By Week 522. Spring 2026. I am 43 years old and standing in my kitchen — the Bench house kitchen, the one that held cancer and divorce and cinnamon rolls — and the stove is on and something is cooking and the house smells like fresh herbs and possibility and this is my life. This is the life I built.
Tom made his trout on Friday, the way he does every Friday, and the fish was perfect, and the kitchen smelled like lemon and capers, and I sat at the table and ate fish that my partner caught and cooked and served, and the being-served is still a wonder after all these years.
Mason is 15 and navigating high school with the quiet competence that has always been his way — focused, kind, certain of who he is in a way that took me thirty years to achieve.
Lily is 13 and competing in equestrian events and winning with the Dawson stubbornness that I recognize because it's mine.
I made strawberry shortcake this week. The food continues. The food always continues. It is the thread that connects every week to every other week, every year to every other year, every version of me to every other version — the woman on the kitchen floor, the woman at the chemo recliner, the woman at the grill, the woman at the outdoor table under the string lights. All of them, connected by the food they made with their hands. All of them, me.
Strawberry shortcake was on my mind all week — the brightness of it, the simplicity, the way it tastes exactly like a Tuesday in May when nothing is wrong and everything is enough. I didn’t have shortcake biscuits on hand, but I had butter and eggs and lemons, and these lemon cream puffs gave me the same feeling: something made with your hands, something light and sweet, something that says this moment is worth celebrating. After 522 weeks of threading the needle between grief and joy, I have learned that any dessert you make from scratch on an ordinary Wednesday is an act of gratitude.
Lemon Cream Puffs
Prep Time: 25 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes | Servings: 12
Ingredients
- Choux Pastry:
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- Lemon Cream Filling:
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, cold
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat oven to 400°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Make the choux dough. Combine water, milk, butter, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a full boil, stirring until butter is completely melted.
- Add flour. Remove pan from heat and add flour all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the dough pulls away from the sides and forms a smooth ball, about 1 minute. Return to medium-low heat and stir 1–2 minutes more to dry out the dough slightly.
- Incorporate eggs. Transfer dough to a large bowl and let cool 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, until the dough is smooth, glossy, and falls from the spoon in a thick ribbon.
- Pipe and bake. Spoon or pipe dough into 12 mounds (about 2 tablespoons each) onto prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake 25–30 minutes until puffed and deep golden brown. Do not open the oven door during the first 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
- Make the lemon cream. Beat cold heavy cream, powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla in a chilled bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, about 3–4 minutes.
- Fill the puffs. Slice each cream puff in half horizontally. Spoon or pipe a generous dollop of lemon cream onto the bottom half, then replace the top. Dust liberally with powdered sugar just before serving.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 218 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 16g | Carbs: 14g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 95mg