Strawberries and June… oops I mean July

When I was a little girl I would do just about anything for strawberries. It didn’t matter what format they came in. In a pie with rhubarb, as jam, or just as the fruit. I loved them all. My mother told me a story of when I was a little girl no more more than two. My parents were living with my Grandfather and he came home from work one day and brought with him a container of strawberries. He picked me up and brought me to another room. My parents said they could hear laughing and when they looked in he was letting me jump on his bed and was feeding me strawberries. My mother was surprised and said “you shouldn’t let her do that!” My grandfather looked at her and simply said “She needs strawberries, you should give her more”, and continued to let me jump up and down and eat all the strawberries I wanted.

Here in Ontario, June is strawberry month, although this year it’s been bumped to July. You can find the sweet red beauties sold at the grocery stores with the Grown in Ontario symbol. You can find them in your local farmer’s market, or sold on the side of the road. Either way they are delicious and nutritious. According to Self Nutrition Data, 1 cup of the red beauties contains 149% of your daily vitamin C requirements, and 29% of requirements for manganese. I really can’t say enough great things about them. Make sure you get the fresh ones though. It really makes a difference with the taste. A ripe red fruit that is vibrant in colour and red all the way through. This will ensure you are getting the fruit in the peak of sweetness. In the off season it is rare to find strawberries that have been ripened all the way through and most are only red on the exterior and fading to white on the inside as you get closer to the centre. These fruits will not be as sweet or juicy. I find that when using these to juice with I add some extra strawberries to achieve the same taste.

One of my favourite things at this time of year is to make myself a juice in the morning and incorporate fresh strawberries. When I make my “cup of sunshine” it makes everything else in the day feel just right. Nothing is better than that!

Strawberry Sunshine

10 strawberries -hulled

2 large carrots – peeled and cut in sections

2 large oranges – peeled and quartered

Turn on juicer and insert half of orange, followed by strawberries, then carrot, and finished with the rest of the orange.

Give it a quick stir and enjoy!

---