The ripe time 當紅草莓成熟時

I live on the fringe of the City of Munich, close to woodland and fields, including a strawberry field. As the strawberries come into season, many people are out in force to pick them from the field.
我家位處慕尼黑市邊錘，附近有一片樹林及幾片田野，其中是一片紅草莓園，近一個月紅草莓逐漸成熟，便吸引不少人前往採摘。











The best things about picking strawberries from the field are that you can eat during picking and choose only the best ones to buy. Freshness and sweetness are absolutely guaranteed!
自採草莓，可邊採邊吃，擇優而買，保證顆顆令人滿意！

It's too easy to pick too many strawberries when so many of them look really irresistable, and it's impossible to eat them all. How should one make use of them? Lately the supermarkets are running promotions of gelling sugar, which is most suitable for making jams. It's actually quite straightforward to make strawberry jam just by following the instructions on the packet. First, wash the strawberries and dice them up. Then put in the sugar and crush the strawberries. (The ratio of sugar to strawberries will depend on the type of gelling sugar used and will be specified in the instructions.) Bring the mixture to boil on high heat under constant stirring, and after boiling for about 5 minutes it's ready for bottling. The actual boiling time can be adjusted according to how thick you like the jam to be.
草莓色澤紅而味甘甜，實在太吸引，不經不覺採得太多，吃也吃不了，怎辦好？剛好超級市場大量推出凝膠糖（Gelling Sugar），正是弄果醬的最佳時機。朋友着我依凝膠糖包裝背面的製法而做，果然很容易，祇要先把草莓洗淨、切粒，放糖後舂碎（糖與草莓之比例要視乎說明），用大火加熱，期間不停搞動，煮沸約五分鐘後便可入瓶，實際時間可按個人稀稠喜好而定。

Another way to make good use of the strawberries is to make a liqueur. A very cool Dutch friend of mine had to return to the Netherlands last week. Knowing how Western people in general craze about alcohol, I decided to make a bottle of strawberry liqueur as a farewell gift following this recipe. His girlfriend told me that watermelon liqueur would also be very nice.
此外，草莓也可用來製甜酒（liqueur），我的荷蘭好友要回國，想到外國人無酒不歡，便上網找來一個製法（祇限英文版），如法炮製一瓶，當作送行的禮物。他的女朋友說，用西瓜製甜酒也一樣好喝。














As more summer fruits are being rolled out, I've become more inspired to try more different sorts of jams and liqueurs. If you prefer cakes or desserts instead, there is also no shortage of things to try!
夏日鮮果正不斷推出，正給我更多靈感，嘗試更多不同的果醬和甜酒，喜愛造蛋糕和甜點的朋友，也可一顯身手。