Strawberries - from Ambrosia to Aphrodisiac

♥ Strawberries: Nectar of the Goddess

♥ Strawberries As An Aphrodisiac

♥ Strawberry Soup

♥ Strawberry: A Symbol of the Profane

♥ Strawberry & Chocolate Champagne Body Polish

♥ Strawberry Beauty Treatments

♥ Miscellaneous Facts About Strawberries

♥ The Sacred Nature of Strawberries

♥ Photos of Strawberries

♥ Why are they called "Strawberries?"

♥ Garden Fresh Strawberries from Wikipedia

♥ Strawberry Poll

♥ Strawberry Treats: Delicious Fruit Leather

♥ Allergic to Strawberries?

♥ Our Shopping Section Begins Here

♥ 20% of our Profits go to Charity

♥ Strawberry Fields: Song; Orphanage & Memorial

♥ Suggestions & Feedback Welcome

The strawberry was associated with the Goddess Venus because of their heart like shape. They gained their reputation as an aphrodisiac because of their large number of seeds.

It has been said that if you break a strawberry in half and share it with someone you're interested in, that you'll fall in love.

Strawberries are believed to to enhance sensuality when shared with a partner. This holds true whether they are eaten plain, with whipped cream, as an accompaniment to champagne, or hand-dipped in chocolate.

Strawberries have gained a reputation as an aphrodisiac due to the shape, color, and the large number of tiny seeds symbolizing fertility. There are around 200 seeds on the outside of every strawberry and one seed in the middle.

A Cold Soup Made Out of Strawberries??!

In the French countryside, it was customary at one time to serve newlyweds a cold soup made from ripe red strawberries. The recipe for that soup is here.

Let me further introduce this delicious strawberry soup with the words of my mother, as this is her recipe:

"Those who find the notion of strawberry soup strange do not flinch at starting a meal with fruit juice or a fruit cup. This is as refreshing and delicious as it is beautiful. I like to serve it in glass bowls, ladling it at the table from a glass punch bowl garnished with fresh strawberries and strawberry leaves or fresh mint."

STRAWBERRY SOUP

INGREDIENTS
•2 quarts ripe strawberries, hulled
•1 cup sugar*
•2 cups water
•Grated rind of 1 orange
•Grated rind of 1 lemon
•Juice of 1 lemon
•2 cups Rhine or Moselle wine
•Whipped or sour cream

DIRECTIONS
Wash, clean and drain strawberries. Mash or put through a blender and strain. Boil sugar and water together to form a thin syrup. Place strawberry juice and syrup in separate containers and refrigerate until they reach the same degree of coldness. Combine and add lemon juice, and wine. Add grated rinds and serve in chilled cups or bowls. Serves 10.

*I generally use 3/4 cup sugar, but I find it a matter of personal preference.

STRAWBERRY: A SYMBOL OF THE PROFANE

In one of the most famous and enigmatic paintings of all time, "Garden of Earthly Delights" by Hieronymous Bosch (1450-1516), the strawberry takes on another meaning. Bosch depicts the recurring strawberry as the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.

Bosch's phantasmagoric painting has been written about and analyzed time and again, so I won't go into it here, other than to mention a few details regarding his depictions of giant strawberries.


On the right side of the painting, we see a group of figures plucking fruit from a tree. A man carries a large strawberry, while an owl looks on in the foreground.


Near the bottom of the painting, Bosch has depicted a huge ripe strawberry. One nude is lying over the giant fruit, while a couple stands nearby and contemplates a different fruit.

Red, ripe, larger than life and with hundreds of seeds is the way Bosch depicts the strawberry - a fitting portrayal of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden - responsible for man's exile from the Garden.

STRAWBERRY & CHOCOLATE CHAMPAGNE BODY POLISH
ABC News 4,  02/2007

• 5 large fresh juicy strawberries pureed
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup pure cane sugar
• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. sweet almond oil
• 1/2 tsp. jojoba oil
• 1/2 tsp. vitamin E oil
• champagne

Mix together first four ingredients until well blended. Slowly add the three oils to reach consistency of paste. Add a splash of champagne and blend well.

In circular motions moving toward your heart, rub this polish on your legs, feet, arms, neck, chest and shoulders (avoiding face). Leave on for about 4 minutes and then rinse off. Your skin will look radiant! Enjoy!

Strawberries were cultivated in Italy as early as 200 BC. They were known to exist in ancient Rome and Italy. Virgil, Ovid, and Pliny the Elder wrote abut them. They were cultivated and considered medicinal in Rome in the 1300s and throughout Europe during the Middle Ages.

The strawberry was the symbol for Venus, the Goddess of Love, because of its heart-like shape and red color.

In ancient times, strawberries were associated with fertility because of their large number of seeds.

They have been regarded as an aphrodisiac throughout the centuries.

Early American settlers found Native Americans growing strawberries as early as 1643. Native American Indians used to crush strawberries into a mortar, mixing them with cornmeal and making them into a strawberry cornbread. It is said that after the early American Colonists tried this bread, they developed their own version, and Strawberry Shortcake was invented.

In the town of Wepion, Belgium, known as strawberry capital of the world, there's a museum dedicated to the Strawberry.

There are over 20 named species of strawberries and there are many hybrids and cultivars.

The most common type of commercially grown strawberry is the cultivated Garden strawberry, which is a complex hybrid species that was developed over many years by crossing several species of wild strawberries.

Strawberries are the only fruit with seeds on the outside. Then again, whether they are truly a fruit depends on whom you ask. Botanists regard the strawberry as a multiple fruit. Others regard it as the enlarged end of the plant's stamen e.g. a swollen stem, much like a rose hip.

Strawberries are members of the rose family.

Strawberries have been found to reduce cancer. Researchers from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have recently found that strawberries may protect the brain from the onset of Alzheimer's Disease.

The United States is largest producer of strawberries.

A cup of sliced fresh strawberries has only 43 calories

Eight strawberries contain more Vitamin C than a medium sized orange.

Strawberries can be used as a natural food whitener, according to living health.com. You can read more at this website: Whiten Your Teeth the Natural Way.

In the 1931 herbal classic "A Modern Herbal," by M. Maude Grieve, Grieve writes about the importance of the strawberry as a beauty aid.

"A cut Strawberry rubbed over the face immediately after washing will whiten the skin and remove slight sunburn. For a badly sunburnt face it is recommended to rub the juice well into the skin, to leave it on for half an hour, and then wash off with warm water to which a few drops of simple tincture of benzoin have been added; no soap should be used."

When it comes to cleansing the skin, strawberries have amazing properties. They are rich in Vitamin C and folic acid, and this increases collagen production and makes the skin elastic. Strawberries also contain salicylic acid, which rids the skin of impurities and dead cells, leaving it clean and soft.

The following recipes are guaranteed to cleanse and refresh your skin.
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A STRAWBERRY FACIAL

1/2 cup fresh strawberries, mashed
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon corn starch

Mix everything together into a smooth paste. Spread on your face and and leave it for 25-30 minutes. Rinse with warm water and pat your face dry.

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STRAWBERRY FACIAL MASK

8 to 9 strawberries
2 tablespoons honey

Mash strawberries. Add honey and mix well. Spread over face. Leave on for 25-30 minutes and rinse with cool water. Note: This mask may be irritating for those with sensitive or sunburned skin.

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STRAWBERRY FACIAL TONER*
*These amounts can be cut in half

1/2 cup strawberries
1 tablespoon cucumber juice
1 tablespoon Rose Water

Blend in small food processor or by hand. It should form a smooth paste. If the mixture is too runny, add some oatmeal to thicken (1 teaspoon at a time). Apply to your face. After 10 minutes, rinse well with cold water.

♥ STRAWBERRY TREATS: DELICIOUS FRUIT LEATHER
by Shelley Wiseman, published in Gourmet Magazine 2008

Purée strawberries with sugar in a blender until smooth, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large heavy saucepan.

Bring purée to a boil, then simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally (more frequently toward end), until thick enough to mound slightly and reduced to 1 to 11/4 cups, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 200°F with rack in middle. Line a large baking sheet with nonstick liner.

Pour hot purée onto liner and spread thinly (as evenly as possible) into a 15- by 10-inch rectangle using spatula. Dry purée in oven until it feels drier (it shouldn't stick to your fingers) but is still slightly tacky, 2 to 3 hours.

Cool on liner on a rack until completely dry, at least 3 hours and up to 24.

Place a sheet of parchment paper over leather, then peel leather off liner and roll up in parchment.

Cooks' note: Strawberry leather keeps in a sealed bag at room temperature 1 month. (recipe from epicurious.com)

Because the strawberry plant's runners grow in all directions on the ground, they look like they are randomly thrown upon the ground. Until 1538, the Old English spelling "streoberise" or "strewberries" was used. "Strew" means "to throw."That name eventually changed to "strawberries."

Some people have had an allergic reaction to eating strawberries. The reason for this remained a mystery until recently, when Swedish biochemists identified the cause as a allergenic protein, which resembles that found in birch pollen. Interestingly, this same allergenic protein is linked to the beautiful red color found of our common garden strawberry. So if you love strawberries and you can't enjoy them because of allergic reactions, try eating the white ones. They don't contain the same allergic protein found in the red variety.

Note: If you are interested in learning about growing strawberries or about their selection and care, please see these great lenses:
Growing Your Own Strawberries | White Alpine Strawberries
Hanging Strawberry Planters | Tips on Growing Strawberries at Home

STRAWBERRY FIELDS: THE JOHN LENNON MEMORIAL

On what would have been John Lennon's 45th birthday, October 9th, 1985, Strawberry Fields (memorial) opened in New York City's Central Park. It was designed by architect Bruce Kelly and underwritten by artist and musician Yoko Ono, John Lennon's widow.

The focal point of Strawberry Fields is a circular mosaic of inlaid stones sent in from countries all over the world. In the center is the word "IMAGINE" - John Lennon's plea to the world for peace.

Strawberry Fields is a living memorial to Lennon's life and vision. Named for the song "Strawberry Fields Forever," this 2.5 acre triangular piece of land has become a pilgrimage site for visitors around the world.