Originally published in 2016
When I think of berries I always think of my mom. Mom was big on making jams and jellies, and from this photo below, it's quite clear she'd been doing it for many years. After she moved to Clayton Park, Mom used to enjoy telling the story about some neighbours who spotted her walking up and down the median of the divided highway behind their apartment building and wondered what she was doing. Mom had seen a recipe in the newspaper for "Rose Hip Jelly" - rose hips are the fruit that grow after roses bloom, just like apples grow after apple blossoms finish. As luck would have it, Mom's apartment building backed onto Dunbrack, a divided highway with rose bushes growing up and down the median. Hence "The Blind Lady" picking rose hips along the highway median!
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| Domestic Science (Home Economics) class, Central School, 1939 Mom (12 years old) on the far right with her sewing projects behind her and canning on the table |
I don't make cooked jams or jellies that require sterilizing bottles and melting wax, but I do try to make freezer jam every summer while strawberries are in season. We are just at the end of berry season in Canada, so I wanted to share with you one of our favourite desserts: strawberry shortcake. But first I'll tell you my favourite story about berry season.
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Mom was a teacher at a community college and had the summers off. After a few weeks of summer vacation - after a few weeks of housework - Mom would throw up her hands and say, "That's enough, let's go camping." We would load up the car and go camping for the rest of the summer. Now, to fully appreciate this story, you need to know that my brother Thomas is not a morning person. Really NOT a morning person, and was often grumpy in the morning and didn't want anyone to talk to him (at least that is MY recollection). One summer, during berry season, Mom had gotten up early to go pick blackberries that she'd noticed growing on the side of the road in the campground (yes, she did seem to make a habit of this). She was back before Tom and I were even out of our sleeping bags, and she was preparing to make blackberry jam. Blackberries have a lot of seeds and you usually don't want them all in your jam so you strain them through cheesecloth. When Tom got up and came to the outdoor picnic table to eat his breakfast, Mom was already in the midst of making jam. She had this massive ball of blackberry pulp in a cheesecloth, squeezing it tight to get as much of the juices through the cheesecloth, trapping the seeds behind. She may have had too much, or been squeezing too hard, but whatever the reason, it exploded. Blackberry pulp EVERYWHERE. Including, of course, all over Tom. Mom and I must have laughed hysterically, but not Tom. He was NOT a happy camper!
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| Tom and me at the picnic table camping He's looking pretty happy so it's probably NOT breakfast |
This recipe can be used to make tea biscuits (aka baking powder biscuits) which Aunt Ruth often makes with half white flour and half whole wheat flour but she recommended an all-white biscuit for shortcake. She also adds a special touch by taking any leftovers juices and brushing the top of the biscuits, poking a fork into the top a few times and sprinkling a little sugar. According to Nana's cookbook, the amount of butter is increased from ¼ cup to ½ cup for shortcakes. We used Aunt Ruth's recipe but typically tea biscuits do not have sugar and I’m not sure it’s needed given that the biscuits get covered in berries! My kids would eat the biscuits as a desert in and of itself.
The first time Mitchell tried to make these his hands were covered in the sticky dough. On advice from Aunt Ruth our second attempt was better because we floured the counter well and floured our hands well so we were able to knead it and prep it for cutting.
So here you go, the recipe.
Sheila’s Strawberry Shortcake
Preheat oven to 425°F
2 cups All Purpose (white) flour
½ cup white sugar (optional)
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup butter or margarine
⅔ cup milk (alternatively add an egg to ½ cup milk and beat gently before adding)
Instructions for Shortcake:
Mix together dry ingredients; this can be done with your hands. Mix in butter/margarine until it is in small pieces. You can use your hands or a pastry cutter to “cut in” the butter.
Pour liquid into centre of dry ingredients and mix quickly with a fork to make a soft dough. You may not need to add all the liquid. Turn out the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead 8-9 times (with well-floured hands). Roll the dough or pat it lightly into a flat sheet ½ - 1 inch thick. If you use a rolling pin make sure it is also well-floured. Cut out rounds or just cut into squares and place on a greased baking sheet (we usually use parchment paper instead). Bake 10-15 minutes until tops are golden brown.
Instructions for Fruit Topping:
1 quart of berries
Use a potato masher to crush half of the berries (sweeten if needed). Split the shortcake. Put the berries between the layers and on top of the shortcake. Top with whipped cream and garnish with whole or sliced berries.
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| Mike's raspberry patch |
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| Raspberries, ripe for the picking |
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| Raspberries and black raspberries from our backyard |
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| Two pints harvested from our bushes for dinner |
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| Wednesday Waffles by Taylor |
A simple recipe that produces a light and crisp waffle. This is almost identical to the recipe for waffles in Nana's cookbook. Makes 6 - 8 waffles.
Preheat waffle iron.
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups milk, as needed
Instructions:
Place the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Stir with a wire whisk to evenly distribute the ingredients. Add the melted butter, eggs and about 1 1/4 cups of milk. Blend with a wire whisk until smooth and free from lumps. Batter should be thick but still pour slowly from a ladle or measuring cup. Add more milk as needed to obtain a thick but pourable consistency. If the batter becomes too thin, stir in a teaspoon or two of additional flour.
When waffles are removed they can be placed on a wire rack for about 30 seconds and served immediately. They can also be kept warm in a preheated 300°F oven for 5-10 minutes (or a warm-and-hold setting on your oven) but their consistency may change. Batter can be held overnight under refrigeration. If it thickens, add milk to the desired consistency.
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| How Mike likes his waffles |
