OPEN! Return to regular days, awesome customer recipes

Hi gang!

OPEN, OPEN, OPEN today. It's the return of our regular days! We'll be out there Fri, Sat, Sun, and Mon. Whew..... I'll have to take a nap on Tues LOLOL I'm expecting the berries to be really red, ripe and juicy.

The weather has been just perfect for slow ripening and sugar building. You should seriously be thinking about squirreling some away for the winter months (if you haven't already). The berries are superb over pancakes, in smoothies, and for jam even when they've been frozen. If you're really smart you'll puree what you need first, seal in your containers and take out just what you need all winter.

Here are a couple of recipes as promised. They are kitchen tested by some of our very own berry customers (really nice ones I might add).

Cheers!

Sally Strawberry

Open 12:00 - 5:30/6:00 or sold out daily,
Closed Tuesday/Thursday

STRAWBERRY BRUSCHETTA

Measurements depend on what size bread you have and what you like. So use your own judgement.

Italian or French bread or other good crusty bread
Mild soft cheese - we like Stilton with Apricots from Trader Joe's but you could also try Brie or others.
Sally's strawberries, sliced
Sugar
Olive oil or butter

Grill bread either in a panini machine or in a skillet with a little olive oil or butter.* Grill LIGHTLY, you'll be broiling it next. Top the grilled bread with the cheese and sliced strawberries. Sprinkle a little sugar on top. Put under the broiler on LOW for about a minute or two. Keep an eye on it as it can burn quickly! Take out of oven the minute when the edges turn golden brown. Wait a few minutes to let it cool before eating.

*I guess you could also lightly toast the bread if you are in a hurry!

My husband Alan makes this special treat on weekends. He found a recipe online long ago and tweaked it - adding the cheese for a little extra tang.

Enjoy!

From .......Barbara Ginsberg


From ........ Lynn & Co.

We use Guittard chocolate, dark 72%. You can't order it online directly from Guittard, but we have found some small boxes in grocery stores (like United Market, but NOT at G&G the last time I checked). The stuff we have found in stores is NOT as high a percentage of dark, it's usually more like 50% or so, but will still work. This only means it is sweeter chocolate. I like the more bittersweet chocolate because it lets you taste the sweetness of the strawberries without overwhelming you with chocolate.

I have also gone to specialty chocolate stores and asked them to sell me "bulk" chocolate pieces if they use Guittard. It comes either in the form of large "chips" or huge chunk blocks, but can be expensive. Because your strawberries are so incredible, I wouldn't use ANY other chocolate. Most "baking" chocolate you find in grocery stores will do your strawberries no justice at all. If you have the right chocolate, you will taste the strawberries first, and have a wonderful, mild aftertaste of the chocolate second. If you use those crappy store-bought strawberries, I would use the sweeter store chocolate to mask the bitterness of the strawberries.

I am sure there are fancy, professional ways of melting chocolate. I don't know or use any of them. I take a regular (medium-large) sauce pan, and fill it 1/2 - 2/3 full of water and bring it to a boil. I leave it on a low, rolling boil the entire time. I then take a small METAL mixing bowl and set it directly on top of the sauce pan. It needs to be bigger than the opening of the pan so it sits on top and doesn't fall in. I suppose a double boiler would work just the same, but I don't have one and have never used one.

Make sure you use a pot holder or something to steady the mixing bowl because it will get REALLY hot on that pot of boiling water. Dump your chocolate in the mixing bowl and slowly stir/mix the chocolate as it melts, using a spatula to work the sides back down into the melted mess of chocolate. Oh yeah, this can potentially be a very messy ordeal, so be prepared. Wear dark, old clothes because dark chocolate can be hard to get out of clothes. You should be able to tell when the chocolate is melted, just keep stirring with the spatula on occasion to keep it from burning.

Then carefully tip the mixing bowl (PLEASE use a pot holder) at a slight angle while it's still on the pot of water, and dip your strawberries. I usually have a baking sheet covered with parchment paper ready and RIGHT next to the stove. As you transfer the dipped strawberries to the sheet, you can sometimes lose a drip or two. Just set them on the sheet and space them however you wish. Once we are out of strawberries to dip, we dip just about everything else to use up whatever chocolate is left (i.e., marshmallows, blueberries, graham crackers, etc...).

Once your baking sheet is covered up, CAREFULLY put it in the fridge (don't tip it or it will all slide off onto the floor - this isn't pleasant and takes FOREVER to clean up). An hour or so usually does the trick, sometimes longer. Just taste something and see if it works. I usually put the marshmallows or crackers in a Ziplock and store at room temperature. The rest stays in the fridge. Because your strawberries are fresh and perfect, they will last overnight dipped in the fridge, but really need to be eaten soon, so I wouldn't recommend doing this DAYS in advance of your need for them, but rather the day before or the day of the planned consumption.