I changed my mind about boycotting strawberries
You have all read here about the sabotaged strawberries with sewing needles being found in them.
In our newspapers there have been photos showing billions of yummy berries being dumped and buried by front end loaders. Such a waste ☹☹
Anyway- another article a day or so later was titled "Cut them up-don't cut them out" and the minute I read that title I realised how silly I was denying myself the yumminess of these sweet, sweet strawberries, because I DO cut them up.
I always have.
stir in the chopped strawberries and breakfast is served 😃
In our newspapers there have been photos showing billions of yummy berries being dumped and buried by front end loaders. Such a waste ☹☹
Anyway- another article a day or so later was titled "Cut them up-don't cut them out" and the minute I read that title I realised how silly I was denying myself the yumminess of these sweet, sweet strawberries, because I DO cut them up.
I always have.
this is about a half the punnet
here's the other half, all chopped up
in another bowl, a little Greek yoghurt,
a little too much honey, mix well,
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I do cut them up too but I would never have thought to use an egg slicer to do it as some are suggesting on The Facebook. So I will do that from now on, and in fact I am going to do that right now, a well timed post there River, just in time for my dessert. ;) I will have it with high protein yoghurt from Aldi.
ReplyDeleteSnoskred; I just use my favourite knife, can't be bothered looking for the egg slicer I know I have somewhere.
DeleteI've not stopped buying strawberries. Actually, I've increased the quantity of my purchasing. I've been buying stacks of them. I always do during strawberry season, but this season because of the despicable actions of some fools in society, I purposely increased the amounts. I've been buying 8 punnets, and more, per week.
ReplyDeleteNo clowns are going to stop me from eating them.
Lee; very sensible of you. I wish I had realised earlier that I was missing out for no reason. Eight punnets a week would be to much for me dollar-wise, but I will increase my purchases as far as the budget will allow. As for the dumping of all those berries, people here have been writing in to the editorial pages wondering why they weren't instead bought up by whoever does that for strawberry wine or jam?
DeleteR insisted we buy strawberries last Saturday, to support farmers and they were cheap. As I always do, I washed them, hulled them and cut them in half. No needles found. I put them in a bowl with a tablespoon of castor sugar over them, and a lovely juice happened. They went to the back of the fridge, but today I remembered them and ate half the strawberries, with cream. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteAndrew; I remember doing that too, the sugar/juice was delicious. I like the idea of supporting our farmers. I did the same by buying extra sweet mustard pickles for sandwiches when our local Spring Gully company was in financial trouble.
DeleteDid they ever find out how the needles were getting into the strawberries? and of course, simply slice them to check for needles. I'm sure if that suggestion was given out there still would be people NOT doing it and getting impaled on the a needle. Some folks just don't listen. Enjoy your strawberries!
ReplyDeleteGrace; no culprit has yet been found, but a few people who did it themselves and then complained hoping to get a compensation payout have been caught out by police and now have court dates pending. The strawberries are very delicious this season.
DeleteExcellent solution, and yes, I think they are usually cut up anyway except maybe for chocolate dipping.
ReplyDeleteI thought those kinds of a-holes were only in our country, I guess it is a universal mental illness.
joeh; even for chocolate dipping they can be cut in half. There are food crazies everywhere trying to cripple either people or companies.
DeleteIf I liked strawberries, I would buy them to support farmers. When the bastids are found out, justice will be swift.
ReplyDeleteJoanne; I really hope the culprits are found soon and punished quite severely. and after that, they should be made to crawl around in the strawberry fields planting new runners. Under supervision of course.
DeleteI always cut them up. For some strange reason they keep better.
ReplyDeleteonly slightly confused; I don't know about the keeping better part. Around here we cut them and eat them, there's no keeping.
DeleteWe like them plain, and the boys dip them in sugar. There used to be a big strawberry business across from the bowling alley. They'd ride you out on a trailer pulled by a tractor, and you could pick all you wanted. My mom would get a couple of flats, and used them to make freezer jam. I have no idea how to do that, but picking strawberries was fun. And solves the tampering problem.
ReplyDeleteVal; I like them plain too, but for breakfast a bit of yoghurt adds protein and calcium. I used to dip them in sugar, well, actually I'd cut them up, sprinkle with caster sugar and stir well, then let them sit a half hour or so, but that would be the first berries of the season which weren't always as sweet as I'd like. People here are being encouraged to visit the strawberry farms and pick for themselves too. Many already do and have done for years, it's a family tradition for them.
DeleteWould somebody please tell this ignorant American what punnets is/are? Anyway, I feel so bad that all those berries are being dumped. I, too, would buy as many as I could and make a nice strawberry jam to have with scones or biscuits .
ReplyDeletePunnets are the containers the strawberries are packed in for sale, Peace Thyme...see site below....
Deletehttp://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-18/punnets-of-strawberries/7763150
Peace Thyme; Lee is quicker off the mark than me I was busy eating my strawberries and yoghurt breakfast after sleeping late this morning. Usually a punnet holds 250grams of strawberries but in recent years larger punnets holding 500 grams have been on the market also.
DeleteI heard about this and don't understand why someone do this. Well some people are just jerks
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on
peppylady (Dora); there are far too many of these jerks in my opinion. Food should not be tampered with.
DeleteWe have been eating strawberries here too. And always cut them up. No problems detected. The idiots have also targeted mangoes and apples in some places.
ReplyDeleteElephant's Child; I'm rather sad and cross with myself for missing out on several weeks of yumminess, but I'm making up for it now. Can you believe some idiots are doing it in their own homes and trying to falsely claim compensation? I've heard about needles in bananas too, but I always cut them up into yoghurt and if I want to eat one whole, I'll inspect the skin very closely for needle marks.
DeleteThat seems like a sensible solution to a nasty problem. Just don't understand what makes some people tick.
ReplyDeleteArkansas Patti; it's very sensible and I wish more people had thought of it instead of just boycotting. I felt quite silly about my little boycott.
DeleteGlad to hear that you’ve come up with a solution and can still have your delightful berries.
ReplyDeletemessymimi; I just wish I'd remembered earlier that I always cut my strawberries anyway, then I wouldn't have missed out on a few weeks of deliciousness. On the other hand, many supermarkets did pull them all off the shelves in the first panic so there weren't any to be bought for a while.
DeleteI always cut up our strawberries and sometimes even mash them to put on toast . . . but our grandsons eat them whole so I can see how someone could get hurt. But as you say, the solution is simple. I hope the strawberry growers can gain back lost ground.
ReplyDelete