Frozen fresh? What is that? My Dad went to North Carolina this past fall and harvested a bunch of fresh strawberries. He brought me about 6 gallons of them. I washed them off and let them dry. After they were dry I placed them, in a single layer, in a freezer safe container and directly into the freezer. So, Fresh Frozen. Dad's idea and it worked beautifully. Stored in that way, they could be used, at will, throughout the winter. I still have some left and noticed that they were "growing" ice, which means they are going to be ruined and frost bitten. What in the world was I going to do with them?
My son asked for waffles for breakfast. We have gluten free, multi-grain Pumpkin spice waffles, which actually taste like gingerbread. How to incorporate those strawberries? Strawberry syrup.
I have been purchasing organic Ceylon cinnamon sticks so I can grind my own cinnamon. I have read articles that claim some cinnamon is cut with bark. Cinnamon is bark, but I don't want another kind of bark in my cinnamon. I prefer pure cinnamon. How can I assure this? Grind it myself. I put several sticks in my coffee mill and poof, freshly ground cinnamon that I know is 100% and nothing extra added.
Where does the dried up brown sugar come into play? I keep my Organic brown sugar in a ceramic container, with a terra cotta bear to keep it moist. However, not all of the brown sugar fits. Some of it has to stay in the original container, where it dries up into a big ole' lump. I know if you add sugar to strawberries, the strawberries released their juice so it becomes a delicious syrupy treat. It's so good, just strawberries and sugar. Not so much frozen strawberries and sugar, fresh strawberries.
I capped the strawberries, dumped the dried up brown sugar over them, and sprinkled some cinnamon on them too. Let me tell you, it only took a few minutes to have a fresh strawberry syrup with delicious strawberries to go with it!
Skillet for cooking
Frozen Strawberries
Organic Ceylon Cinnamon sticks
Organic Brown Sugar (dried up, fresh, whichever doesn't matter)
1-2 cups frozen strawberries, cap them and place into the skillet
Sprinkle the ground cinnamon over the strawberries
Put brown sugar on top
Turn skillet on low
The heat will start to un-thaw the frozen strawberries and a syrup will start to form,
Gently stir the berries to incorporate the brown sugar and cinnamon
No need to wait too long, the syrup will form pretty quickly
Ladel the strawberries over the waffles, scoop out some syrup and you have your own, freshly prepared Strawberry syrup.
My son gobbled all, but 4, of the strawberries (I saved some for myself) and his entire waffle. Which he rarely does. Healthy goodness I could feel good about. Like most Moms, I beat myself up over every little thing I think I'm doing wrong. Today it was, that I didn't think I was feeding him enough healthy things to help him grown and develop properly. This was a good start to a great day!
