Strawberry Basil Shortcakes + Revealing Imperfections

Strawberries seemed like the perfect basis for Mother’s Day breakfast. No one in my family is allergic, my mom and I both love them..and incidentally, she has plenty of strawberry themed kitchen linens.

Plus, it seems like every other food blog I visited last week featured some sort of strawberry recipe. As soon as I saw this post on Two Peas and Their Pod, I latched on to the idea of making Strawberry Shortcakes for Mother’s Day breakfast. With balsamic vinegar! And fresh basil! And ricotta mixed into the shortbread dough! Somehow, I forgot that when I’m making a new recipe (or, hey, anytime I’m in the kitchen!), I put immense pressure on myself and let the stress of the situation take over.

Of course, my rational mind now says, But it was Mother’s Day. The day wasn’t even about YOU. She was happy you drove down for the weekend and wanted to make a special breakfast. Get over yourself! 

Wait, so Mother’s Day isn’t about being the perfect daughter? (shakes head)

I stressed about not getting my mom flowers. I stressed about not having the shortcakes ready by the time my parents returned from church. I stressed about using salted butter when there was already salt in the dough.

Luckily, no one in the kitchen yelled at me, despite the fact that I barked orders as if we were all on some Mother’s Day breakfast-making reality show.

Funnily enough, when I think back to Sunday morning, I’m pretty sure Andy did most of the work (just checked, he’s pretty sure of that, too). I gathered the ingredients together and mixed them, prepped the baking sheets, glazed the dough with cream…and made the whipped cream. Ha! Andy, upon my pleas, prepped the strawberries, mixed them with the balsamic vinegar and basil, kneaded the shortcake dough, cut it into circles, and actually assembled the shortcakes.

Plus he took the photos!

I distinctly remember shouting our usual refrain when things take longer than anticipated: Whose idea was this?! But that sweet husband of mine took every picture I asked, and more. He realizes his strengths and my weaknesses (in the kitchen and elsewhere), and we worked together.

Why did I get so stressed? If success is measured by how the strawberry shortcakes tasted, then we did absolutely nothing wrong, because they were amazing.

Answer: I placed all that pressure on myself for no good reason. The concept that I am not Betty Crocker incarnate was reinforced once again- but Andy and I did make a nice breakfast for everyone (some deep breaths throughout the process probably would have helped).

This would have been possible for me to prepare on my own, if I’d had more time. As we ate, my dad remarked, Who ever would have thought to add balsamic vinegar to strawberries? And it’s true, that plus the fresh basil really took these babies to a whole other level of strawberry shortcake deliciousness.

Here’s the recipe over on Two Peas and Their Pod; I might even try making them again if I’m feeling up for a challenge.

(Oh, and those strawberry table linens? Let’s not even go into how much time I spent looking for just the right cloth, while Andy put the shortcakes together. Sheesh!)

Cooking and baking are enjoyable, meditative practices for some people. I just wish I was one of them.

It’s okay, though. I’ve got other stuff like hiking and baby-sitting and picture taking (okay, sometimes I get mad at the camera). And my mom was quite satisfied, so really, what else is there to say?

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P.S. I wanted to acknowledge all of the feedback I got for Friday’s depression post. Everyone’s words mean so much to me, as I choose to share while struggling with self-acceptance. I’ve been feeling particularly crappy the last couple of days. Hoping to turn things around soon- here are some (mostly) related links that I found recently: 

• Marbles: Mania, Depression,Michelangelo and Me: A Graphic Memoir, by Ellen Forney. I read this whole book on the car ride down to Long Island on Saturday- another great source for either validation, or understanding what someone with depression goes through. Highly recommend!
• Ten Ways to Fight Off Depression, Part I. Useful tips with some humor thrown in.
• Completely unrelated but majorly appetizing: Pesto egg baguette featured on Knead to Cook. This is my new favorite meal and I haven’t even made it yet.