Strawberries

We own 125 acres on the Sweeney Rd. Though most is wetlands and woods, we garden as much of it as we can! I am including 2 family strawberry recipes. One from the kid's great-grandmother, the other from their great-great-grandmother (respectively).

Deluxe Strawberry Pie

9" pie crust:

• 2 c. flour and sprinkle of salt
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/4 cup milk.

1. Mix gently
2. Roll between wax paper

Filling:

• 4 cups fresh berries - washed and hulled
• 3 Tbl. corn starch
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking pdr
• 3 drops red food coloring
• 1 9" baked pie shell (recipe follows)

Directions:

1. Spread 2 cups berries over bottom of pie shell.
2. Mash or cup up remaining berries.
3. Add sugar, cornstarch, baking powder and mix well.
4. Place over low heat, bring to boil slowly, reduce heat and cool, stirring constantly. Add food coloring.
5. Then pour over raw berries in shell. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
6. Garnish with sweetened sour cream or whipped cream.
   

Warranted Canned Strawberries

1. Put four pounds white sugar in a kettle, add a teacup cold water, let boil till perfectly clear
2. Add four quarts nice berries.
3. Boil ten minutes, keeping them covered with syrup, but avoid stirring in order to preseve their good appearance.
4. Take out berries with a small strainer or skimmer, place in jars and let the syrup boil ten minutes longer, then pour it over the berries when cool, putting a tablespoon of good brandy on top of each jar.

This method is the only means of preserving the peculiar flavor of the strawberries. This does make an excellent syrup for pancakes, yogurt, etc. You would want to use a modern canning method to seal jars, or this can be frozen.

Diane Romlein, Potsdam NY

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Treasure in the Grass

No one had ever pointed the plants out to me, so I told no one I was eating them, crouching down in the tall grass, hidden from view, carefully removing my prize and putting them in my mouth, feeling wicked and naughty because I was not washing them. As a small girl, there was a field near my house on Wellesley Island that I would creep through in the summer, legs bare, spittle bugs smearing on my skin, on the hunt for my secret summer treat…teeny, tiny, juicy, heart-shaped, wild strawberries, perfect for small hands and mouths. When I was picking wildflowers, I would show uncommon restraint by avoiding the pretty little white flowers with yellow specks, wanting the sweet fruit that was to come instead of the brief beauty of a stolen flower. The strawberries could never fill up my stomach, and the thrill of feeding myself from the earth kept me always searching for one more, just one more. Recently I went back, longing for a pea-sized strawberry or two, only to find my field now kept shorn, my memories mowed down and mulched, just a few hearty, sneaky plants around the edges, the renegade strawberries almost, but not quite, to small to taste.

Meredith L. Sullivan

 North Country Food Book page


Adam and Daniel Romlein are the youngest of 5 children belonging to Donald and Diane Romlein. This is part of their proud strawberry harvest from the family garden. Adam is 9, Daniel is 15. This same year, Daniel became the National Jr. Horticulture Champion. They love to garden and learn and care for plants.



This is the way kids like to have birthday cakes look:messy, gooey, and lots of added pieces of sugar stuffs. Adam Romlein is celebrating his 9th birthday.