Strawberry Shortcake in Bellingham
Last night my friend Eileen asked how I was doing. I gave a highly qualified answer about it being well with my soul, but we're going through a lot of transition, etc. She said, "The thing with times of change is that you end up having to make decisions all the time. When you're in a routine, you don't have to make as many." Exactly! Maybe that's why I've felt like such a screw-up lately. My schedule feels out of whack, many things have languished in my inbox, I left the burner on for several hours the other day (don't tell Yancey).
No matter how unpredictable my life, one of the constants has been strawberry shortcake. Growing up, I requested it for every June 16 birthday, no exception. When I was little, it wasn't possible to buy strawberries at Costco whenever you wanted, and I think we were all better for it. Local strawberries are so yielding and delicate--no resistance when you bite into them, and such sweetness. Costco's December strawberries are more akin to rubber balls, and I guess this is where my "No-Snootiness" pledge wears a little thin.
I took the kids up to Bellingham (my hometown) yesterday, and we hung out with my Mom--in my parents beautiful yard and kitchen, at Joe's Garden (where we bought these berries), and Wyatt and I went over to Bethany's house last night to wish her happy birthday and bring some shortcake. All in all, a pretty enchanted day for being right in the middle of "Transition Soup," as my friend Kathy calls it.
And when I think about it, everyone close to me is in Transition Soup--losing jobs or starting new ones, becoming parents or watching kids grow up, getting books published (congratulations, Kathy and Geoff!), starting small businesses, grieving loss, and trying to pay attention in the midst of it all. The ritual of food keeps us nourished and grounded--we have to eat every day, we have to stop what we're doing to get bread for the journey. And it really might as well be strawberry shortcake, I think.
Strawberry Shortcake
Serves 6. This is my longtime biscuit recipe, just made with sugar. I've had requests for a biscuit tutorial on this blog. For now, just this. The other will come along at some point.
2 c. flour
1 Tb. baking powder
pinch salt
4 Tb. sugar
1/2 cup (1 cube) cold unsalted butter
3/4 c. cold milk
1 qt. strawberries, sliced and gently tossed with a couple Tb. sugar (let sit for about 10 minutes before using)
1 pint heavy cream, whipped with 4 Tb. sugar
Preheat oven to 450.
Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Cut cube of butter into about 8 pieces, drop into flour mixture, and work in with your fingertips until there are pea-sized lumps in the flour. You could also use a pastry cutter.
Pour cold milk over crumb mixture, and stir with a spoon until mixture holds together and loosely forms a ball. Don't overstir! Let dough rest for a minute in the bowl.
Turn out onto a floured surface, knead a couple times with floured hands, pat into a rough rectangle, then roll out till about 3/4" thick. Using a biscuit cutter or the bottom of a drinking glass, cut out rounds. You'll get 3 or 4 from the first go-around, then have to roll out again for the rest.
Place shortcakes in a pie pan or on a cooke sheet, and lightly brush the tops with more milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes, until tops are lightly browned.
Let shortcakes cook for about 10 minutes, then split. Top the bottom half with berries and whipped cream, put the top on, then add more berries and whipped cream. Happy Birthday, everyone!
June 7, 2009
Reader Comments (21)
I love how you tucked your birthday in there. Clever girl!
The shortcake looks luscious! I'm so envious of your crate 'o berries. You have no idea how impossible it is to get decent strawberries in the middle of the prairie without growing them yourself. We're still in the Costco era here.
Routine. I need it, and the boys need it like air. Part of me loves the security and peace of routine.
The other part of me rails against it as thought it were the embodiment of all evil...
I've been pondering a list of "Momosis Lessons" and you've helped me get closer on one. Which is something like this: Life is ALL transition. Having children makes it harder to delude ourselves into thinking otherwise.
thank you for surprising me with strawberry shortcake on my birthday. that was the best surprise of the day. it was delicious, and emmett did love his breakfast shortcake...he refused everything else i gave him and got down from his high chair screaming because there was no more left!
Yes. Transitions! I've come to the same conclusion just not about parenting...life is one big string of transitions. When things seem more routine and constant, it's just an illusion. I have a sense that all the sweeping changes swimming around us are really a gift of awareness -- that at any moment, things can change. At every moment, something is changing.
Even strawberries are a transition of sorts...short lived in terms of their fruit. One day they are green. Then they are ripe. Then they are eaten, or if not, then they are moldy.
Judy
Love the recipe index now!! Very useful and user-friendly, Priya & Sarah! Sarah, you WILL get a book deal with this! And...I WILL illustrate it..of course, if you are interested. I have always wanted to illustrate a cookbook. Did you know that?
But hey - I was just thinking that at times when life is changing in big ways and it feels hard, and it IS hard, being told life is all transition may not be the most sensitive response.
I should know better... having been through what has felt like a crushing number of changes the last couple years. For me, one the main paths out of that rough mental place has been to turn my focus away from all the striving and waiting and anticpating and fretting (the transitioning), and bring it back to all the "Mary Oliver moments" of each day, to pay attention and be amazed at the lovely and difficult moments each day is sure to bring. We can learn much from our toddlers in this area. :)
The key to surviving transitions is to always remain in crisis. This way one never gets a feeling of normalcy and then never begrudges that things are changing yet again. This has worked for me all my life. Well, by "worked" I mean ... yeah.
James ate the last of the strawberry shortcakes tonight without asking me if I wanted some (I think he did it to pay us back for not being able to join us for dinner last night). He agreed with you--totally,local fresh,and just picked is the way to go.
Glad you could slip out of whatever routine you have,and spend a day just hanging out.
Wyatt, I found the drum in the plum tree. I can't believe you're big enough to put it there.
Loretta, it was fun "talking about it" (about finding hug in mama's purse) after running around joe's garden looking for it, and laughing oursleves silly as I was trying to get you to fall asleep. You really are a rascal--one who loves strawberries as much as her mother. Thanks for an enjoyable day, and thanks Bethany for the crop of rhubarb.
Sarah I, always know your bday, June 16th, is just around the bend when I taste the first local berry.
Hi Sarah......ahhhh strawberry shortcake brings back some of my fondest memories of my dad. Every year for Father's Day our tradition was to go out to the valley and pick strawberries. We did it every year, we would pile in the car and pick as many as we could. My dad would be making jokes and challenging us to pick more so he had more to eat later. He absolutely LOVED fresh picked strawberries.......you are right big difference from the Costco kind. We would come back and finish the rest of the tradition and make strawberry shortcake. My mom would cut all the strawberries up in a big ole bowl and put a little sugar on them so there would be lots of juice to add on top of the shortcake. My dad's would be piled so high and he would delight in every bite. My mom would make fresh strawberry jam with the extras. What I wouldn't do to pick some strawberries for my dad! You always give me inspiration to cook, Sarah thank you for sharing your gift of the love of food and all that goes with it. I will make strawberry shortcake on Father's Day for sure!
P.S. Don't tell your readers what we were willing to pay ,for a flat of the premiere picking of Bellingham strawberries, they might not believe you!!!
i must say, i love reading the comment section ALMOST as much as your entries, sarah. (almost.) they serve as yet another testimony of how food brings us together to bear witness to one another's stories.
love!
After reading this I am going to have to head out to the country road where I found the little old couple who were selling strawberries at the side of road from a little travel trailer. Best I ever tasted! Last year I bought 2 flats and froze them. And they are about gone. The hunt is on. Have to do shortcake!!!
Aunt Nancy, thanks for sharing your story about Grandpa/your dad. I wish so badly I could have known him. It sounds like my love of strawberries may be genetic.
Beth, I wish I could FedEx you some Washington berries.
Judy, Momosis, and pds--love your thoughts about transition. You're right, Judy--even strawberries are so fleeting. One thing that's taken me a long time to learn is that something can be GOOD and still not last a long time.
Naomi, I'm going to get it in writing that you want to illustrate my cookbook. Yes, I even remember us talking about that growing up. You're on.
I agree with Jordan! It brings me so much delight that I have found an extra skip in my day and a fun change in the way I take pics. I have found myself not only thinking about your blog entries, but incorporating food in my pics with my kids! This time it is with strawberries! I bought a bunch at the grocery store yesterday since it was such a great deal, but I'm sure they aren't as tasty as Joe's Garden. I will have to give the biscuits a try.
I love strawberry shortcake and yours looks amazing! I completely agree with you on Costco strawberries too - they're just not good sometimes and then I'm stuck with so many...
Sarah, I've felt so honored to be the recipient of a bag of your luscious granola. Ate it and shared it as I spent the weekend in Portland with my family. We also had some yummy organic strawberries although they didn't make it to shortcake. The season is about over down there so it must be close here. Time to get some made into jam and just plain into the freezer. Thanks for making thinking about food so enjoyable.
Is it considered blog-stalking if I leave comments? I just made your strawberry shortcake for our house and we all LOVED it! Thanks for sharing.
Tiffany! No, definitely not blog-stalking. Look--I am up late at night, checking my comments! Comment away. It makes my day. So happy that your shortcake turned out.
Hello Sarah--your mom told me I needed to check out your blog, because she said it was right up my alley. I too love cooking & baking (probably baking more so) and have young kids. I think we share an affinity for everything food. I too love Strawberry Shortcake and have a favorite recipe. I love strawberries mainly, so a bit of whipped cream and flaky, sweet biscuit makes them even better for sure. Growing up in AZ, we weren't lucky to have these wonderful beauties local. So glad I live in B'ham now and love love Joe's Garden. I look forward to reading your blog. And another thank you for not making this a "snooty" thing...food is definitely meant to be enjoyed and given to bless.
OK, we've got an illustration for this one for your cookbook! http://www.spillstudio.com/blog/2009/7/7/strawberry-shortcake.html
This was so good! Perfect biscuits.