I make a lot of rules for my own life, but I can’t always live up to them. For example, I don’t buy strawberries in January. Strawberries are lovely and delicious picked under the late June sun, but the ones you get in the frosty mid-winter months just don’t measure up. So why waste your money. (sigh) Yesterday, the strawberries just looked so beautiful and red and luscious I was suckered into to buying a quart. After all, it is hard, trying to live by the rules all the time.
I bought them from a wonderful wholesale distributor near my house so it wasn’t just the top berries that looked good – they were beautiful all the way down to the bottom layer in the box. The only problem was the taste. Ach! Closer to lemon than any bright red berry should ever be.
So here’s what I did:
Cut the tops of the berries, and cut them into quarters (the long way).
Added 1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons Grand Marnier
I mixed it up thoroughly and then left it sitting on the kitchen counter while we ate our dinner. Every time I walked by I’d give it a little stir.
By dessert time, these berries were coated in a sweet and delicious sauce. I filled up a bowl with chocolate ice cream and smothered it in berries and sauce and it was truly fantastic. Somehow the liquer and the sugar and the berry juice had combined into an amazingly delicious sauce that was not screaming any one particular flavor… I couldn’t really tell that all that orange brandy was in there… all I knew was that I felt like licking my bowl when I finished.
Now, I’m not planning on buying anymore berries this winter – after all it is counter to my own rules for living, but at least now, if I should happen to stumble I’ll know what to do with those sour berries that looked so great when I was standing in the produce aisle.
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