There are those who have made America great in very public and impactful ways. Then there are the quiet ones, the unassuming, who’s contribution adds simple pleasure to our every day. Today’s Thank You Thursday is in appreciation of one of the simple pleasures.
Did you know that though June 14th has been designated National Strawberry Shortcake Day (at least according to Mobile-Cusine) about a week later, this week to be exact, right after Summer Solstice is prime picking season for strawberries? I ask you… is there a more beloved, more all-American combination than Strawberries and Shortcake? As a matter of fact, in celebration of exactly that, Wilson Farms in Lexington, MA once produced a record-setting 3,560 pound Strawberry Shortcake! I truly believe life doesn’t get any better than that.
I so enjoy a good Strawberry Shortcake that I felt an overwhelming need to thank someone. Alas, it seems there is no one to be thanked. The History of Food website lists several early mentions of similar desserts; in a Betty Crocker cookbook published by Minneapolis-based General Mills, and on a page from “The Lady’s Receipt-Book” by Miss Leslie, published in 1847.
An authentic Strawberry Shortcake is made, not with the spongy, tasteless rounds found adjacent to fresh strawberries in the grocery store, but with a biscuit or scone-like base (preferably home-made).
Strawberry Shortcake’s origin appears to be a bit ambiguous so I’m sending this Thank You Thursday out to my Mother-In-Law who introduced me to the “genuine” article… an enormous fluffy biscuit drowned in juicy fresh strawberries and smothered with mounds of REAL whipped cream.
Today, Thank You Thursday celebrates the creators of Strawberry Shortcake throughout history and today in my own kitchen.
