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Strawberries
Plump, juicy, early summer's jewels.....
RECIPE
Strawberry Shortcakes
Toasted Pecan Shortcake Biscuits
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3 C all flour
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2T sugar
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1t salt
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1T + 2t baking powder
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4oz veg shortening ( crisco) chilled
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3/4 C toasted pecans, pulsed in processor
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1C buttermilk or milk cold
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2 t vanilla extract
Mix all together, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder
mix in shortening until very small lumps of shortening remail
Add the pecans
add the liquid without over mixing with your hands
roll out dough to 3/4 inch and cut to whatever shapes
Place abpout one inch apart on parchment lined baking sheet
Brush the dough with milk and bake in a 400 degree oven for 15/20 minutes
More Berries......
AKALA
A red/purple, sweet and juicy Hawaiian berry resembling a large raspberry
eaten plain or made into jams and pies.
BARBERRY
The berries are about 1/2 inch long, oblong and slightly curved; when ripe,
of
a fine, red colour and pleasantly acid. The Barberry is cultivated for
the fruit,
which can be pickled and used for garnishing dishes. The ripe berries can
also be made into a jelly. Barberries were used as a sweetmeat, and in
sugarplums, or comfits.
BILBERRY
Bilberry jams, jellies and conserves have been
popular for centuries, but its healthful benefits first
earned attention in the 1940's. British Royal Air
Force pilots who munched on bread and bilberry
jam before flying missions during the Second World
War asserted that the fruit improved their vision,
especially at night. Also called whortleberry. This
indigo-blue berry grows wild in Great Britain and other parts of Europe
from
July to September. Bilberries are smaller and tarter than the related
American blueberry, and make delicious jams, syrups and tarts.
BLACKBERRIES
Blackberries are in season from May through
August, and are purple/black. The largest wild
berry, they are delicious eaten plain or made into
jams, pies, cobblers, sauces, and wine.
Blackberries contain more calcium and vitamin A
than any other fruit.
BLUEBERRIES
Blueberries are blue-black (sometimes with a
silvery cast), round, smooth berries of two growth
types. High-bush blueberries can grow up to fifteen
feet in height; low-bush are only about a foot high
and grow in Canada and the northern United States.
Cultivated blueberries are in season from the end of
May to early October. Blueberries are used in
baked goods, jams, pies, pancakes, salads, and eaten plain.
BOYSENBERRIES
In 1923, Rudolph Boysen, a horticulturalist, created
this hybrid berry by crossing a raspberry,
blackberry, and a loganberry. Boysenberries are
shaped like a large raspberry, and have a purple-red
hue and a sweet-tart flavor.
CLOUDBERRY
Found in northern climates like New England,
Canada, and Scandinavia, the cloudberry looks like
an amber-colored version of the raspberry to which
it's related. Cloudberries are usually wild and
therefore hard to find in markets.
COWBERRY
A small member of the cranberry family which grows wild in the mountains
of Scandinavia, Russia, Canada and Maine. The tart red berries are rarely
available fresh outside of these areas, but can be found as sauces or
preserves. It's often called the "mountain cranberry".
CRANBERRIES
The name in French is Pommes de Pri, or "marsh
apples" in Acadie, where they grow wild throughout
the Maritime provinces. This native American fruit
grows on a non-climbing vine. The berries have a
smooth skin, are round and have inconspicuous
seeds at the center of the fruit and surrounded by
the tart pulp. The word cranberry comes from the
fact that the open flowers look like the head of a crane. Massachusetts
is
the leading state in cranberry production, followed by Wisconsin, New
Jersey, Washington, and Oregon. There is significant production in Canada,
particularly in Nova Scotia, Quebec, and British Columbia. For the fresh
market the berries are harvested dry with machines that resemble blueberry
rakes. For the processing industry (mainly juice) the beds are flooded
and
the berries are mechanically beaten.
CURRANTS
Currants are a tiny berry related to the gooseberry
and are black, red or white. The black ones are
generally used for preserves, syrups and cassis
liqueur, and the red and white berries for eating,
jams, jellies, and sauces. Fresh currants are in
season June through August.
DEWBERRY
Also called "swamp blackberries," they are a type of blackberry with trailing
canes. They're bigger, earlier to ripen, and more flavorful than blackberries.
ELDERBERRIES
A deep purple and sour fruit of the elder tree,
usually used to make jams, pies and wine. The
flowers are edible and can be used in salads or
batter-dipped and fried like fritters.
GOOSEBERRIES
Gooseberries are large, tart berries which grow on
bushes and come in green, white, red, and yellow
varieties. Their skins can be smooth or fuzzy.
They're found primarily in northern Europe.
Gooseberries are in season in summer.
Gooseberries are used for jams, jellies, pies, and
gooseberry fool.
HUCKLEBERRY
A blue-black berry that resembles the blueberry, except having 10 small,
hard seeds in the center with a thicker skin and more "puckery" flavor.
Huckleberries are not cultivated, but grow wild June through August. They
are eaten plain or used in muffins and pies.
JUNEBERRIES
Also called saskatoon and serviceberry.
Saskatoons have been a widely used native Prairie
fruit crop. Commercial saskatoon berry production
is a relatively new development. "Saskatoon" is
after the Cree word "missakqhahtoomina" used for
this large delicious purple berry. They are similar to
blueberries. The berries contain 5 to 10 whitish
seeds and are ripe generally June-July. Juneberries are great in pies,
jams,
and are used to make wine, also. Saskatoon berries were the most
important plant food used by the Blackfoot peoples of the prairies. The
fruit
was used in ceremonies, and the plant had sacred significance. Summer
camps were moved to new picking locations, and berries were collected,
dried and used in making pemmican. Saskatoon berries are reddish-purple
to black, and are sweet and edible. The berries are an excellent source
of
Vitamin C, manganese, magnesium, iron and a good source of calcium,
potassium, copper, and carotene. The content of protein, fat, and fiber
is
higher than other fruits, because the edible seeds are also consumed.
LINGONBERRY
A cowberry.
LOGANBERRIES
The loganberry is a ruby red, blackberry-shaped
berry. It's unclear whether it is its own species or a
raspberry-blackberry hybrid, but it was discovered
by California Judge Logan in the late 1800s.
Available in June and July, the loganberry is juicy
and sweetly tart, and turns purple-red when very
ripe. Loganberries are used both cooked in jams
and preserves, and fresh.
MARIONBERRIES
MULBERRY
Mulberry varieties come in black, red and white.
The black is a purple/black, and is commonly found
in Europe, the red in the eastern and southern
United States, and the white in Asia. Mulberries
look like blackberries in size and shape, and have a
sweet-sour flavor. Unripe berries are inedibly sour.
Mulberries are not commercially grown in the
United States but grow wild from Massachusetts to the Gulf states and as
far west as Nebraska. They are eaten raw or used in jams, jellies, desserts
and wine.
NECTARBERRIES
OLALLIEBERRY
A cross between a Youngberry and a loganberry with a sweet flavor,
resembling a large, elongated blackberry. It's grown on the west coast
of the
U.S. and is used fresh and in jams and jellies.
RASPBERRIES
The raspberry is one of the most highly flavored
berry, and is composed of many connecting
drupelets (individual sections of fruit, each with its
own seed) surrounding a central core. There are
three main varieties black, golden and red.
Raspberries are available from May through
November. Raspberries are very fragile and are at
their best served fresh. They also make excellent jam. Raspberries can
be
red, purple, black, and yellow (or amber). Raspberries were first cultivated
in
England in the 16th century, then in America in the late 1700s. The berries
contain a fair amount of iron, potassium and vitamins A and C.
SASKATOON
Also called juneberries.
STRAWBERRIES
Strawberries are red, juicy and conically shaped,
and are a member of the rose family. It has grown
wild for centuries in both the Americas and Europe.
The most common American variety is the result of
centuries of crossbreeding of the wild Virginia
strawberry and a Chilean variety. More flavorful,
however, are European Alpine strawberries the
tiny, sweet wild strawberries of France known as fraises des bois
("strawberries of the woods"). Strawberries vary in size, shape and color
(some are off-white or yellowish). The flavor of the smaller berries is
better
than that of the larger varieties since the latter are often watery. Fresh
strawberries are available year-round, with the peak season from April
to
June. Fresh strawberries are eaten plain or used in various desserts,
preserves, jams, jellies, and syrups. Strawberries are an excellent source
of
vitamin C and also provide some potassium and iron.
TAYBERRIES
A 1970's cross of the Oregon blackberry and
Scottish red raspberry - named after the Scottish
river Tay - the Tayberry is big and solid like
blackberry, savoringly aromatic and luxuriously
deep red like the raspberry.
THIMBLEBERRY
A black raspberry.
YOUNGBERRY
A blackberry hybrid.
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