Strawberry Ice Cream

Strawberry is one of the first fruits to make an appearance in the summer and I kind of went nuts over them this year. So far, I've made preserves, pie, cake, sorbet and ice cream.

I'm slowly getting a better understanding of ice cream making and went with a custard-less base to let the fruit flavour shine through. While alcohol and corn syrup is supposed to make the ice cream less icy and more creamy (an issue with fruit-based ice cream because of the high water content), I went with neither because I don't mind my frozen strawberry slices a little bit icy.

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Classic Strawberry Preserves

My first foray into canning began many summers ago. I used to make huge batches of applesauce to freeze but received complaints that I was hogging up the limited space in the freezer.

The initial research into canning was overwhelming: so many equipments to use! The fear of botulism if everything is not heated and sealed properly!

Most of the recipes I encountered used large quantities of sugar (i.e. a 1:1 cup ratio of fruit to sugar), which, no thank you. I want to be able to distinguish the fruits that I'm preserving rather than eating spoonfuls of sugar.

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Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

It’s officially summer here when the pick-your-own strawberry farms open up, and I went to pick my fill.


I debated about what to make with the fruits of my labour. I really enjoyed the strawberry rhubarb pie from last year but didn't want to go through the hassle of making pie crust. Laziness triumphs over ambition.



This is where the crisp comes in.

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Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I've been dreaming of strawberry rhubarb pie for months.



It got to the point where I could no longer wait for strawberry season and I broke down and purchased a pie to satisfy that craving. It turned out to be disappointing not because it was store bought, but because it was a cherry pie even though I was told otherwise. The horror.


Another problem with store bought pies is they tend to be overly sweet. Alas, I impatiently waited for strawberry season to arrive, rounded up some friends to go picking, and turned all that hard work into preserves and pie.

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Strawberry Galette

I'm not exactly sure when this happened but it is somehow the end of July. This month has been a tiring, activity-filled blur, which included watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 2) at the midnight showing. Nothing says I'm turning into an old bag like constantly yawning in line and hoping I don't fall asleep during the movie.





July is also the time of year where I grow another year older. I am trying my best not to let the mid-twenties crisis overwhelm me, but this year more than anything I can feel Adulthood approaching as friends around me are getting engaged and married. Cue the, "What am I doing with my life?" moment.

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