Tricked out Strawberry Shortcake (Strawberry Biscuits & Pinot Grigio-Macerated Strawberries)

So, I hesitate to post the recipe so soon after posting my last strawberry shortcake recipe, but it's such a fun rendition that I just had to share. I made these beauties a few weeks ago for my mom's birthday. It was actually kind of a rough weekend, but that's a story for another day. Ever since I saw this post from Joy the Baker, I'd been aching to put strawberries in some biscuits. (Morally, I'm hesitant to bake strawberries in things - it somehow seems wrong to me, but these biscuits are oh so right).

I think putting the strawberries in the shortcake really kicks it up a notch. And since we'd had strawberry shortcake so recently I thought a fun twist would be to macerate the strawberries in a light, crisp pinot grigio - which happens to be my mom's favorite type of wine.

Fun fact: I had a few friends in college who called "strawberries" "strooberries." To this day, I cannot think of strawberries without saying "strooberries" in my mind. It makes me a little nostalgic for my college days, which are now more than two years behind me (where does the time go?!). I seriously miss the downtime in college. I thought I was SO busy back in the day, but looking back I miss living with my best friends and hanging out for a large portion of the time.

For anyone following my Now Reading series, I'm woefully behind on posting. And I'm currently midway through three books. You can look forward to my thoughts on Stephen King's Pet Semetary and his Bag of Bones. Currently, I'm working on King's Needful Things, the Heath brothers' Make it Stick and Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Because I never could do one thing at a time. Fortunately, I've landed a career where multitasking is not only appreciated, but deeply desired.

This (below) is perhaps one of my all-time favorite pictures of my mom. She's a happy lady. She truly is one of my best friends. I am so lucky. We didn't always get along or see eye to eye, but in the last few years she has doled out more wisdom and great advice than anyone else I've met. She's always there for me - in the car with tissues and a stuffed animal or at home with a glass of wine when I need her and even when I think I don't. She's moved beyond Mothering. She's my copilot and my partner-in-crime (I have a few stories that I've been sworn to secrecy on until our household statue of limitations expire).

So, all-in-all what I'm trying to say is you should try this strawberry shortcake recipe, which ends up seeming quite fancy and call your mom or mother-like figure.

Ingredients:

2 pints (4 c.) flour
3 heaping tsp. baking powder (actually make them heaping)
a pinch of salt
butter the size of an egg (I think I used 1/2 c.)
1 - 1 1/2 c. chopped strawberries, dusted with a few Tbsps. of flour
Enough milk to make a wet dough (1/2 - 3/4 c.)
1 pints strawberries
1/4c. sugar (to taste)
2-3 Tbsp. pinot grigio
Whipped cream (I always go homemade)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to "quick" (I usually go between 375 and 425)
2. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into dry mixture until it forms small peas. Add strawberries.
3. Add milk 1/4 c. at a time until a wet, but workable dough forms.
4. Roll dough out and cut with biscuit cutter or a cup or other circular object.
5. Bake in the oven for 20-25ish minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
6. In the mean time, wash and remove the stems from the strawberries. Slice them and toss them with the sugar and pinot grigio. Let them sit to release some of their juices to form a thin syrup.
7. To serve, carefully slice biscuits so there is a top and a bottom.
8. Place berries on the bottom half and add the top half. Place whipped cream and some more berries on top. Serve immediately.