Two Boys, Some Red Ripe Strawberries and Mom's Pastry Recipe

I have been searching and searching for somewhere to buy or pick Tennessee strawberries. I just can't buy and eat those California or Florida simulations that are slightly red on the outside and are white on the inside. And yea! On the way home from my doctor's appointment in Cool Springs on Tuesday I stopped by the roadside where a fellow was selling from his berry farm! Yippee!! Real Tennessee strawberries!!!

These are red through and through. And they are so sweet and juicy you can't eat them fast enough. I took a gallon to the Mannings and we promptly set out to share the Eaves' tradition of strawberry pastry dessert.

  

Meg has a real handle on the pastry; pardon the pun, as she is using Mombelle's rolling pin. You don't worry about neat edges and you can't over stir or over roll. This keeps the pastry from becoming tough and makes it very flaky.

 

 I consider it a plus that Meg has a convection oven to make the preheat and baking process go faster. It is very difficult waiting for this treat. And as you can see, Vaughn and Riley have this dessert under wraps. Mmmmmm... 

 

When we lived in Humboldt, I remember our
outings to pick strawberries. Of course, no one informed us about the ban on child labor, and we thought it was so much fun! I have a fuzzy memory about it but Mom says that Meg really didn't help much. She was very small and spent most of her time eating the strawberries she picked. We knew, of course, the rewards to come: strawberry shortpastry and frozen strawberry jam. I guess Mom wishes she could have transferred that child labor to our bedrooms...