Lots of strawberries to love; lots to love about strawberries

What a great time it is to be a strawberry lover.

The late berry harvest in Florida (due to extreme cold in January and February) is bumping into California's normal spring season and that's meant a bumper crop of berries at local stores.

Not only are there bushels of berries to love, the price is something to love as well. While just a month ago you'd pay $4.99 for a pint of strawberries; today you can find them for $3.99 for twice as much.

According to Associated Press reports, California was already looking at a strong year. A record number of strawberries for this time of the year - 80 million pounds - were picked in one week in early April, said Gloria Chillon, director of marketing for Driscoll's, a major berry producer and distributor based in Watsonville, Calif.

Ted Campbell, executive director of the Florida Strawberry Grower's Association, explained that farmers plant different varieties of berries in hopes of harvesting on a staggered schedule.

This year, the varieties matured late and mostly all at once, and by the beginning of March, "every plant was bursting loose" with berries, he said. Farmers harvested as much as they could, Campbell said, but "you couldn't have put enough labor in the field to pick it all."

So what can you do with all these berries? Just about anything you want to.

Turn the sweetest of the berries (medium berries are more flavorful than large ones) into sorbet, make your mixer for strawberry daiquiris, mash ripe berries into cream cheese for a bagel spread. Pair strawberries with one of its favorite partners, rhubarb, for a custardy pie.

Strawberries don't have to be confined to the sweet table. Work them onto the dinner table in salads (try a simple toss of spinach, carrot shreds, strawberries and balsamic vinaigrette) or a fruitful chutney to top sauteed chicken breasts.

Associated Press contributed to this report.