Mom's home cooking

What does summer mean to me? It means family, barbeques, and delicious home cooking from my mom. Now during the holidays, my mom makes some of her most iconic foods. For me, things start in April. My sister and I have our birthdays in the beginning of April. Normally my mom makes us our favorite meal, or she will take us to our favorite restaurant. There is one thing though that she makes me every year for my birthday. That is her famous strawberry shortcake. I always look forward to her making this every year for my birthday. So much so that it has now become a tradition. Her strawberry shortcake isn't the traditional shortcake though. My mom never makes it the way that everyone else thinks this dish should be made. Once you try it though, you will never have it the same way again. The process starts the night before. She cuts the strawberries up and sprinkles sugar on them. Sometimes she uses a bit of Amaretto for the strawberries. After the strawberries are macerated, (softened by soaking in liquid), the cake part is made. Traditionally, shortcake is made for this dessert. Hence, the name of the dish. My mom never liked shortcake with this dish. She would always say that the cake shouldn't be as dense and definitely a lot more flavorful. So instead of shortcake she would use pound cake. I know it is still a dense cake, but the flavor is better for the dessert. She bakes the pound cake in its traditional loaf pan. Usually, she makes two so I can take the leftovers home with me. Now the whipped cream isn't homemade, but it's still one of my favorites. Some people would layer their cakes, not my mom. Her way of serving the dish is to cut a chunk of pound cake off as the base. After which she layers on some strawberries. Some whipped cream applied on the top of the strawberry layer. Next is more strawberries and some of the macerated liquid. Now it's ready to eat. That is the dish that starts the feeling of summer with me. Knowing my mom takes the time to make me this cake every year makes me feel very special. Usually, after the spring starts to end and fold into summer, her next dish is her baked beans. Like her strawberry shortcake, her baked beans a very non-traditional. When my mom starts preparing for Memorial Day, she starts with making her baked beans. Everyone who has every had my mother's baked beans have never wanted them any other way again. Her baked beans come out of the pot thick and sweet. The recipe is a bit of a family secret. Unfortunately, I cannot divulge everything about her beans. I can however tell you that one thing she doesn't use is molasses. The recipe is not one to be tampered with. To omit or use another product in its place looses the consistency of the dish. One time a friend of the family asked to make the beans for the 4th of July holiday. When my father tasted the beans, he was not happy. Firstly, they were burnt. Secondly, not enough bacon. Thirdly, no onions. That is a must in this dish. Trust me when I tell you that you will not get big chunks of onion in the dish. They dissolve into the bean mixture. Lastly, that normal, sweet taste that make my mom's baked beans special was not there. The family friend had used molasses. My father always was my mother's official taste tester. If he says that there is something wrong with it, then there is. The one thing my father wanted every holiday was my mom's baked beans. It is a staple within our family. Something that my grandmother passed down to both her daughters. Any deviation in the recipe, would change the taste of the dish. My mother has many dishes that come from my grandmother who was from northeast Pennsylvania. An area that we all know as Pennsylvania Dutch. Through trial and error, she has made some of these recipes a staple throughout our lives. Summer food isn't always for the summer. It is food that should be a staple at any time of the year.