A slow and easy barbecue was on our agenda for Sunday – I’m finding it easy these days to do everything slow and easy.
On weekends, for example, I linger over a cup of green tea or coffee for a few extra minutes. I eat a leisurely breakfast, then mosey on down to the nearest trail for exercise.
After a midday social activity, perhaps, and definitely some lunch, I love a good nap. 30 minutes of delirious shut-eye, anywhere at all (even in the car), and I’m ready to eat and drink and talk the night away.
Slow and easy.
This particular Sunday happened just that way. With perfectly grilled asparagus, German potato salad, and enough grilled Chicken to feed an army, six of us enjoyed a cool, candle-lit evening on my mom’s back porch. And let us not forget the jammy red wine from Paso Robles that kept us well hydrated.
For dessert was Mom’s strawberry shortcake. Earlier that day, Elliott tried to tell us he didn’t much care for strawberry shortcake. We assured him it was because he hadn’t yet tried the real deal – strawberry shortcake made with the best biscuits on this side of California (said with a completely out-of-context Southern accent, of course).
Forget soggy sponge cake! Our recipe for strawberry shortcake comes from the family cookbook – from my mother’s mother’s mother, to be exact. With juicy strawberries from your nearest farm, freshly whipped cream, and a flaky biscuit, you just can’t do strawberry shortcake wrong.
Happily, this is the only iPhone picture you get out of me today.
It’s easy: just take your favorite biscuit recipe and add a bit of freshly-grated nutmeg. It sounds like a simple addition, but it makes the biggest difference. Then toss a few cups of halved strawberries with sugar and lemon juice, allow to macerate for an hour in the fridge, whip up some cream until stiff peaks form, then… You know the rest. Assemble and devour to your heart’s content.
I hope your summer is just as slow and easy as mine.