We go through a lot of strawberries. Hubs is sent to work with fruit to accompany his lunch. This time of year it’s strawberries and blueberries. In the cooler months it’s homemade applesauce. I’ve found there are two ways to keep strawberries fresh and not rot in the plastic container. Either you roast them (I KNOW!), or wash them with a vinegar-water bath. I put one cup of vinegar in a bowl with three cups of cold water. I pull out any that are already rotting. I let the berries sit in the vinegar-water bath, as I slosh them around gently.  The vinegar kills the spores and bacteria. After about 5 minutes I drain and rinse the berries. I put them on a paper-toweled line baking sheet. Pat them dry and let them air dry on the counter for a bit. I wash and line the plastic container with a paper towel and put the strawberries back in the container and put into the fridge. It really does work.  Don’t worry, there is no vinegar flavor, as long as you rinse them well.

My new way of “preserving” these delicious nuggets is to roast them. They are amazing. I put them over store-bought meringue cookies. I ran out of time to make my own meringues. I should have bought some Brigham’s vanilla ice cream. They would be so wonderful on top of ice cream. Sigh.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Cut one pound of strawberries into quarters, if they are large, or halves if they are smaller. In a medium-sized bowl, toss the strawberries with a scant 1/2 cup of granulated sugar. Each time I’ve made these, they have come out differently. I used a heaping 1/2 cup of sugar with very ripe berries. I kept adding strawberries because it was too sweet. This led to the strawberries bubbling up and leaking under the parchment paper. There was a delicious gooey mess to scrape off the pan. The second time the berries were smaller and not as ripe. I used a 1/4 cup of sugar, and lined the pan with foil and parchment paper. The berries weren’t as juicy and could have used a little more sugar. This is why I suggest a scant 1/2 cup.  Nothing ever turns out like they show online!

Arrange the strawberries in an even layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment, and if you are not daring, aluminum foil.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes. The berries will release a beautiful red juice. Cool  slightly and then transfer to a container. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate in a covered container.

Enjoy!