the bunch of mint and tuck them between the berries, placing them at about 3-inch intervals.

4. Secure the star-shaped carambola or mango slice to the top of the cone using a toothpick.

About Tish Boyle
Tish Boyle is editor in chief of Chocolatier and Pastry Art & Design magazines. A graduate of Smith College and La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine in Paris, she has been a caterer, pastry chef, and food stylist. She is the author of The Good Cookie and Diner Desserts, and coauthor of Simply Sensational Desserts (IACP Award Winner), Chocolate Passion, and the Grand Finales series of books.

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Very Berry Holiday Tree

Image by: Miss Karen

Ingredients:

2 cups freshly-squeezed lemon juice

1 cup of chopped fresh strawberries

1/2 cup of sugar

3 cups of water

Crushed Ice

Procedure:

Squeeze lemon juice into pitcher. In a blender, place strawberries and 1 cup water. Blend for a few seconds. You may want to sieve the strawberry puree into a bowl, but you can also do without the straining. Stir in the strawberry puree, water into the lemon juice. Add sugar till you reach your desired sweetness. Serve with crushed ice.

This is great on a summer day or when you just need a little more sweetness in that fresh lemonade of yours. Its pink color makes it an attractive drink during parties as well. Add some sliced strawberries into each glass to up the pretty factor.

And if you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, why not stir in some vodka or gin into the mix? Let’s toast to that!

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Strawberry Lemonade Recipe

Strawberry season actually varies depending on which region you’re in: they peek in April in Florida and Texas, May in the deep South, and in early June in middle sections and later June in the far northern US and Canada.

If you’re lucky enough to have your own little crop of berries, you may have ended up running out to grab a few more when using them in a recipe. If you buy them from the store, though, you’ve probably found that berries in those little plastic baskets aren’t always easy to measure out, which would be useful to know ahead of time when you find yourself a few berries short.

Here are some basic measures for fresh strawberries:

* 1 pint strawberries = 2 cups whole berries
* 1 pint strawberries = 2-1/4 cups sliced berries
* 1 pint strawberries = 1-3/4 cups pureed berries
* 1 pint strawberries contains about 16 to 20 medium size berries or 12 to 14 large berries.

* 1-1/2 to 2 quarts of fresh strawberries are needed for a 9″ pie
* 1 cup of strawberries weighs about 4 to 5 ounces
* 1 quart of strawberries weighs about 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 pounds
* 1 flat of strawberries contains 8 quarts and weighs about 12 pounds

You can even substitute fresh berries in a recipe that calls for frozen: 2 cups of sliced fresh strawberries equal one 20 oz. package of frozen strawberries.

[image: flickr]

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It’s Strawberry Season

The below directions are a bit on the sparse side, so don’t forget to slice your strawberries and I’d use about 2/3 a cup white chips. The trick to good muffins is to avoid over-mixing. Fold the dry and wet ingredients together gently. I stop when it still looks not quick completely mixed.

Strawberry White Chocolate Muffins

Wet ingredients:

Mix together until fluffy:
¼ pound butter at room temperature
1-cup sugar
2 eggs
12 strawberries
beat in 1 cup sour cream

Dry ingredients:

Combine in a separate bowl:
2-¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 ¾ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. allspice

Gently fold dry ingredients into wet. When half are mixed, add ½ cup chocolate chips, plus diced strawberries for each muffin. Gently finish mixing – do not over mix.

Bake in 400 F oven for 15 to 18 minutes. Use a wooden skewer to test the center of the muffin to ensure they are done.
Serves 10-12

Image and recipe credit: Glynn House Inn and BnBfinder.com

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Strawberry and White Chocolate Muffins

Nuts like pistachios have immense health benefits and are an easy way to improve cholesterol levels and reduce the effects of stress according to recent research conducted by Penn State University and the University of Toronto. In fact, pistachios are a great source of protein and potassium and provide more dietary fiber than any other nut.

The recipe below for an arugula, “pickled” strawberries, candied pistachios and crumbled blue cheese salad by celebrity chef Michelle Bernstein is a great way to add some piazza and nutrition to your Memorial Day celebration.

Arugula, Pistachio, Strawberry and Bleu Salad
From Michelle Bernstein, 2004 James Beard Award Nomination for Best Chef in America Southeast Region (Michey’s Restaurant in Miami)

Yield: 4 Servings

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 cup Pistachios
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
1 bay leaf
2 cups strawberries, stemmed, cut in quarters
4 cups Arugula, cleaned
¼ cup crumbled blue cheese
½ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper

Instructions:
Pre-heat oven to 350°F.

Heat the sugar and water together. Toss the pistachios into the mixture. Spread onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes. Remove and season immediately with sea salt. Allow to cool.

Remove from the pan, chop into small pieces.

Heat the brown sugar and vinegar with the bay leaf. Place the strawberries into a bowl over another bowl filled with ice. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the strawberries and allow to cool. Remove the strawberries from the vinegar; reserve the vinegar for another use.

To Serve:
Combine the Arugula, cheese, strawberries with the olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Place on four plates, top with the candied pistachios.

Nutrition Facts
(Amount per Serving): Calories 520, Total Fat 44g, Saturated Fat 7g, Monounsaturated Fat 28g, Cholesterol 5mg, Sodium 760mg, Potassium 560mg, Carbohydrate 27g, Dietary Fiber 5g, Protein 9g

(recipe and photo courtesy of Western Pistachio.org)

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Arugula, Pistachio, Strawberry and Bleu Salad

* The garden strawberry was first bred in England in the 18th century.

* The United States is by far the world’s largest commercial strawberry producer.

* Strawberries propagate by sending runners from the “mother” plant.

* A serving of strawberries (about eight) has more vitamin C than an orange.

* Ninety-four percent of Americans have enjoyed strawberries in the last year.

(photo credit: Ken Hammond/cc license)

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Here Come the Strawberries

Mexican Fruit Salad
4 cups (about 1 1/4 pounds) halved stemmed California strawberries
2 cups mango chunks
2 cups melon chunks
1 cup pineapple chunks
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons ancho chile powder

In large bowl, combine strawberries, mango, melon and pineapple. Add orange juice, lime juice,
sugar, salt and chile powder to taste; mix well. Makes 8 servings. Prep time is around 20 minutes.

(recipe and photo courtesy of the California Strawberry Commission)

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Mexican Fruit Salad

Coffee, strawberry probiotic yoghurt, cereals with cranberries, and… orange juice.

Coffee for your brain, strawberries too, probiotic yoghurt for your gut, cranberries for a healthy bladder, and orange juice to prevent kidney stones.

Orange juice, researchers found, boosted the levels of citrate in the urine and reduced the crystallization of uric acid and calcium oxalate – the most frequently found ingredient in kidney stones.

According to their study, lemonade, another citrus juice with comparable citrate content, did not have the same effect. The researchers think the form in which the citrate is present in the juice matters.

[snip]… the citrate in orange and grapefruit juice is accompanied by a potassium ion while the citrate in lemonade and cranberry juice is accompanied by a hydrogen ion. Ions of hydrogen, but not potassium, counteract the beneficial effects of the high citrate content.

Now, for tea afficionados, I wonder whether lacing tea with orange or lemon will make any difference.

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Orange Juice Keep Kidney Stones Away

Strawberries and blueberries, for example, have been shown in mice to help protect against the damage that causes a decline in learning and motor skills commonly seen with aging. These fruits are rich in polyphenols, antioxidants which protect the brain against oxidative stress, thereby helping us keep our brains sharp even as we age.

If you’re up for more scientific reading, you may want to see the article from the Neurobiology of Aging, or the news story here.

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Strawberries for Your Aging Brain