Showing posts with label Strawberry shortcake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Strawberry shortcake. Show all posts

Thursday, June 14, 2012

720 Quarts of Strawberries, YUM!

The Third Congregational Church Ladies Aid Society once again served up the best strawberry shortcake in all of Middletown this year, at their annual Strawberry Festival.

They made 1300 biscuits from scratch, covered them with 720 quarts of local strawberries (from Pell Farms in Somers), and topped it all off with 125 quarts of cream, whipped. They were served quickly and graciously by volunteers.

Some of those volunteers have been doing it for many years. June Godburn reminisced about working in the Ladies Aid events 60 years ago. She said that starting in 6th grade, they would come down to the church from the Westfield School, at the site of the current fire station, and help serve meals. In those days, the annual event was a full ham supper; Lorraine Andrews (pictured) told me it was "just too much food", and they started just serving the traditional dessert.

It remains as popular and delicious as ever.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Local Heaven

The Ladies Aid Strawberry Festival was another huge success today. For the past two days, they baked 1800 biscuits, prepared 800 quarts of locally grown strawberries (from Pell's Farm in Branford), and today made many hundreds of people very very happy. The best strawberry shortcake in Middletown drew groups of co-workers for a decadent lunch, and many others for an afternoon delight.

We spied the Mayor and some of his staff, Senator Doyle and Representative Serra (being served, above by Lorraine Andrews), and quite a few kids whose parents must have told the principal that their child had an "appointment".

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Saint Mary's Strawberry Festival

The Ladies Guild of St. Mary's Church held a hugely successful fundraiser today, drawing hundreds of strawberry shortcake devotees. The Lady's Guild uses the money primarily to fund a College Scholarship to a High School student whose family is a parishioner at St. Mary's.

This year they baked 40 dozen biscuits and used 28 flats of strawberries (that's 224 quarts!), and gobs of real whipped cream. The strawberries were Connecticut grown, from Pell's farm in Somers.

The photo shows Guild President Terry Dykas in a flowered apron over a white shirt, head shortcake chef Hilda Forneris in the red, and Marj Dudek in blue.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Berries and Biscuits and Cream, YUMM!

The Ladies Aid Strawberry Festival was a huge success this year. Eager customers streamed through the doors of the 3rd Congregational Church to either eat in or take away delicious strawberry shortcake. About 40 minutes before the scheduled ending, Bob and Lisa Santangelo took the very last shortcake, made with some broken biscuits and nearly the last of the whipped cream.

The Ladies Aid has been holding the festival in Westfield for a hundred years. This year the ladies made 1450 biscuits, and topped them with 800 quarts of strawberries and 35 gallons of freshly whipped heavy cream. They made a lot of people very happy.


Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Strawberry Shortcake Festival Thursday

Every year, the second Thursday in June brings Middletown's greatest early summer gustatory bliss (just my opinion), in the form of the Third Congregational Church's Strawberry Shortcake Festival, in Westfield.
Strawberry Shortcake!
June 11th
11AM until they're all eaten (about 4PM)

Third Congregational Church, 94 Miner Street
This Festival is one of my family's most treasured events all year long. The church serves enormous mounds of biscuit, strawberries, and real whipped cream. A large plate costs $6.50 and a small one $4.50 (large really does mean LARGE, beware).

One of the ladies who always helps with the preparation and serving, Arline Rich, told me that everything is always from scratch with these shortcakes. She said that they have been baking all day Wednesday in preparation, and will be whipping real cream all day tomorrow to serve with the strawberries.

It has been a fantastic year for growing strawberries in Connecticut, with lots of sun and just the right amount of rain. As a result, all of the berries are from Wallingford this year. This promises to be one of the best Strawberry Shortcakes you can get anywhere.