It feels like a cop-out to start probably the third blog post in a row with “it’s been a tumultuous month”…but it has been! I’m a couple days late on this because Pride was this past weekend (I have odes to write to the Dyke March, my very first, but those may come later) and I was on the go basically non-stop. Plus, I’ve been unemployed for about a week and a half (fear not — barring any sudden developments I will be re-employed as of next week, thankfully) and the stress of the lead-up to that was…a lot. I’m not going to opine on it, but job hunting is hard, and demoralizing.
But then there’s always strawberries.
I have a confession to make here: before June 2019, I had never eaten a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. Really! I’m not a fan of peanut butter sandwiches in general (even though I love a good jar of JIF) and it took the peanut butter, bacon & jam sandwich from Susan Spungen’s Strawberries to change my mind. And changed it is — I made the same sandwich, minus the bacon, repeatedly over the week after I first tried it. I love a good new-to-me comfort food. I’m kicking my 8-year-old self for not getting into this way sooner.
In theory, I’ve got plenty more to say, but I’ve decided to get really into pies this summer and there’s a crust blind-baking in the oven that will need my attention in a few minutes. I hope you enjoy the sweetness of strawberries as much as I did.
Book: Strawberries, Susan Spungen (Short Stack Editions)
Recipes made: 5/21
Strawberry Compound Butter: Delicious and simple and, most importantly, incredibly beautiful. I love that it looked like a sunrise as I spread it across slices of homemade challah (overtoasted, as you can see). I really want to try other compound butters because of this.
Bonus photo for Strawberry Freezer Jam, because I forgot to take a photo before I put it in the freezer.
Strawberry Hand Pies: I had leftover pie dough, which was a godsend; when my girlfriend and I decided we wanted to try this, we didn’t have to wade through the process of making the dough (aka putting myself in temptation’s way…I still ate some dough, though). These are like Pop-Tarts without the weird box art that suggests Pop-Tarts cannibalize themselves.
Cold Soba Salad: I liked the concept of this, but I wish I hadn’t followed it to the letter. I’m not a big fan of cucumber and didn’t love its texture here, but the flavors were all really good and I’ll definitely be making cold soba more this summer.
Peanut Butter, Strawberry & Bacon Sandwich: Spungen advises that this be made with soft white bread, and I’d imagine it would be incredible on that rather than chewier peasant bread. Still delicious, still probably going to be a frequent breakfast throughout the rest of my life APBJ (After Peanut Butter & Jam).