By The family left Saturday. Same as always: the car retreating down the drive, the farm going people-quiet. Two weeks every summer and then this. You readjust. You know how and you do it.
The tomato sauce project started Sunday. The August project, the annual work: picking everything ripe or near-ripe, running it through the food mill, cooking it down, filling the sterilized jars. This year twenty quarts — a good yield, somewhat less than last year's record but more than enough. The sauce of this August for the winter ahead. I labeled the jars with the year and the variety and a note that says "2023" in my handwriting, which is a kind of diary.
The blueberry buckle was good enough that I've made it twice since the family left. Once to give to Ted Marchand and once because I wanted it. Helen's recipe, finally arrived at, after years of eating it at her table without knowing what it was called. The 1987 notebook has been giving me things like this all year: recipes that are both new and remembered, the specific flavor of a dish I've eaten fifty times showing up on my own counter for the first time. It's a strange kind of conversation but it's a real one.
Wrote a blog post about the 1987 notebook this week. About finding it in the drawer. About the conversation it's been all year. It hasn't gone out yet. It's still in drafts. Some things need more time before they go public. But I think it's almost ready.
The blueberry buckle has been the dessert of this particular stretch, but the strawberries from the garden still needed using, and something about the quiet of these post-family days calls for a recipe that doesn’t ask too much of you. Helen’s notebook has been full of that kind of recipe — the ones that trust you to show up and not overthink it. This cobbler is in that same spirit: easy work, good result, the kitchen warm, no one else home.
Easy Strawberry Cobbler
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat your oven to 350°F. Pour the melted butter into a 9x13-inch baking dish and set aside.
- Macerate the strawberries. Toss the halved strawberries with 1/4 cup of the sugar in a bowl. Let them sit for 5–10 minutes while you mix the batter.
- Make the batter. Whisk together the flour, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the milk and vanilla extract and stir until just combined — a few lumps are fine.
- Assemble. Pour the batter directly over the melted butter in the baking dish. Do not stir. Spoon the macerated strawberries and their juices evenly over the top of the batter. Again, do not stir.
- Bake. Bake for 40—45 minutes, until the top is golden and the batter has risen up around the fruit. The center should be set and not jiggly.
- Rest and serve. Let the cobbler cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Good warm, good at room temperature, good the next morning.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 265 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 12g | Carbs: 38g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 160mg