simply delicious

These locally-grown strawberries would have been an excellent dessert on their own, but I got carried away. Sometimes I am like that fabulous children's book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie when I cook.

I swear I had intended to just plop the strawberries down in the middle of the table and let them speak for themselves. It is easy to follow one urge to the next though. Here is how it happened for Mr. Mouse.


And here is how it happened for me!

If you give a foodie some fresh strawberries, they will probably start dreaming of things that they could do with them. They will ask you for a cookbook and start flipping through recipes, just to realized that there is no whipping cream in the house. Once they find a recipe, they will want the whipping cream so they will go out to the store to get some. In the store, they might walk down the baking aisle and come up with a new recipe. Scharffen Berger chocolate was the perfect catalyst for a change in direction. Once home, things started to come together.
When a foodie starts to whip cream, they will wonder if there is anything they can do to glam it up. Having heard about the magic of balsamic with strawberries they may add a splash to the whipped cream. Now that the whipped cream is a bit tart, they will probably need some sugar too. Thank goodness that there was sugar in the house. With all of the components ready, they realize that the dish needs a presentation so they pull out some wine glasses. Layers are put in; lightly sugared strawberries (in quarters) , melted chocolate, and balsamic whipped cream. When I realized it looked so pretty, I decided that I needed a garnish. Out into the garden I went to find some chocolate mint (yum!). In the garden I realized that the thyme needed to be trimmed back and I was about to follow that train of thought when my stomach growled. Time for dessert!