I hope you Mothers had a wonderful holiday!  I did, even though I did the cooking--which is pretty normal.  We had  a Ham dinner with Green Chile-Cheese Scalloped Potatoes and all the trimmings and a favorite of mine--Strawberry Shortcake made with a  simple Welsh butter cake and Whipped Cream flavored with Lavender Sugar and Mexican Vanilla (recipe follows).  And, of course we had ample amounts of champagne.

I just learned that "Albuquerque the Magazine" which is only digital now due to the COVID-19 is featuring the Cooking School and my classes on pages 111-113.  You may view it at abqthemag.com. 

I know you must be ready to do some creative cooking.   It is so much fun to cook with others who also love to cook.  That is why I love teaching full participation cooking classes and can't wait to restart!  We have rescheduled the Chile and Chocolate class--a real favorite to June18.  The Barbecue class is still on for June 4 and the Party Appetizer class is set for July 23 and Grilling for August 6.

We have weekend classes set for August 14-16 and November 6-8.  Also, we have just added another week long class for November 2 to 6 in addition to the July 13-17 week long class. I look forward to cooking with you.  Of course, all the classes are full participation.  We also do private and team building classes.

Our Oaxaca Culinary tour has been rescheduled to September 15-21.  The tour is great fun.  There are three cooking classes, market tours, historic tours, great dinners and more!

I hope to see and cook with you soon!

Here's my favorite shortcake recipe--

WELSH STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

I have tried every conceivable cake for a shortcake and none ever come even close to this, especially when baked shortly before serving and really good vanilla is used, such as good quality Mexican vanilla. Use a mixer to combine the ingredients for a fluffy textured cake. This recipe is originally from Wales and has been passed down through the generations on my Father’s Mother’s side, some of whom came from Wales. The original recipe was very crude—calling for butter the size of an egg, a teacup full of this and that.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Temperature: 376 F

Baking Time: 25 minutes or until done

½ cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

2 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Butter and lightly flour an 8 x 8 cake pan. Place the butter, cut into pieces in the mixer bowl. Mix on medium speed until light and fluffy.

2. Scrape down the sides and add the sugar and combine well, then turn to medium high speed to add air. Add the egg and combine, then beat at the highest speed until light and fluffy. 

3. Combine the flour with the baking powder and salt, then add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the mixer bowl and 1/3 the milk. Combine the ingredients, then beat briefly using medium speed. Repeat until the ingredients are added. Add vanilla and briefly mix.

4. Pour batter into pan, spooning it into the corners of the pan. Bake until golden and pulling from the edges, about 25 minutes. Cool on a rack until ready to serve.

Strawberries and Cream for the Shortcake

1 quart fresh strawberries

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup vanilla sugar or sugar with ½ teaspoon Mexican vanilla

1. Stem and slice the strawberries before serving. Sprinkle the 1/3 cup sugar and stir and set aside.

2. Either before the meal or just before serving, place the cream in a chilled bowl and using a chilled beater blade or whisk, beat the cream until fluffy, then sprinkle on the sugar. Beat until stiff. Fold in the vanilla and serve with the cake and berries.

3. For each serving, place a square of cake on the plate, cutting the cake into two layers. On the bottom layer, place berries, then top with the whipped cream and some strawberries. Top with the top slice of the cake, more whipped cream and berries. Serve.