martha mondays, strawberry shortcake, and a little break

this is going to be an all-purpose post ...

martha monday on a wednesday? sure, why not! i was very happy to see that patricia from technicolor kitchen brought us her best brazilian martha dinner of rolled flank steak. oh yes, flank steak is my favorite, how did she know?! and with roasted peppers and mozzarella, need i really say more? go over and check out her post and all her other wonderful creations.

and what did i bring? some lousy herbed couscous. honestly, after i told the world to go out and check out martha's little "best easy dinners" i took a more careful look and couldn't find anything that caught my appetite, which is of converted omnivore who sometimes prefers to be a vegetarian. so i made the couscous (minus the chicken breast), which was super simple, but it didn't really have enough flavor. nor was it very photogenic so you'll just have to take my word for it!

but i don't think i'm going to continue with my little martha monday endeavor. i "met" some people with great blogs: addicted sweet tooth, the frosted bakeshop, columbus foodie, and technicolor kitchen but it was kind of a lonely event. so for now, it's taking a little break, and maybe it will come back tweaked and tinkered to attract more people. or maybe ya'lls just hate martha?? ;)

and honestly, when i started blogging i had no idea why i was doing this, who i was doing it for, and creating food wasn't even on my brain. but then it grew with me and i loved it and i couldn't wait to cook and bake and shoot a gazillion photos along the way.

but now i just don't feel the love anymore. it could be (probably is) because of personal things going on. it could be i'm a little bummed about the nomination, okay i'll admit it, a lot of pissed. it could be i have probably eaten more butter and sugar in the past few months than i have in the past few years. it could be, it could be, it could be.

whatever it is, i guess i feel i need to shrink back a little and be a little quiet. which is perfect timing because in a couple hours i'll be on my way to a sunnier place. it's only a week but hopefully i will come back to new york refreshed, balanced, happy, and energized.

and then we will see what happens.

in the meantime, here is a strawberry shortcake to get you excited about summer (i mean, if you live in the northern hemisphere). the strawberries have finally arrived in the farmer's market and what's not to love? i didn't even sugar these because they were so fresh and delish, none was needed.

maybe that should be my motto right now. no extra sugar needed, because it's great just the way it is ...



strawberry shortcakes: makes 8
from martha's great food fast (2007, p. 86)

2 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup butter, cold cut into small pieces
1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tb
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
6 cups fresh strawberries
whipped cream

1. preheat oven to 425F. in food processor, combine flour, butter, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. process until mixture resembles coarse meal. add milk and pulse just a few times to moisten. do not overprocess.

2. turn out dough on floured surface. with floured hands, gently pat dough into 4 x 8 inch rectangle.

3. dust knife with flour and cut dough into 8 squares. transfer to baking sheet and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon sugar. bake until golden, 25 - 30 minutes. cool on baking sheet. split biscuits with knife, layer with berries and whipped cream.