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When You Know Better, But Do It Anyway

I know better, but I did it anyway. And I cannot tell you how glad I was.

I was at the store, merely to get butter. Obviously, it was a slow weekend for me because I rarely try to beat the crowds on a Saturday afternoon.

Of course, most stores know that if you wind up at the store to buy one thing, there will be others you need desperately. And staring at me from a produce bin was an enormous plastic package of strawberries. I picked up the three-pound package of bright red berries, each as big as a newborn baby’s fist, and looked below and on each side. They were picture perfect. I was pretty sure they looked much better than they would taste. I bought them, even though we are just a little while away from our own local ones. I got home, stemmed each, washed them for just a few seconds in cold water, and sliced them each into quarters. I put them into an enormous stainless steel bowl, added about four tablespoons of sugar, tossed them with a wooden spoon and left it on the counter for about five hours, tossing it every hour or so. Surprisingly, they were luscious.

They are from Watsonville, California. My daughter lives nearer to Los Angeles than Watsonville, but she has been incredibly annoying for the past month or so, telling me how delicious the strawberries are, knowing that our own have a way to go and are also only available for a few weeks. I called her last night and told her she is right about California strawberries. They are amazing. Tonight I will make the biscuits my friend Nancy Trimble gave me years ago. Tomorrow, strawberry shortcake. By the way, the biscuits freeze beautifully.

Biscuits

From Gourmet, 1987

Yield: 12-16 biscuits

Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

6 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 ½ cups heavy cream

Extra flour for patting out dough and for cookie cutter

milk to trickle on biscuits

Directions

Preheat oven 425 degrees

In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Pour in heavy cream, and with (preferably) a wooden spoon, mix slightly until it turns into a wet dough. Flour your counter or a cutting board and drop dough onto it. Knead six to eight times. Pat into square or circle or rectangle to about 1-inch thick. Using a 3-inch diameter (approximate size) cookie cutter you’ve dipped first in flour, place biscuits onto a ungreased baking sheet (if you don’t yet have silicone liners, now might be the time to buy them; they will change your baking life).

Place pan(s) into oven and bake for 13 to 15 minutes, until biscuits are golden brown. Place pan on wire racks. When cool enough, put the biscuits themselves on the wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.