Strawberry Shortcake seemed to always mark the beginning of summer when I was growing up.
Although we get strawberries almost year round in California, they always taste best in early summer. We always made our “shortcake” with biscuits.
This is a pretty foolproof method. When you stir slightly cooled melted butter into cold buttermilk, the butter will clump.
Although this might look like a mistake, it's one of the secrets to this recipe.
I'm from the South. I grew up and went to college in Tennessee, and worked for many years in Atlanta. But I never felt like I was home until I moved to New York City. The city fit my disposition and overall world-view nicely, not to mention the comfort that comes from living in a Blue state. So, it takes a lot for me to find a desire to go back below the Mason-Dixon. Still, every Memorial Day weekend I return to kick off the summer. Why? Why do I go back for five days of nonstop comments about the liberal media, the constitutional wrongs of the “war of northern aggression” and the amazing wonders of the NRA?
Believe it or not, I go to Tennessee to camp with my uncle, Tony, and his gun-toting friends from college. Though debated every year, the general consensus is that the tradition began in 1992 shortly after Tony and his friends graduated from college. They chose to go out behind my grandparent’s property to a bluff by a lake. Back then the menu for the entire weekend consisted of the fish they could catch, and cook over an open fire. Occasionally a pizza would find its way back courtesy of the occasional visitor not interested in spending the night outside. But the overall spread was limited.
I'm a little bit disappointed. You see, I have always been told when you live in the country, during the summer season, you must lock your car doors. Not because someone will steal your car but because they will fill it up with bountiful amounts of zucchini they have grown in their garden.
What?
Well, I've purposely left my car doors open for days and days now and NO ZUCCHINI! Nothing. Nada. Where is it people?
I'm not sure what the problem is, I would treat the zucchini so well. I would pan-fry it, make zucchini fries, make some desserts...some breads. I would even share my treats.
So what's the problem...where's my zucchini?!
Well, it could be, a) I don't live far enough out in the country or b) folks on the golf course don't grow zucchini in their backyards. I'm thinking it's b. Bummer.