Remember the Simpsons episode where Homer accidentally breeds tobacco and tomatoes, calls the resulting hybrid a Tomacco and gets rich?
Unfortunately, the tomacco, albeit a cartoon invention, was the first thing that came to my mind upon hearing about the stramato.
A hybrid of - you guessed it - a tomato and a strawberry - its inventors are saying that their cocktail tomato" boasts a "beautiful strawberry shape, naturally sweet taste and a rich, deep red color."
Eh - I mean, it sounds good, but did the world really need another cocktail tomato? What was wrong with the old ones? Or just plain ol' cherry, for that matter?
A lot of people have come across an odd shaped piece of food and thought "boy that looks like such and such." We just received a tip about exactly that, and boy is it funny.
Someone found a strawberry that they think looks like the United States. I guess it kind of does, you just have to use your imagination. Where things start to get really funny is this person decided to sell it on Ebay! Not only that, it's up for bid until March 22, though the sales description does say the berry has been frozen.
Bidding starts a just 99 cents, so this interesting piece of fruit could be yours for a bargain. Of course there is the matter of $20 shipping!
I am only mentioning these chocolate covered strawberries from Shari's Berries so that they may serve as inspiration for Super Bowl menus across the country, and not because I think you should buy them. The chocolate covered strawberries decorated as footballs, at almost $50 for a dozen, are way too ridiculously expensive to buy. I mean, really, $50?!?!
Strawberries are probably pretty expensive right now at your grocery store, but they certainly aren't anywhere near $50 for a dozen. Follow instructions for dipping them in chocolate, decorate them yourself as footballs with melted white chocolate, and use that $50 for something else.
Wandering past the mini-farmers market than takes place on Tuesday mornings by Rittenhouse Square, I spotted a basket of rhubarb. It's been nearly a month since I'd seen rhubarb at the market, I had thought it was gone until next spring. But it was there, and at a fairly good price too, so I scooped up a pound to go with the elderly strawberries in my fridge.
I sliced up the fruit and rhubarb and tossed them with a little vanilla-infused sugar and a squirt of lemon juice. While they sat, getting juicy and delicious, I quickly pulled together a topping. I like the topping for crisps to be reminiscent of granola (occasionally I actually just use granola if I'm in a hurry and have it around) and so I dumped approximately a cup and a half of rolled oats into a bowl (I do not measure for things like this). I added a cup of chopped pecans, a sprinkling of cinnamon and nutmeg, a bit of light brown sugar and half a stick of softened butter. I used a pastry blender just to break down the butter a bit and finished combining it all with my fingers.
I transferred the fruit from bowl to baking dish and evenly distributed the oat/nut/sugar/butter mixture across the top. It went into the oven for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees, until the fruit was tender and the nuts were toasted. It was delicious hot, but it is even better for breakfast, straight out of the fridge, with a scoop of plain yogurt along side.
Del Monte's brand new Fruit Chillers line is sure to be a hit with both kids (and adults) this summer, even though it is a little on the cold side right now in most parts of the country. The Chillers are individual sorbet cups, but there are a couple of things that set them apart from the average individually portioned kids dessert. The first, and most important, thing is that they are made with real fruit purees, rather than concentrated juices that have artificial colorings and flavors added to them. In fact, there are no artificial flavors in them at all and they contain 100% of the recommended daily value of vitamin C (150% in the mango flavor) and 3/4 serving of fruit, based on the nutrition pyramid. The other interesting thing about these is that they are not found in the frozen foods section of the grocery store. They are packed sealed and unfrozen, so you can simply pop them in the freezer before you are ready to eat them. The Chillers are fat free and contain about 190 calories per 4.5-ounce serving.
I noticed a comment where someone said they were looking for Bonomo's Turkish Taffy. It is a chewy, long-lasting bar candy bar that popped up around World War II and was popular not only because it tasted good, but because it was inexpensive and most kids could afford it. "Turkish Taffy" was not taffy, nor was it Turkish. The "taffy" was really a type of nougat, a mixture of egg whites and corn syrup that was whipped together and then baked. The baking gave the product a distinctively hard texture, so that it could be broken into shards if kept cold, but melted into a wonderful chew in your mouth. The original flavor was vanilla, but by the 1960s it also came in chocolate, strawberry and banana. In 1980, the company sold to Tootsie Roll Industries and, in 1989, production ceased.
Bonomo's is no more, but Old Time Candy carries a similar product called French Chew. It is long lasting, chewy, melts in your mouth and shatters when cold, just like Bonomo's did. It also comes in the same four flavors as the original product. Since we can't get the original for a side-by-side comparison, it's hard to say if they're really the same, but they are very similar candies, so you won't go wrong with the French Chew if you're looking for a taffy fix.
I always wonder how restaurant pancakes turn out so much lovelier than my home-cooked efforts. No doubt a large griddle surface and an industrial-sized spatula is the key to making such massive pancakes, and my home cook-surface is more limited. Ah well, I can always drive fifteen minutes down the road and have a fresh stack of these lovelies from my favorite breakfast hangout, the Monument Cafe. They're thick buttermilk pancakes filled with a smattering of sliced strawberries and whole blueberries. Quite delightful!
The interesting thing about LightFull Smoothies is that they're designed to be filling, while other smoothie drinks are usually designed to deliver a few servings of fruit, or a richer alternative to juice - not to fill you up. As a result, you can drink an ordinary smoothie, still be hungry, and oftentimes, worse off than before because of all the sugar. This is not likely to happen with LightFull. All of the smoothies are made with natural ingredients. They are sweetened with fruit purees and a tiny amount of sugar, as well as other natural sweeteners like erythritol, which is naturally found in grapes, pears, melons. Each smoothie has 6 grams of protein and 5 or 6 grams of fiber, which is at least 20% of your recommended daily intake. They also only have 90-100 calories each, and almost no fat (0-1g, depending on flavor), so you can indulge in each delicious flavor without any guilt - just the fact that you're doing something good for your body that happens to taste better than you expected.
Cafe Latte - Two thumbs up!
Nicole: This was my favorite flavor. It had a very smooth, creamy coffee taste that was slightly sweet and had none of the bitterness that coffee-flavored drinks often have. I had to drink it slowly, though, because it was much more filling than any blended coffee drink I can remember.
Sarah: Of the four flavors, I liked this one the most as well, but that might also be a personal bias toward all things coffee.
According to Jim Joseph, PhD, a USDA Scientist and co-author of this study, "Adding strawberries and blueberries to the diet may help preserve learning and motor skills as we age." Strawberries and blueberries are rich in antioxidants that help protect against such damage. Additional research showed strawberries ranked third overall in anti-oxidant contant, behind blackberries and walnuts.
I love strawberries simply washed and eaten raw, but here are a few suggestions:
This summery strawberry pie is one of the entries in this month's Does My Blog Look Good in This? photography competition (as are a couple other pictures that have been featured as food porn here). The pie is from Rachael, at Fresh Approach Cooking, and is an absolutely fantastic way to put fresh berries to good use. There are two tricks to making a pie with summer berries: (1) double bake the crust so it has a chance to firm up and (2) use a thick crust. No matter how much sugar you add to gel the berries together, good ones always create a juicy filling and the thicker the crust, the more of it will stay crisp and flakey. It will also be able to support the individual slices of pie, rather than falling apart on your plate. The pie will still taste good if it falls apart and, as a tip to file away for serving, a generous scoop of whipped cream will hide a multitude of sins.
Update: Bonus pie photo - the uncut version - after the jump!
I have had strawberry shortcakes that look like this before and, while the tall cake is pretty, it almost never tastes as good as it looks. Diners spend too much time emphasizing the look of the cake over the flavor. I much prefer the biscuit style of strawberry shortcakes, like the one pictured here from Di's Kitchen. I love the way a slightly buttery crumbly scone-like cake is paired with juicy strawberries and sweet cream. The flavors and textures come together perfectly as the cake soaks up the strawberry juices and the whole thing becomes a lovely summertime treat. One of the best things about it is that it takes a relatively small amount of time to make, since the biscuit component is done in minutes and can be made ahead. Instead of whipped cream, I prefer to top my strawberry shortcakes with a blend of sweetened mascarpone cream, but if you have good berries, you can't go wrong.
If, by some chance, you don't have good berries, check out these strawberry puddings for some alternative uses.
I have been disappointed with the strawberries I've had this season, which were adversely affected some rather unpleasant weather patterns and a tremendous amount of rain here in California. Consequently, I've been looking for ways to use up the less-than-satisfying berries when I buy them in a fit of optimism. Cooked into cakes or muffins, they actually taste much better than fresh, due to the support from additional sugar. Next time I have some around, I'm definitely going to try the Baked Strawberry Pudding from Cookbook 411. It looks like a light, delicious pudding cake with strawberry puree as the base. Summery, simple and elegant - sign me up! You can get the recipe here.
In the Pacific Northwest, there's a place called Burgerville. The beef is always free-range and the salads always sport local hazelnuts. But nothing compares to you, seasonal fresh strawberry milkshake. And nothing says summer is coming! like a strawberry milkshake sparkling, dripping in the sunlight as you pull away from the drivethrough. Ahhhh ... life is good here in Portland.
If the gummy bacon that Candy Addict and Slashfood have posted about in the past just isn't enough for you, now there's also a gummy t-bone steak. According to a post on Candy Addict, the steak is strawberry-flavored, like it's gummy pork cousin. I think what impresses me is that this thing weighs in at almost a quarter of a pound. Obviously it's no 13-pound gummy bear, but still, it's about the same size (not weight) as a small filet. If only someone would have the guts to make gummy that actually tasted like meat. The shrink-wrapped styrofoam tray is a nice touch too.
In the market, sometimes you win and sometime you lose when you are picking out a new product
to try. The Strawberry Yogurt O's from Trader Joe's, unfortunately, fall into that later category. I am a big fan of
their other O's, both the plain and the honey-nut. They are light and flavorful and the honey variety has a fantastic
honey taste. These, on the other hand, are small and dense, with little to remind the eater of the delicious taste
of the other O's cereals. Instead of tasting vaguely oaty, they taste like whole wheat flour.
Their release can be attributed to the popularity of other yogurt-flavored cereals, but these don't have
as much to recommend them. Other brands are very sweet, a fact that is often the primary criticism of them. The
Strawberry O's themselves are not very sweet at all, any sugar overpowered by the wheat flavor. The yogurt covered
freeze-dried strawberries, on the other hand, are incredibly sweet, with a hint of salt underneath and the
non-yogurt covered berries were tart, making a strange contrast to the rest of the cereal.
Will I buy them again? No, but there is potential in these. All Trader Joe's has to do is add the yogurt flavoring
to their standard O's and ditch the whole wheat ones.
Have you ever stashed a Coke in the freezer, hoping to chill it quickly, then forgotten all about it, only to have it explode all over your frozen peas?
Remember the Simpsons episode where Homer accidentally breeds tobacco and tomatoes, calls the resulting hybrid a Tomacco and gets rich? 
A lot of people have come across an odd shaped piece of food and thought "boy that looks like such and such." We just received a tip about exactly that, and boy is it funny. 
I am only mentioning these 
I noticed a comment where someone said they were looking for 
The interesting thing about 
Well, we haven't heard anything bad about strawberries before, but it's always good to hear something good, nonetheless.
If the gummy bacon that 
In the market, sometimes you win and sometime you lose when you are picking out a new product
to try. The Strawberry Yogurt O's from Trader Joe's, unfortunately, fall into that later category. I am a big fan of
their other O's, both the plain and the honey-nut. They are light and flavorful and the honey variety has a fantastic
honey taste. These, on the other hand, are small and dense, with little to remind the eater of the delicious taste
of the other O's cereals. Instead of tasting vaguely oaty, they taste like whole wheat flour.
A fraking amazing Battlestar Galactica cake
Iced Tea 101
Pierogies + cheese + onions + kraut = Parmageddon!
