It's Hood #Strawberry Season & #Recipe for Strawberry Dutch Baby #Pancake {#Dairyfree}

Let me tell you about all the blog posts I have written in the last couple of weeks…ahhhhm setuugxfzhfcf, yes you are right there have not been very many lately.  Okay, I admit time has been at a premium in our little green house and it is hard to keep up.  However,  I have written many, many posts in my head but just have not managed to get them out on paper screen.  Will someone please invent a device that let's you transpose posts straight from the mind to a blog post?!

Anyway, exciting things are happening in the Willamette Valley and you know what it is?  Yes,  Hood Strawberries are in season;  the sweetest most amazing strawberry ever.  We first learned about this varietal when moving to Oregon twelve years ago, before that a strawberry to me was a strawberry.  Yes, this is the most delicious strawberry you will ever meet and you can never have too much…

So it will not be much of a surprise for you to hear that it is has become a tradition to go strawberry picking each year. It is fun, and it is so important for children to learn where our food comes from, that it does not magically gets placed into pint boxes and that it takes a lot of work…

In past years we have been picking at various farms on Sauvie Island but this year we decided on a change of pace and went out to visit Unger Farms in Cornelius. Let me tell you it was not only fantastic strawberry picking but also pretty, with the pluses of a small playground and nice little cafe where both girlies enjoyed a strawberry lemonade each...

Now we have 20+ pounds of Hood Strawberries.  Some already made it into jam,

many others made it into the freezer {tip ~ freeze them first individually on cookie sheets before transferring them to freezer bags},

some become delicious accents for salad and vinaigrette,

while others became part of

Strawberry Dutch Baby

•  3 Tb Earth Balance, cut into chunks (or other "butter" of your choice)
•  1 C    flour
•  1 C    Almond Milk (or other  "milk" of your choice
•  4 eggs
•  1 C strawberries cut into chunks
•  Powdered sugar
• 1 pint strawberries sliced and add a sprinkle of sugar if needed

1. Place "butter" in cast iron pan.
2. Place pan in oven and preheat the oven to 425F (yes, pan should be in the oven when you preheat it)
3. While the oven is preheating with the pan in it prepare the batter
4. Mix flour, "milk", and eggs together until you have a smooth batter. Add 1 C of strawberry chances to the batter.
5. When the oven is preheated carefully remove the pan and pour the batter  into the pan.  Place the pan back into the oven and bake for 20 - 25 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar.  
7. Serve with a side of fresh cut strawberries

Bring to the table and serve right away as the pancake will deflate as it cools :)

Enjoy!!!