HAPPY NATIONAL STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM DAY

I was going to pass on paying tribute to this particular National Day, because I’ve already shared my magical Strawberries and Cream recipe in previous columns, (usually ones about Wimbledon,) but then I remembered that this e-zine happily gets new readers all the time, so here we are.

I’ll give you the whole very-detailed-but-incredibly-easy recipe again in a minute, but first let me reveal a couple of other ways to celebrate National Strawberries and Cream Day.

If, like me, you have some crazy eating rules, (like my loving cherries, but hating cherry-flavored items, or in this case for some of you, conversely loving strawberry-flavored items, but not actual strawberries,) here’s the link to a different strawberries and cream dessert you can enjoy today, with nary a real strawberry anywhere in it: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/recipe-bavarian-cream-jello.

It’s my famous Bavarian Cream Jello recipe, made with strawberry Jello, of course! I’ve been whipping it up since I was a little girl, and people have always loved it. But why is it famous, you ask?  Because I actually “cooked” it on TV! Back in the day, when I was doing my cable television show, Karen’s Restaurant Revue, I had the fun and privilege to cook on a few TV shows, but the most memorable one to me was doing this Jello dish. (The whole story is in my article with the actual recipe, so, if you’re curious, you can read it there.)

Secondly, before you do anything with strawberries today, you may like to view my educational experiment from last summer, when word was going around that all strawberries contain little white worms. Since I had just bought a batch of the red berries for my annual Strawberries and Cream consuming, I was understandably concerned about the situation. Here’s how my foray into food science went: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmhsAI5f16U&t=3s.

And now, finally, it’s time for the main event—my Strawberries and Cream recipe! So that you don’t have to take even one second to look it up in my archives to the right of this page, and to welcome all my new readers, I’m going to give it to you in full again.

The amounts are for two to three servings. Yes, you can eat it all at one time, but please keep in mind how caloric it is, because of the cream and sugar.

So, this is what you do for the most delicious dish you’ve ever tasted!:

Buy just one regular-size container of ripe strawberries, no matter how small it looks at the store.

The night before you plan to enjoy this delicacy, rinse all the berries in cold water, and then core the green stem and attached white innards. (I actually own a strawberry huller that does that job, but a very small knife should do fine, as long as you’re careful.) After the coring, I rinse them in cool water again, just to be safe. (I refer you again to my worm-possibility video.)

Cut each berry into about four pieces, and don’t wipe up the red liquid that’s accumulating on the chopping board.

As you go along, place the cut strawberries and residual juice into a tall, thin-ish cylindrical container, (about the height of a spaghetti holder, but a bit wider,) preferably plastic, but glass should be all right, as well. (The pieces will be closer to the bottom than to the top.)

Next comes the only real thinking part, because I don’t measure any of the components of this recipe. I add twenty-to-twenty-four packets of Sugar In The Raw, which is the only sweetener I can vouch for to use in this recipe. I have a feeling it will work well enough with white sugar or maybe even Stevia, but not brown sugar—that will give it a different taste. There’s really no way to tell if you need more or less right away, because it has to marinate overnight. So, the first time you make this concoction, you won’t have an exact measure for your taste. But it’s better to make it less sweet from the get-go because you can always add some to your bowl in the morning, although it won’t taste exactly the same as it would if marinated overnight with the rest of the batch. [Note: Twenty-four sugar packets equals one cup, which is waaaay easier than opening all those tiny wrappers!]

Then gently stir it all around a bit. I find a long plastic chopstick works best for this task, but a thin wooden spoon, or a long “milkshake” one, will work, too. Cover the container, either with its real cover or just a piece of plastic wrap secured with a rubber band, and place in the refrigerator overnight.

When you’re about to eat it the next day, just stir it gently again, and then get ready to delight in the best concoction in the whole world!

This is the process to put it all together for optimum enjoyment: Pour some of the berry mixture into a low shallow small bowl. I love a medium-sized glass Pyrex sherbet-type dish. Make sure you get half berries and half berry “juice.”

Next comes the best part: very slowly pour in heavy whipping cream. No other kind of cream will do!!! (I buy one pint for one container of strawberries, and usually even have a tad leftover!) And then sit back and feel your mouth water as you see it all swirl together. (I’m having trouble getting through writing this without drooling on the keyboard, as a matter of fact.) Continue swirling and then savor small spoonfuls and enjoy!!!

You can enjoy this deliciousness anytime, especially as a luxurious summer breakfast, or a classy poolside snack. But with today being National Strawberries and Cream Day, there’s no better time for this delicacy, right?

I allow myself to have this supreme treat only once a year, while watching Breakfast At Wimbledon, (which is the moniker of those famous tennis Finals,) because it’s soooo calorie-laden. But now that I know about this special day, I plan to have it today, as well. (Believe me—I could eat Strawberries and Cream every day!!!)

I hope you’ll all love this beautiful refreshment as much as I do. And Happy National Strawberries and Cream Day, everybody!