BC Strawberries U-Picking Right at The Farm

Is there anything better than fresh strawberries? Well there’s a few things that come close, like fresh strawberry waffles, strawberry cake, strawberry sauce for pork chops and strawberry jam! But the whole process of picking your own strawberries out at the farm is really where it’s at.

Strawberries came early this year and we had to act quickly to ensure we got our share. There’s still lots out there, but they won’t last for long! There’s always the later crop too should you miss out on the first one. Sometimes the everbearing even go until October.

The BC Strawberry Growers Association has 13 participating in their get fresh campaign this year, and they’ve got a great contest where you can win some very cool prizes.

1. Take a photo with BC strawberries! (on the farms, in a restaurant, at home)
2. Post your photo to your favourite social network using #bcstrawberries
3. Verify your social media entry here. http://enter.bcstrawberries.com/

This past weekend we headed out to the farm to pick some strawberries of our own and I’ve been creating a few items with our loot! Gotta love this Honda Civic Coupe, we even passed the very same one on the road and waved! Thanks for the sweet ride Honda Canada!

After fueling up on strawberry waffles and sampling some strawberry wine, we headed out into the fields.

My pals Mary Sheridan from Van Bits and Bites, and my pal Tess , joined me! Amazing ladies that made for a super fun super fun day as we also visited several wineries in the area, a cidery and a cookshop for some cooking supplies. More on the whole experience in another post.

Strawberry Sauce for BBQ Pork Chops

1 cup strawberries, sliced
½ cup balsamic vinegar
4 garlic cloves, minced;
1/4 of a large red onion
1/8 cup of olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 pork chops

Brine Pork in a mixture of 1/3 cup salt to 3 cups water for an hour or so.
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium-high heat, and cook the garlic and onions for 4 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds or so.
Add the balsamic vinegar and ½ cup of the sliced strawberries, and bring to a boil. Puree in blender.
Marinate the pork in half the sauce for 3 hours.
Preheat BBQ and BBQ pork chops until just done. So easy to overcook so be careful. I’m not giving specific times as all BBQ’s and pork chop sizes will vary.

Reheat the remainder of the sauce and add the other 1/2 cup of strawberries and serve over pork.

Another use for strawberries? Cupcakes. We spotted these at Well Seasoned.