Here are a couple fun, simple ways to use strawberries fresh in season, if you can manage to save enough from being eaten directly from the box or patch. Ingredients in bold are available at market.
Oven Pancake with Strawberries
This quick & easy recipe is very much like the oven pancake with vegetables from a couple of weeks ago. You’ll want to serve it straight from the oven while the pancake is still a little puffy, so have the toppings and people ready at the table.
Ingredients:
* 2-4 cups strawberries, sliced (or other fresh fruit in season)
* 1-2 T. honey, optional
* 2 T. butter
* 1 1/2 cups milk
* 3 eggs
* 3/4 cup flour
* 2-4 T. honey
* 1/4 tsp. salt
*1/4 tsp. vanilla
*1/4 tsp. nutmeg, optional
*plain yogurt for topping, optional
Directions:
Prepare fruit by tossing with 1-2 T. honey and set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Melt butter in 9-inch pie pan or cast iron skillet in heating oven, tilt pan to grease bottom and sides.
In blender (or with whisk in bowl), whirl together milk, eggs, flour, honey, salt, vanilla, nutmeg.
Pour batter into pan and bake 25-30 minutes, until middle is set, puffed and golden.
Serve immediately to eager eaters, topping with berries and yogurt
– Adapted by Kris Shank Zehr from recipe in Simply in Season.
Strawberry Shortcake
I have fond memories of late May suppers comprised entirely of this strawberry shortcake and nothing else. Crispy-edged biscuits broken into bowls, heaped high with juicy berries fresh from our garden, doused in cold milk — all we could eat for one glorious evening. Now I prefer topping with fresh whipped cream or even yogurt, so choose your topping and enjoy!
If you have limited quantities of berries and eaters prone to scooping large amounts without thinking, serve up a bowl of berries whole with stems on and let your table folk cut them up straight into their own bowls.
Ingredients:
* 2 cups flour (I use whole wheat pastry flour)
* 2 T. sugar
* 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
* 1 tsp. salt
* 1/3 cup butter
* 1 cup milk
* strawberries, sliced and sweetened if you wish
* milk, whipped cream or yogurt , for topping
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter (with your fingers if you want) to small bits. Stir in milk until all flour is incorporated. Dollop large spoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheets, allowing plenty of room for biscuits to spread, about 2-3 inches between each. (Don’t use air-bake cookie sheets — the biscuits won’t brown and crisp nicely underneath.) Bake for 12-15 minutes, until edges are golden and crispy. Serve while warm with sliced strawberries and milk, whipped cream or yogurt. Makes 8-12 biscuits, depending on size.
Option:
You can use buttermilk, sour milk or plain yogurt in place of milk. Decrease baking powder to 1 1/2 tsp. and add 1/4 tsp. baking soda.
Got questions about food? Feel free to email me at shankzehr@yahoo.com
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Occasionally we all see something that just must be celebrated… Last Tuesday when I got to the Market Sarah Hege of North Mountain Produce, and her baby daughter, Kezaih were visiting with Calvin Baker. Calvin is officially retired from the Market, but still shows up when he can. I simply had to get the camera out, and as I looked at the picture later, I realized how much I value the parts of the Market that are not for sale; the connections, the community, the history, the values. I see hope for the future reflected in tiny Keziah’s face and the gentle wisdom of the ages etched in Calvin’s. There is much we can take from both of these perspectives. It is my hope that we at the Market can do our part to ensure a better future for our children and grandchildren by letting wisdom and compassion guide us as we move into the future along with the Community that we serve. 
Harrisonburg Farmers Market 