Strawberry Shortcakes

I have been known to make anyone their favorite cake on their birthday. Nana's is a Chocolate Cherry cake, Stu's favorite is Red Velvet, and Jackson's is Carrot with a smooth cream cheese icing. Only kidding! We went to see some of our friends yesterday and it was her birthday so I tried out Strawberry Shortcakes, which are her favorite.

Strawberry Shortcakes
Serves 6

Buttermilk Biscuits
2 lbs fresh strawberry, sliced mixed with 1 1/2 tbsp sugar and set aside
whipped cream



Buttermilk Biscuits
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tbsp sugar(I used Central Market Evaporated Cane Juice Sugar)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Rounded 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 stick of cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3/4 cup of cold buttermilk, shaken well
1 tbsp milk or cream to brush on the biscuits
I used some Turbinado pure Cane sugar to sprinkle on top of the biscuits because it makes them look so pretty!

Oven at 425 and put the rack in the middle.

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda on a piece of wax paper then sift again together into a medium size bowl. Blend the butter in with your fingers until it looks like cornmeal. I was thinking about using the food processor for this like I've done in the past but it went a lot faster than I thought so I got my hands dirty. Add the buttermilk and blend with a fork until the dough just forms and it will be moist!

I used a piece of wax paper and taped it to the counter and put flour all over it. Turn the dough out and prepare for more flour...it is sticky! Pat it out into a 8x5 1/2 inch rectangle. Cut it in half lengthwise and then in thirds crosswise to create six biscuits. If you were really conservative with the dough, you could easily make 8 biscuits. Transfer the biscuits to an ungreased baking sheet with a spatula. Brush the tops with milk or cream then sprinkle with the sugar.

Bake for 12-15 minutes. 11 minutes was the magic number for our oven.

Once the biscuits are cool, slice each one open with a knife. On the bottom half, spoon some of the strawberries on it and top with whipped cream then place the other half on top to create a sandwich. Enjoy!

Amanda

20 Clove Chicken

Nope, that is not a typo. We only had two pounds of chicken so I halved the recipe:) It's still in the crockpot, but after smelling it I know it is going to be amazing! Here is the recipe:

20 Clove Crockpot Chicken

Half of a large sweet onion sliced
2 lbs spilt chicken breasts
1 tbsp EVOO (yes, I am Rachel Ray)
salt
pepper
garlic powder
paprika
20 cloves of garlic, peeled but still intact

It is so easy too! That's why I love this so much! I started it at about 9:30 this morning because I'm lazy and didn't feel like defrosting the chicken. Put the sliced onions on the bottom of your crock. The original recipe says to toss everything else, but again, I'm lazy. I seriously just took the block of chicken breasts out of the Styrofoam and laid it on top of the onions. Then I drizzled it with EVOO, sprinkled salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika on top. Toss the garlic in on top and turn it to low. The recipe says the longer you can wait, the better. We're watching a friend's baby so won't eat until about 7:30 so it will be on for about 10 hours.