When buying, look for plump, bright red, fully ripe berries. The top leaves should be attached, green and fresh looking.

Betty Boop of Caldwell, Idaho (no kidding, that's what she said her name was) puts ordinary drinking straws to good use: To hull strawberries, use a sturdy plastic straw. Push it up through the bottom of the strawberry and through the top. It does a great job quickly and neatly. The berries look excellent if you want to leave them whole.

The size of the strawberry is not important. All strawberries, large and small, have the potential to be equally sweet and juicy.

Sort and remove any bruised or damaged berries as soon as possible, being in contact with spoiled fruit can cause good fruit to go bad quicker.

Place the berries in cool, well ventilated containers (32 to 40°F / 0 to 5°C). The moisture content of Fresh Strawberries is high, so store uncovered or loosely covered.

Hull strawberries and rinse gently right before serving. Careful storing and handling will help the berries maintain maximum flavor, colour and texture.

To keep strawberries from absorbing large quantities of water, hull after washing. A salad spinner works well for removing excess water from berries.

Use individual frozen strawberries as cubes in a fancy drink or cocktail.