INTRODUCTION

Feels like it was just yesterday when my cousins and I would gather around waiting for dad to come home with that brown box.  In the box, we would find little green baskets filled with the red, freckled, sometimes sweet, others sour but always yummy “diamonds” as we would call them because of their shape.  

It was  here! The Season for the delicious fresas (strawberries) was here!  We knew we would soon be getting strawberry milkshakes, strawberry jam, or simply strawberry slices as our  pancake topping. However, the best treat to have was mom’s delicious “Fresas Con Crema!” which literally translates to “Strawberries With Cream!”

Price for the Treat

However, I never seemed to understand why it was that dad never seemed to share the joy my sister, cousins, and I felt when strawberry season was here.  I mean, was he not happy to see his daughters, nephews, and nieces excited to have those yummy “diamonds” in our bellies? What father would not rejoice to have his daughter welcome him with hugs and kisses?  Come to find out strawberry picking and packing can only be done manually. That’s right, due to the delicacy of these beautiful delicious diamonds these can only come to us (as of 2020) by dad and many other Mexican immigrants who pick these strawberries.  

Strawberry farm fruit pickers work long 8-10 hours a day crouched over in the inclemencies of weather which may bring very cold mornings with scorching hot afternoons and very low pay. Mom explained, that dad would sometimes come home with fever due to the pain and exhaustion he felt.  

Pain and All

One thing was for sure after some hours of sleep, and the pain was bearable dad too looked forward to those  yummy “diamonds” covered in mom’s special crema!

RECIPE

Ingredients

• 16-32 ounces  of fresh strawberries 
• ⅓ cup evaporated milk (Carnation)
• 16 ounces of sour cream (Knudsen)
• 8 ounces of sweetened condensed milk (La Lechera)
• ⅓ cup heavy whipping cream
• 2-3 tablespoon of vanilla extract (Molina Mexican Vanilla Blend)

Preparation

1. Slice the strawberries 
2. Add the sour cream, sweetened condensed milk,, evaporated milk, heavy whipping cream and vanilla to a bowl.  Vigorously begin whisking the mix with your whisk for 1-2 minutes until it has reached the consistency you are happy with. You can also use an electric mixer 
3. Place the strawberries in a pan and pour the mix over them 
4. Refrigerate for 30 mins- 1hour
5. Serve and Enjoy

Tips

You can alter the measurements to meet your desired sweetness or consistency  however, mom says, one must never alter the brands indicated above.

Close your eyes, take a bite,

and allow the flavors, textures, and memories come pouring in one by one.  But I also ask that from this day forward, you take a moment to think about those parents who like my dad came/come home unable to play with their kids or even show them a glimpse of happiness due to their own exhaustion.  Let us not forget that these yummy “diamonds” and many other fruits and vegetables come to us thanks to the arduous, painful, long hours of  work that farm fruit pickers put in.