A Strawberry Shortcake Kind of Birthday

It really tickled my grandma Hazel that so many of you were kind enough to wish her a happy 92nd birthday over the weekend. She said to thank you for thinking of her. She had a wonderful birthday surrounded by family and friends.

For her birthday cake, she requested that I make my strawberry shortcake. It’s her favorite dessert. I made a pyramid of them on one of her old cake stands and put an “H” candle on top (for “Hazel,” of course!).

We love chocolate around here, so I always add chocolate chips to them. Then you can top you shortcake with strawberries, chocolate-chip ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate syrup, mini-chocolate chips, or whatever you like. Yum. (Recipe below.)

Here’s a picture of the birthday girl with me and her great-granddaughter Lily:

We were at one of our favorite Japanese restaurants, and Lily was ready to try out her new chopstick skills.

I hope I have half of my grandmother’s spunk and energy at 92! (You may recall the story I told about her in this post.) Hazel moved here from Southern Illinois a few years ago so she wouldn’t be living so far away from all of us any more, and we love having her nearby at her “retirement village.” (I was given strict instructions to let you know it’s not a “nursing home.”) Her only complaint about the village is that, as she puts it, “There’s an awful lot of old people living there!”

Here’s to another happy and healthy year, Grandma. I’m already looking forward to having more strawberry shortcake next July!

Recipe for Julia’s Chocolate-Chip Strawberry Shortcakes:

Mix together:

• 4 2/3 cups Bisquick
• 1 cup milk
• 6 tbs sugar
• 6 tbs melted butter
• However many chocolate chips or chunks you want

Drop by nice big, round balls onto ungreased cookie sheet (don’t use a dark pan if you can help it because the bottoms of the shortcakes will get done before the rest of them do). I usually get about 14-16 shortcakes out of one batch, which is enough to make a good pyramid on a cake plate.

Bake for about 12 minutes in a 425-degree oven, until the tops are golden brown. And serve ‘em while they’re hot.

Put out whatever toppings you’d like so people can fix their shortcakes how they want. I like a big bowl of sliced strawberries in sugar-syrup (buy frozen ones and you won’t even have to slice them or add the sugar yourself), whipped cream, mini-chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, and tubs of both vanilla and chocolate-chip ice cream.

Believe it or not, some weirdos people don’t like chocolate, so I always make about 4 of the shortcakes without the chips and offer plain vanilla ice cream for them. Hey, I aim to please.

That’s all there is to it. Now gobble it up!

Tagged as: baking, birthday cake, birthdays, chocoholic, chocolate, recipes