Always the last to know

I learned how to make whipped cream this week. Apparently, the ingredients are (get ready for this) cream, and a whipping instrument. You whip cream. Hence the name, whipped cream.

That was probably obvious to 99% of the folks out there, but growing up, we couldn't afford whipped cream. Whipped cream was for the rich kids, and it came in a pressurized can at the ice cream shop or maybe in a tub, kept in the freezer, at your grandma's when pumpkin pie was on the menu. Me, I was lucky to have a mayonnaise sandwich without bread, or maybe the infamous wish sandwich.



So I never made the connection that whipped cream was just cream that was whipped. I just thought it was a name someone gave it because that's what it looked like. So when I followed this recipe for strawberry shortcake, courtesy Dine and Dash, it was kinda cool figuring out that fresh whipped cream is pretty darn easy to make, tastes worlds better than anything in the frozen food section of your local grocer, and (best of all) is easy to whip up (oops! sorry!) on a moment's notice.




The reason I mention this is, I'm kind of an idiot. The other day someone said that they were intimidated to cook for me because I was always posting interesting looking menus on the world wide interweb. And while they meant it as a compliment, I was a bit taken back. (See, I'm an idiot ... shouldn't that be, I was taken back a bit?) Because I've tried very, very hard NOT to make this a "oooh, look at me" site. The exact opposite, in fact. Purpose #1 is quite simply to record the stuff we make, so we don't have to look too hard to find it later if we want to make it again. Purpose #2 is to have a little fun making mistakes as we grope our way through dinner each night. And purpose #3 is to throw some ideas out there, and with a little luck maybe someone else tried it a different way with better results.

So, looking forward to hearing about your "a-ha" culinary moment.

Once again, Dine and Dash's Strawberry Shortcake is here.