Strawberry success!

Last week the Crescent City Farmers' Market email said that it was the last week for strawberries, so of course I bought an entire flat (12 pints for $14, i.e. a pittance) and then when I got it home set it down on the kitchen counter and wondered what the devil I was going to do with them all.

I hulled and froze about half of them (you can't defrost them and, say, put them on your cereal, but frozen strawberries are excellent for smoothies and I expect to be able to make compote out of them and maybe even jam), kept some to eat fresh (although now I am thinking indecent thoughts about this) and FINALLY found a grown-up-tasting jam recipe for the rest!

It's the balsamic strawberry jam from this book, and I didn't get much jam out of it (I made two batches and each yielded two half-pints) but that's ok because what I did get is beautiful - and I got a total of seven half-pints of darkly lustrous balsamic strawberry syrup that is just wonderful - sweet and strawberry-ish, of course, but also with an edge; awesome for mixing with plain yogurt, or seltzer water, or hot whiskey, or putting on top of pancakes. And now I have a go-to recipe for next strawberry season! Victory!