2 1/4 cups self-rising flour
1 cup milk
2-3 eggs
1-2 pints strawberries for mixture
strawberries for toppping
Whipped cream of your choice (I use light Cool Whip)
Stir
margarine to soften and gradually add sugar. Cream together and add the
vanilla. Beat eggs. Add ingredients and mix. Fold strawberries (washed,
drained, sliced or mashed) into batter. Grease two round cake pans or use
spray. Bake at 375 degrees until done. When it’s lightly brown and you can pull
out a toothpick clean, it’s done. Let cool and remove from pans.
Note:
Some people may opt to leave the berries out of the batter and just use them as
topping, but I like them in the cake for true homemade shortcake. Also, some
may like a white icing, but I only use the whipped cream topping.
Eat
and enjoy.
Southern Superstitions – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author
of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish
Tears filled June’s eyes, as she watched the strawberry
fields become lakes. They sat on their front porch and looked across what were
once their strawberry fields into an immense span of nothing but water as far as
the eye could see. Still, Andy refused to leave the farm. “If the river gets
too high, we have the tractor and the dump truck. We’ll be able to ride out on
one of them, if it gets to the point where we have to leave. God will spare us.
Our berry crop may have gone under, but we won’t have to leave our farm. Taking
a loss on the strawberries is heartbreaking, but we can claim the loss.” June
spoke in a firm voice as though she dared Myrtle to say different as her mother
took a seat in the porch rocker. Andy leaned back in the swing and placed an
arm around June’s shoulder. “Ed told me the people loaded onto the National
Guard truck for evacuation endured a hot, cramped, long, tiring ride, as well as
unbearable sights. They were jam-packed into the back of the truck like
sardines in a tin can. The truck continuously stopped to load other occupants,
making the progress to higher ground slow, to say the least. Homes and
businesses were flooded with water up to their roofs in some areas. People
could only hope and pray the homes they left behind would not end up the same
way.”… “I heard about it on the news,” Myrtle interjected. “A bulletin informed
people about the different locations. I told you we’d have bad luck from that
black cat. It was bound to happen sooner or later.”
Andy and June have known each other since they were kids
attending the same school. June had always had a crush on Andy but never knew
he had one on her too. They have finally been brought together due to him being
a strawberry inspector/grader and June and her mother Myrtle being strawberry
farmers. It became a match truly made in Heaven.
On their way into town to have their strawberries inspected
and graded, a black cat crossed in front of them. Myrtle, being the
superstitious person she is, declared bad luck wasn’t far behind and she was
right when Andy downgraded her strawberries leaving a bad taste for him in her
mind. Andy on the other hand, decided he wanted June and the only way to have
her would be with her mother’s consent and blessings. To receive these he would
have to endear himself to her. This task actually became fairly simple since
Myrtle had always been disappointed that June wasn’t the son she had always
longed for.
Growing up in the Georgia, I know how stubborn superstitious
people can be and no matter what you say they will always cling to their
beliefs. Myrtle was like that. She was a God fearing, religious woman who
believed that everything happened for a reason known only to God but she also
believed that a lot was pure luck – good or bad. In Southern Superstitions June
does everything possible to convenience her mother that luck has nothing to do
with life, God does. Myrtle, on the other hand, blamed the flooding on the
black cat. She also blamed everything else that happened over the years on that
same black cat. But when tragedy really struck bringing an unplanned separation
of June and Andy, Myrtle finally understood that only God will listen to our
prayers and supply us with the ‘luck’ we need to survive.
This is such a beautiful story of love, compassion, life,
strength and belief. It takes a strong person to endure what June went through
and still keep her faith and belief. May we all have the same trust in God that
June had.