Chocolate Biscuits

Recently two nice things converged that made this recipe possible, one strawberries were on sell and two we were having company. We have a "fresh produce" stand in my town, I'm very suspicious of it, often the produce it sells is out of season and it carries items that I'm sure aren't grown locally. Sometimes though it does have what I consider fresh local produce, recently it had a big sign hanging across the front, "Plant City Strawberries." Plant City, Florida is a small town in central Florida, which has slowly become a bedroom community of Tampa, however long before Florida saw it's current population boom, Plant City was know for its early strawberry harvest. I have rarely been to Plant City myself and my personal knowledge of it is as a stop between Tampa and Orlando, but my childhood is rich with stories of the Plant City my Grandmother grew up in. As a child I considered my Grandmother an insufferable story teller, time and age has softened my view of this remarkable woman who would tell you in one breath that she was raised as an only child and tell you in the nest breath about her brother Bill. In the stories of my Grandmother's Plant City it was suffering through the transition from a community where cotton was king to the town known for its strawberries. Given my association with Plant City strawberries and my childhood it probably is no surprise that the sign for, "Plant City Strawberries," drew me. I didn't have any reason to buy strawberries but I was sure I could d something with them.

Not long after the sign appeared over the produce stand, Dad asked me to make lunch for some friends that were coming to town on business. Readily I agreed and immediately went out and bought strawberries to make into a desert. The day of the luncheon came and I still hadn't decided on what I would with the strawberries. I landed on serving the strawberries over shortcakes. I felt this was an imperfect solution for desert, because the wife of Dad's friend loves all things chocolate. As I was looking up shortcake recipes I thought to myself, "chocolate shortcakes," and this recipe was born.

This recipe makes 6 biscuits.

• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup of cocoa
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 6 tablespoons of butter or shortening
• approximately 3/4 cup of milk
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Shift all the dry ingredients together so that the cocoa is mixed throughout the flour. Add the butter and use your hands to incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients. Slowly add the milk until you have a firm dough. I use my hands to tear the biscuits off but feel free to roll the dough out and cut it.

Bake for 20 min at 350 degrees.