Why I won’t can whole strawberries again

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     When I am able to get strawberries at a good price, I am always happy because I love strawberries.  This past week, surprisingly, our local Kroger grocery store had strawberries for .47 per 1 pound basket.  Of course I bought some.  There was a limit of 5 baskets, which would be plenty for a good batch of jam, or to freeze some.  I have so much jam that I need to use before I add more to the mix and I toyed with freezing them for smoothies, but then I saw a few posts from people about canning them.  I thought it seemed like a good idea because If my freezer or electricity were to go out, I would lose frozen strawberries or have to use them up really quickly.  Besides, I've canned blackberries before and they turned out great!  Well....
      I went ahead and canned my 5 lbs of strawberries and sadly the result wasn't as good as I had hoped.

     Here is the process that I used to can them.  If you are more successful at canning strawberries than I have been, please tell me your secrets after you read what I did.

• Clean nice, ripe, firm strawberries and take off the stems.
• Blanch the strawberries in boiling water for 1 minute.  Apparently this removes some of the air and helps them stay firmer(?).
• Sugar the strawberries with about 1 cup of sugar and toss them in it.  Let them sit for at least 6 hours so that they will generate their juices to be able to can them in it.
• If there isn't enough juice, (there wasn't), do not use water because it will dilute the flavor.  Try adding a bottled juice to fill out the amount that you will need.   I used a strawberry-white cranberry juice.  I mixed it with the actual strawberry juice and it tasted very good. Also add 2 Tablespoons of bottled lemon juice to kick up the acidity.
• Pack your jars tightly with the strawberries, as they will shrink.  
• Cover the strawberries with the juice mixture, leaving 1/2" head space. 
• Wipe the rims, put on the rings and water bath can for 30 min. 

       My jars sealed perfectly.  From 5 pounds of strawberries, I canned 3 quarts and 1 pint.  
      Immediately, I saw the strawberry color had gone a mushy looking white.  I was sad.  But, I thought that maybe they would taste better than they would look.   So, I opened a jar.  They seemed mushy, so I didn't want to eat one plain.  I'm weird like that.  I decided to make a smoothie.  Here is what I put in it:

     ​Canned Strawberry Smoothie

4 Ice cubes
5 spinach leaves
1 banana
1/2 quart bottle of canned strawberries, juice and all. 
1/2 cup vanilla homemade yogurt
Honey or sugar to taste, or just leave it out.
 
​Whirr it all up in the blender!

     Normally, when I make a smoothie with strawberries, it looks red in the end.  This time, the spinach overtook the strawberries, and even the 1 banana flavor was more prominent.  It tasted pretty good, just not like I was hoping.  

     The other half of the jar of strawberries is sitting in my fridge.  I'd better make another smoothie because I don't think anyone else will look at them and chose to eat them.  Luckily there will be only 2 jars to go after this jar is gone.  I gave the quart jar to my granddaughter, Emily,  because she helped me can them.  Lindsey says that maybe they will make a good pancake topping.  I am dubious because of the color thing.  Maybe if they are blended up with the juice they will be more appetizing. 

     Well, it was worth a try and I won't let them go to waste.  It just goes to show that some foods are better fresh, frozen or turned into jam!  Also, dehydrated and freeze dries strawberries are great.  Like I said earlier, if you have had a better experience with canning them and know of a better method, please let me know and maybe I will try it again! 

Meanwhile, here are some more successful canning stories!
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