Have you ever had an evening sprinkled with strawberry moans, groans, and salvage operations?

If we were playing the popular Never Have I Ever game in teams for the final tie-break, this is where you’d glance at me sideways with an expression of abject horror because we were so close to winning.

It literally just happened last night. Honest!

Let me first start by saying that I firmly believe in the interconnectedness of life, down to the farthest corner of the globe. If you’re upset, it travels earth-wide, like a stone cast in water creating ripples. Every feeling generates a wave of sorts. If I’m laughing about something___you got it___ripples. Our emotions always have a planetary impact, whether sensed by others or not.

With current world chaos, you need to grab happiness anywhere and everywhere right now, and gosh darn it, strawberry shortbreads made me rapturous last night!

My 14-year-old son was experiencing resounding success trying new recipes, so I collaborated with him on a simple dessert choice found in a DK publication The Ultimate Children’s Cookbook. As it was a straightforward recipe, I could allow him most of the heavy lifting as it were.

Strawberry Shortbreads

Ingredients

4 oz non dairy butter

2 oz caster sugar

4 oz plain flour

2 oz cornflour

Topping

8 oz strawberries (cut)

2 oz berry jam

Tofu Whip

8 oz soft tofu ½ tsp vanilla

1/4 cup oil ¼ tsp salt

2 tbs maple syrup

1/2 tbs lemon juice

All ingredients creamed in blender or food processor

A combination of plain flour, cornflour, sugar, and unsalted butter took care of the shortbread part with the butter and sugar first creamed together in a mixer until fluffy. Two flour types were to be sifted but I’ve never owned a sieve. I am, however, a growing master of improvisation, so I handed my junior baking apprentice a whisk and let him have at it as the saying goes.

Now all of this preparation and mixing spilled over into one of our favorite shows, Star Trek Deep Space Nine (aka Deep Space Nine or DS9). A riveting episode, The Ship, where Captain Sisko and his away team are on an uninhabited planet in the Gamma Quadrant conducting a feasibility assessment for naturally occurring cormaline deposits on the planet’s surface.

Aboard a station runabout (think smallish space golfcart) orbiting the planet, an Ensign (low ranking newly trained officer) in command of the shuttlecraft notifies Sisko of an unknown ship on a crash trajectory to the planet.

My son and I are both engrossed with the TV series (even though I’ve watched it innumerable times.)

I still have to supervise.

“Sweetie, use the spatula to push the mixture down from the sides so it mixes together evenly___Uh-uhh!___Move the mixer around the bowl and hold the bowl tight,” I say while his eyes are irresistibly drawn back to the television.

A minute later he stops.

“Is it fluffy?” I ask.

“Yeah, it’s mixed,” he replies.

I look.

“Hon, you have to mix it some more until it’s fluffier___see those globs of sugar? They can’t be showing like that.”

“Oh, okay. Can I use the turbo feature?” he grins.

I remember, you only live once.

WHIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRL___

Now suitably fluffy, sifted flour is added with instruction to mix it well with a fork. Looking at the flour, it sure seemed a massive amount though only 1.5 cups. That mixture would break a fork. We were both skeptical but followed the recipe anyway.

With about a three-quarter cup of flour left, my son tapped out. The mixture was too hard and dry to keep mixing. I took over, intending to demonstrate spatula use to force more dry ingredients into the meager wet ingredients.

He was already up close and personal again with DS9.

After the crash impact, the away team beamed (dematerialized and re-materialized) to the crash site to discover a Jem’Hadar vessel with no survivors. As the United Federation of Planets (aka ‘The Federation’ or ‘Starfleet’) is at war with The Dominion (de facto rulers of the Gamma Quadrant), and the Jem’Hadar are its ultra-supreme elite unstoppable military contingent governed by the Vorta, a ghost-pale cloned species genetically engineered to serve The Founders (Supreme leaders called the Dominion), this is a fortuitous, strategically advantageous find for Sisko and crew. A message is relayed to the station commander at Deep Space Nine Space Station for an assistance tow of the ship back to base.

Abruptly, another Jem’Hadar ship approaches on an intercept course for the runabout. Their evasive maneuvers too little, too late, the Federation crew are no match for the incoming attack. All three Starfleet officers aboard die in the explosion.

“Okay, hands-on time now. It needs shaping into a ball for rolling,” I say.

“Sure, I know what to do,” he says attacking the dough.

“Did you grease the baking sheet?”

“Yup.”

“Okay, cool. I’ve torn off your baking paper over there. I’ll cut the strawberries so they’ll be ready for you,” I say opening the fridge.

Later, with a slightly bigger than a softball-sized dough clump in his hand, he is as bewildered as I am.

“It’s not that big, Mom.”

“Agreed,” I say weighing the amount it will yield in my head. “That’s not much at all. Imagine if we hadn’t doubled the recipe. We’d have like two cookies each!”

We both laugh out loud.

There’s not enough non-dairy butter for another batch.

Meanwhile back at the station, Chief Medical Officer Julian Bashir and Ferengi Bar Proprietor Quark are hauled to the security office before the Station Commander. I know this is spacing filler for events on Torga IV, so turn my attention to the sauce before my son eats all the strawberries (Discounted for 99p at Lidl. We were destined to make these little bad boys!)

It’s really as easy as heating the jam over the stove then putting the strawberries in to coat them.

“Put things away you’ve finished using for more room,” I say while watching hands try to roll the dough between the baking paper.

“Umm, this isn’t working.”

I remember it’s been a while since he’s used a rolling pin. I demonstrate. He catches on in seconds and takes over.

When I first saw the recipe, I wondered what to substitute for the double whipped cream. We were NOT doing dairy!

Had forgotten about previously making tofu whipped cream before! Been years! With a little maple syrup, lemon juice, oil, vanilla, salt, and soft tofu, the taste and texture would be hypnotic.

Less idyllic on Torga IV as a firefight ensues from the newly landed Jem’Hadar troops. One Starfleet Officer is killed while another, Enrique ‘Quique’ Muniz, injured as the team takes refuge in the damaged Jem’Hadar vessel. Uncharacteristically, the attackers do not continue the pursuit.

Moments later, a solitary Vorta named Kilana, contacts Sisko on the ship’s radio to arrange a neutral ground meeting. She negotiates to regain control of Dominion property, even offers a free ride back to DS9. Sisko isn’t swayed, citing salvage rights. Finders keepers. But while he is in talks with Kilana, Chief Engineer Miles O’Brien radios of a Jem’Hadar decloaking with tracking equipment inside the ship (Yeah, they can pretty much become invisible.) O’Brien is saved from sure death by Jem’Hadar as a shot is fired killing the soldier by Muniz whose minor wound has major impact. The officers learn that Jem’Haddar weapons are equipped with an anticoagulant. Muniz has uncontrolled bleeding requiring immediate medical attention but the crew is stranded.

Frayed nerves temper Sisko as the Vorta negotiator arranges another meeting. She apologizes explaining that the ship contains something valuable but won’t disclose what.

“Don’t you trust me?” asks Sisko.

“I’d like to Captain, but I can’t. Not under these circumstances. There’s simply too much at stake for us.”

“We’ve got a lot at stake too. I won’t risk the lives of my crew.”

“It seems we’re approaching an impasse.” says Kilana.

“We’ve already arrived.”

(Captain Sisko and Kilana)

Each retreat to their respective vessels. The Jem’Hadar begin non-lethal but continuous bombardment of the ship Starfleet now occupy.

Strange.

But back aboard the station, it was Quark’s Ferengi greed for profit that landed both he and Dr. Bashir in hot water. Leave it to the Ferengi Bartender to smuggle illegal Regalian liquid crystals in the Doc’s supplies imported for medical purposes. The insatiable search for profit is the way of the species. Sounds kinda familiar, don’t it?

Meanwhile, the black cherry conserve with fresh strawberries that I’m stirring looks absolutely divine! They are generating some deliciously naughty fantasies of licking it off dark chocolate hunks of—

“Mom is this okay to use for cookie cut-outs?” my son says holding a glass. He too has become an improvisation master…in the nick of time.

When the eight cookies come out of the oven, they’re a delicious golden brown but super glue stuck to the baking sheet. My son tries scraping them up. I try scraping them up. No dice! I go at it again.

*Sigh*

Well, I reason, dice are for wussies.

Simultaneously, Klingon Lieutenant Commander Worf and Chief O’Brien have heated disagreements over Muniz who Worf feels should be told the realities so he can meet death like a warrior.

“It is only a matter of time.” Worf says.

“So, we should just kill him. Right?!” O’Brien says with seething anger.

“If you truly are his friend, you will consider that option. It would be a more honorable death than the one he’s enduring.”

“I’m not some bloodthirsty Klingon looking for an excuse to kill my friend.”

“No. You are just another weak human afraid to face death.”

(Worf and O’Brien discussing Muniz)

Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax addresses the tension with humor, attempting diffusion. Sisko returns patience weary ordering crew to repair the ship and find whatever valuable item is sought by the Vorta as their ticket off the planet.

O’Brien jokes with Muniz whose eyes become lifeless, adding to the mission body count.

Familiar gelatinous fluid droops from the bulkhead. Everyone can now see a Changeling—or shapeshifter—a species that takes any form, honored as deities by Jem’Hadar and Vorta alike.

Okay, it’s you and me shortbreads!

*Furious scraping*

I am NOT giving up on these cookies. Something will have dark cherry strawberry-laden something topping tonight!

With dogged persistence, I wrangle them loose and whole from the cookie sheet, placing tofu whipped cream in a porcelain bowl near the pot of still-warm fruit decadence.

My son and I have two shortbreads each on a small plate to prep at a time. As we sit down with our dessert, clearly the Changeling is dying. The bloodcurdling shrieks and groans emanating are audible to Team Dominion as well.

Nothing can be done.

When a well-timed commercial interrupts DS9 proceedings, we sink our teeth into apex delicacy heaven.

The pleasurable moans escaping our lips between bites are a stark contrast to Changeling's death throes. These strawberry shortbreads are life! Should be required kit on all space missions…earth missions…mission missions. Damn! Creamy soft mild sweetness of topping caresses double whipped cream in our mouths encouraging the firm texture of shortbread to chew again and again.

“Oh. My. WORRRD-DAH!!!”

“These are amazing.” my son counters.

“We’re gonna hafta do these again tomorrow!” I state, staring lovingly at a half-eaten masterpiece.

“I totally agree! I’ll get more non-dairy butter from the store!” my son says as he heads back into the kitchen for round two.

When Kilana alone beams onto the ship to speak with Sisko for the last time, the mood is somber.

Dominion soldiers have an oft-repeated saying,” Victory is life!”

Kilana informs the Captain that all the Jem’Hadar have committed ritual suicide. An expected end result of their failure for letting a Founder die. Kilana is permitted by Sisko to collect a sample of Changeling remains.

Traveling home, Worf joins O’Brien stationed at Muniz’s casket in the cargo hold. He explains a Klingon death ritual, ak’voh, when a warrior’s body is guarded against predators until it reaches Sto'Vo-Kor (Klingon eternal reward). He then sits ‘on guard’ with O’Brien in silence.

Back aboard DS9, Dax attempts to assuage deep-seated regret from Sisko over the mission death rate for one piece of Dominion technology.

Extensive death tolls have been par for the course over the past year. Nothing about this is easy in any case. It is incumbent, to enjoy the time we have since it is a blessing for however long we have it.

Did my son and I strawberry shortbread it the next day?

You betcha boots we did.

Life is precious. Bake often.

And oh, don’t ever play me in Never Have I Ever…

Even my secrets have secrets.

Personal note: Thank you for taking the time out to read this story. I trust you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Your support means so much to me and all of the writers here on Vocal. Please like and share these stories far and wide. Put fun at the top of your list today and tomorrow then tell me all about it on Twitter or Instagram @thedaniwriter.