I've dehydrated berries in the past.. and they ended up being better for adding into birdseed cakes than for rehydrating and using otherwise. I suppose you could dehydrate them and powder them to add to baking recipes and that might be good- I just don't do enough sweets baking to warrant that.

Fruit leather is very good- but my family does not like it much, so I don't make it very often.

Strawberry butter can be good- if by that you mean a compound butter of actual butter and strawberries. I've done that a couple times, and a pound of butter takes up less space in the freezer than a pound of whole strawberries.

Strawberry puree can take up less space in the freezer too- especially if you freeze it flat in quart bags. Strawberry puree can be used in a lot of stuff.

You might want to try strawberry syrup. It can be great on stuff like pancakes and waffles, be added into glazes for meats, used in salad dressings, or added to lemonade, iced tea, soda spritzers, or mixed drinks.

Do you like chutneys or any of the fruit salsas at all? Wife made some delish Strawberry-Orange Chutney by subbing strawberries for the cranberries in the NCHFP Cran-Orange recipe. She used cider rather than white vinegar.

We like dried slices for adding to cereals in the winter but we don't dry them fully, just a little over 1/2 dry and then store them in the freezer. Probably wouldn't help you but a bag full of them doesn't take up much room. She also made several strawberry pies and froze them for baking this winter. Will be mushy but still taste good.

The grandkids eat the leathers/roll-ups faster than we can make them so I don't know how long they will keep.

Have you tried the Chocolate Covered Strawberry Jam? That's next on our list. http://www.food.com/recipe/chocolate-covered-strawberry-jam-521036

Dave

Fermented strawberry juice?!! ;-)

So maybe I could give Boone's Farm a run for their money?! (Sorry, esoteric 60's reference!)

Partially drying then freezing might be a good way to go, takes up less space and I could add them to baked goods. Found a recipe in "Small Batch Preserving" for Strawberry Sherry Preserves and as luck would have it I happen to have an opened bottle of sherry that I have to use up before it becomes vinegar. Also ran across "Maple Strawberry Smooch" in the Ball Blue Book while looking for the sherry recipe. That would be great on pancakes in the winter and a way to stretch the expensive maple syrup which I have been trying to do lately. Also a strawberry kiwi freezer jam which sounds fun and would be a way to use up some odd jars I have laying around. On reconsideration, I think I will forgo the fruit leather because I wouldn't eat it, too concentrated sweet for me. By butter, I was thinking not mixed with butter but a fruit butter. Would probably be best to mix strawberries with apple, since I imagine they would be taffy-like as full-on strawberry butter. But I don't know.

<So maybe I could give Boone's Farm a run for their money?! >

LOL. I got it and yep you could. Are they still around?

Dave

I may just do one batch of the strawberry jam with sherry. Had some strawberries today, they are not sweet at all, due to all the rain we've been having. May not be much of a strawberry crop here.

If you enjoy candy making you could make pâtes de fruits. They are a type of gelled candy, similar to "orange slices" but made with fresh fruit puree. You could also try making whole glacé strawberries, but it takes a lot of time and requires submerging them in a progressively more concentrated sugar syrup. Using a crock pot with the lid cracked open might make it easier though.

http://playinwithmyfood.com/2011/12/13/pate-de-fruit/

http://www.sofeminine.co.uk/desserts/how-to-make-candied-fruit-s564769.html

Another idea would be to make flavored liquors. You could also can some strawberry concentrate or strawberry lemonade concentrate. This recipe uses 6 cups of strawberries.

http://www.freshpreserving.com/recipes/strawberry-lemonade-recipe

Cool ideas Kay, thanks! Would probably work with other fruits this summer too!

We love strawberry lemonade, so I found a recipe for a canned concentrate a few years ago. It's one of my husband's favorites, I made 5 batches this year. I do not use fresh squeezed lemon juice like the recipe calls for, I buy lemon juice from Costco. http://oldworldgardenfarms.com/2013/05/10/canned-strawberry-lemonade-concentrate-with-home-made-strawberry-daiquiri-mix-recipe-too/