Strawberry Scones for the Dungeons & Dragons Crowd
On alternate Saturday nights our son and his girlfriend play Dungeons & Dragons with a group of adults. A big part of the event is gorging on snacks, and usually we toss him a bag of chips or a box of cookies on his way out the door. This Saturday morning I made a rare foray to the grocery store and saw strawberries for a dollar a pound, so I had to buy a pile. Then I decided to get really ambitious and make strawberry shortcake for the evening festivities. I’m not much of a baker, so the boxed mixes were tempting, and when I saw a box of Krusteaz scone mix, with a picture of strawberries on top, I was sold.
When I got home I found the instructions for fooling with scones a little intimidating, so I gave up on the medieval imagery and went back to shortcake. The project was difficult at first because the dough was a sticky mess, impossible to knead. But after drying out and/or picking up some flour, it eventually became workable and I was able to roll out and cut decent-looking shortcakes. The strawberries were early and they didn’t mash at all, so I buzzed them in the blender with a little sugar to make sauce, and I cut up another bowlful of strawberries for eating straight or with shortcake. I also cut up a pound for freezing.
When I cook, which is rarely, I’m usually reminded of the comment in The Vegetarian Epicure that feeding someone is more than providing food, it’s really an elemental way of caring for someone. It felt good to be taking care of this group, which has meant so much to our son. It also felt good to be more connected to and mindful of food than I usually am. More food preparation should be a part of my redesigned life, I thought.
I sent the kids and the dessert off to D&D with instructions to keep the bowl of sauce upright in the bag so it wouldn’t spill. A few hours later 7 of the 9 shortcakes came back, along with a plastic bag dripping with sticky strawberry juice. It appeared only the untreated strawberries and two shortcakes were eaten. So much for lovingly homemade desserts for this crowd.
The next day I offered the shortcakes and sauce to an older couple that lives nearby, one of whom recently had surgery. They accepted immediately and I drove over after supper. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the patient looked to be totally recovered, although I assume still not at full strength. They asked me in and we promptly consumed three of the remaining shortcakes and most of the sauce. I left the remains at their house, satisfied my baking had been put to good use. On the way home, I thought more neighborliness should also be part of my redesigned life.
When I got home I found the instructions for fooling with scones a little intimidating, so I gave up on the medieval imagery and went back to shortcake. The project was difficult at first because the dough was a sticky mess, impossible to knead. But after drying out and/or picking up some flour, it eventually became workable and I was able to roll out and cut decent-looking shortcakes. The strawberries were early and they didn’t mash at all, so I buzzed them in the blender with a little sugar to make sauce, and I cut up another bowlful of strawberries for eating straight or with shortcake. I also cut up a pound for freezing.
When I cook, which is rarely, I’m usually reminded of the comment in The Vegetarian Epicure that feeding someone is more than providing food, it’s really an elemental way of caring for someone. It felt good to be taking care of this group, which has meant so much to our son. It also felt good to be more connected to and mindful of food than I usually am. More food preparation should be a part of my redesigned life, I thought.
I sent the kids and the dessert off to D&D with instructions to keep the bowl of sauce upright in the bag so it wouldn’t spill. A few hours later 7 of the 9 shortcakes came back, along with a plastic bag dripping with sticky strawberry juice. It appeared only the untreated strawberries and two shortcakes were eaten. So much for lovingly homemade desserts for this crowd.
The next day I offered the shortcakes and sauce to an older couple that lives nearby, one of whom recently had surgery. They accepted immediately and I drove over after supper. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the patient looked to be totally recovered, although I assume still not at full strength. They asked me in and we promptly consumed three of the remaining shortcakes and most of the sauce. I left the remains at their house, satisfied my baking had been put to good use. On the way home, I thought more neighborliness should also be part of my redesigned life.
posted by Houyhnhnm | 9:22 PM
1 Comments:
Your writings remind me of my time reading the "Reader's Digest" back in the sixties,, this is good stuff
thanks for putting in the time,,
Larry Lamoureux
llamoureux_rex123@yahoo.com
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