Fresh, frozen, sun-dried, freeze-dried, jelly, jam, milk, ice cream, fruit leather, syrup... strawberries are sweet, a treat, and fun to eat!

A great source of vitamin C, strawberries are a special food with some surprises hidden under their green tops.

The small freckles on the outside of the fruit are commonly referred to as the seeds, yet an individual strawberry is botanically called an aggregate accessory fruit or a collection of small fruits. Each of those small dimples is called an achene, or an individual fruit containing a single seed. This 2-minute video provides a little more information about what this means, and this additional short video gives details of how strawberries grow.

Nourishing Literacy's video, Strawberries Are Our Jam!, shares book, cooking, and craft ideas. What fruit-themed books, recipes, and crafts do you enjoy?

A special thank you to Leslie Walker for joining us in celebrating one of her favorite foods. 

Gabby's Quick Jam Recipe

Ingredients    

• 12 to 15 strawberries fresh or frozen (1 pint or 2 cups)
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, or juice from ½ lemon
• Small amount of water, as needed

Kitchen Utensils and Tools     

• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Butter knife
• Cutting board
• Fork
• Bowl
• Small or medium sauce pot
• Large spoon
• Potholder

Instructions     

1. Remove the tops from the strawberries. To do this, use a butter knife, push the knife into the fruit, where the leaves are attached. Move the knife around in a circle, cutting the fruit around the leaves. The leafy top can be pulled off.
    
2. Mash the strawberries in a bowl using a fork.
    
3. Add all ingredients to the pot, with a tablespoon of water. 
    
4. Cook ingredients over a low temperature and stir occasionally until the ingredients become thickened and look like jam. Add a little more water if needed to help the mixture have an even consistency while it cooks.
    
5. Eat and enjoy!

Handmade Greeting Cards

Shayna's method for making strawberry-inspired cards can be applied to any fruit, vegetable, or shape.

Materials

What materials do you have available? The following list can be used or you can use substitutions that reflect what you have on hand!

• Light-colored paper or brown paper grocery bag
• Pencil or pen
• Markers, colored pencils, crayons, and/or watercolors (optional)
• Scissors (optional)
• Fabric, paper, and/or old magazines in different colors (optional)
• Glue (optional)
• Black permanent marker (optional)

Instructions

1. Create your card shapes using light colored paper or a brown paper grocery bag. This can be done by cutting out rectangles or squares with scissors. Card shapes can also be created by folding the paper back and forth to make a crease for tearing a straight line.
    
2. Create your strawberries! Strawberries often are wide at the top, and come to a point at the bottom, like an upside-down triangle.
   
   If using writing supplies:
   Draw upside-down triangles wherever you would like the strawberries to be on your card. These are your strawberries! Draw a crown or a thin rectangle shape directly on top of each upside-down triangle. These are your strawberry tops! If markers, colored pencils, watercolors, or crayons are available, fill in your upside-down triangles with red, pink, or whatever color you would like your strawberries to be. Fill in your tops with green, turquoise, or whatever color you would like your strawberry tops to be.
   
   If using fabric, paper and/or old magazines:
   Find the material(s) that you would like to be your strawberries and the material(s) that you would like to be your strawberry tops. Cut triangles to be your strawberries, and cut crowns or thin rectangles to be your strawberry tops. Try to make the width of the strawberry tops as similar to the widest part of the strawberries as possible. Glue your strawberries and strawberry tops wherever you would like them on your card.
    
3. Optional step: add strawberry seeds! Add speckles of strawberry seeds to your strawberries using a black permanent marker or any other writing tool or material that works for you.
    
4. Write a card to someone who you appreciate!              

Nourishing Literacy offers food, literacy, wellness, and life skills activities and events to community members, with our core audience being the children, youth, teachers, and caregivers. Nourishing Literacy is made possible in part by a generous grant from the Edna G. Kynett Memorial Foundation.

To learn more about the Culinary Literacy Center, please visit our website or connect with us through Instagram and Facebook.