My mother-in-law, Bette Jo, has been an active member at her synagogue for years, and some of her closest friends are those she met participating in her temple sisterhood. These are the women whose kids grew up alongside my husband and his brothers, and who jumped at the chance to throw me a fantastic bridal shower when I married Kenny. Several of them made the trek to L.A. to celebrate our nuptials with us, and a couple even acted as official witnesses during our ketubah signing ceremony. Over the years, some of Bette Jo’s sisterhood friends and I have connected via social media, and every time I post a cooking or blog-related post, they are always quick to respond.
Last year, after I posted a photo from one of my cooking classes, Marci and Judi both commented about how they wished they could join the class, but given our current distance at the time, their participation was out of the question. I responded with a promise to hold a cooking class the next time I was in Columbus, whenever that might be. A couple months ago, when Kenny and I settled our plans for a visit to his hometown, I reminded Bette Jo of my promise, and a plan was quickly hatched. Of course, within moments of the official announcement for the class, Marci and Judi sent in their RSVPs (though, as they were the impetus of the whole event, I did give them a heads up that this was in the works).
Bette Jo graciously offered to host the event in her home, and with her help, I relished coming up with a menu that I hoped would include ingredients that might be new to these women. Bette Jo made sure her knives were sharpened, and when I arrived to town, we had a blast going from store to store, procuring all the ingredients on my list. Soon, the night of the event was upon us, and ten Women of Temple Israel joined us for a cooking class and a fun dinner amongst friends.
We chatted as we cooked, sipping on a Summer punch Bette Jo had made (and some of us had spiked), and we quickly navigated through four of our five dishes before we got cozy around the dinner table to feast on the fruits of our labor. By the time dessert rolled around, the ladies were pretty full, but once they knew what we’d be making, we all managed to make room for our Marinated Strawberry Trifles. I could see the skepticism written across a few faces as they saw that we would be marinating our strawberries in a good balsamic, but the dubious looks quickly subsided as we whisked together freshly made whipped cream, Barbi’s favorite ingredient. We assembled our trifles in little decorative mason jars that Bette Jo found for the occasion, and soon, the women oohed and aahed at the tangy and sweet flavor from the unusual pairing. I knew my recipe had earned their stamp of approval when every single trifle-filled mason jar turned up empty at the end of the night. This was good news for the ladies, as they now had a handy take-out container to fill with our leftover pasta dish.
As the night came to an end, and Kenny, Bette Jo and I finished putting away the last of the dishes, I checked my Facebook page, and sure enough, I found comments and “likes” from the women who started it all. I now understand why this group is so important to Bette Jo, and I am thrilled that I was able to share this experience with them. I’m already thinking about what recipes we’ll make next time I’m in town!
- 1 quart fresh strawberries, stemmed and quartered
- ½ cup of good-quality balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp superfine of baker's sugar
- 3 cups of heavy whipping cream
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 12 vanilla meringue cookies
- In a baking dish, add the strawberries, vinegar and baker's sugar. Stir to combine, and set aside to marinate for 15-20 minutes.
- In a separate bowl that has been chilled, add the whipping cream, and using a mixer with a wire whisk,
- whisk until soft peaks form. Add the vanilla and sugar, then continue to whisk
- until stiff.
- In individual glasses, spoon 2 Tbs. of the whipped cream. Using a different spoon,
- add 2 Tbs. of the marinated strawberries to each glass. Crumble in some of the
- vanilla meringue. Keep building layers until the glass has reached desired level of
- fullness.
- Serve immediately, or refrigerate until serving time.
