Strawberry Shortcake Trifle

The contrast MRI was Friday. Sean went in. Sean came out. We went home. We drove. We did not talk much. We picked up Liam at camp. We picked up Nora at preschool. We ate dinner. We did bath and book. We put the kids to bed. We sat on the couch. Sean said "I was in that machine for an hour." I said "I know. Contrast takes longer." He said "it was loud." I said "I know." He said "I hate it, but I did it." I said "you did it. You were brave." He said "please stop saying brave. I was not brave. I was lying still. That is not brave." I laughed. Not loud. Short. He laughed. We watched a comedy we had both seen before and did not have to pay attention to. We went to bed.

Dr. Kim's consult is July 11. Two weeks out. It was the first appointment his office had. I pushed for earlier. There was not earlier. Kim's nurse called Tuesday of this week and said she had read the radiology report and that Dr. Kim was "not alarmed." She said there was "a small finding that requires monitoring" and that "the consult will be a plan-building conversation." She said Dr. Kim wanted to give us time to absorb the idea of the finding before we sat down, and that is why the consult was in two weeks. She said "this is not an emergency. This is a process." I said thank you. I wrote these sentences down. I read them again at 11 PM Tuesday night at the kitchen counter. Small finding. Monitoring. Not an emergency. A process. I am holding these five phrases.

Two weeks is a long time. It is also not that long a time. It is the length of a Maureen-visit or a pair of clinic weeks. I can do two weeks. I am doing them.

I made blueberry cobbler Sunday afternoon. The farm stand had the first New Jersey blueberries, which means the Maine ones are two weeks out. The cobbler was the biscuit-topped version, not the crumble version, with butter and buttermilk biscuits dropped on top of the hot fruit. Forty minutes in the oven. Vanilla ice cream. Liam had two servings. Nora had one large serving, which she ate with her fingers, which I decided not to correct. Sean had a serving after dinner and another one standing at the kitchen counter at 10 PM when he came downstairs for water and saw the pan and could not help himself. I watched him eat it. He saw me watching. He shrugged. He is fine. He is Sean. The cobbler was good.

Linda had us over for iced tea Saturday afternoon, just me and the kids, and told Liam stories about her daughter when she was four. Liam listened. He asked good questions. He asked if Linda's daughter still played with toys. Linda said no, her daughter is now forty-six. Liam looked staggered. The concept of a forty-six-year-old having once been four was the largest concept of the afternoon. He wanted to know what her toys had been. Linda told him. He accepted the catalogue. He went home thinking about it.

The tomatoes are turning. The first Sungold is yellowing. The first Early Girl is shouldering. By mid-July we will be eating them. I count down in plant-calendar. I count down in a lot of calendars these days.

The cobbler pan was empty by Monday morning. Gone. And because I am someone who processes two-week waits by standing in a kitchen, I made a strawberry shortcake trifle the following afternoon — same instinct, different fruit. Layers of torn biscuit and macerated strawberries and whipped cream in a glass bowl so you can see the whole cross-section, so you can watch the juices bleed down through the layers while you hold your five phrases and wait for July 11. Here’s how I made it.

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 18 minutes | Total Time: 48 minutes + chilling | Servings: 8

Ingredients

For the biscuits:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
3/4 cup cold buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the strawberries:
2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
For the whipped cream:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Macerate the strawberries. Toss sliced strawberries with sugar and lemon juice in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, stirring once, until the berries release their juices.
Make the biscuits. Preheat oven to 400°F. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in cold butter with a pastry cutter or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla until just combined — do not overmix.
Bake. Drop biscuit dough in 8 rough rounds onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake 16–18 minutes until golden on top and cooked through. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
Whip the cream. Beat heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla with a hand mixer or stand mixer until stiff peaks form. Keep cold until ready to assemble.
Assemble the trifle. Tear or cut cooled biscuits into rough 1-inch pieces. Layer the bottom of a trifle dish or large glass bowl with half the biscuit pieces. Spoon half the strawberries and their juices over the biscuit layer. Spread half the whipped cream on top. Repeat layers: remaining biscuit, remaining strawberries and juice, remaining whipped cream.
Chill and serve. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (up to 6 hours) so the biscuit pieces soften slightly and the layers meld together. Garnish with a few whole strawberries before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Strawberry Shortcake Trifle — Something Sweet While We Wait