Making Biscuits

I've had a lot of cooking experience in my lifetime, beginning when I was a young teen. Generally, with practice, one becomes better at most things, and I believe cooking falls into that category. After Maureen left home, a good deal of the cooking duties fell to me, the next in line. Our Mother, it seemed, relinquished the kitchen to the younger generation.

Then along came four boys of our own, so you can imagine the cooking that went on in this household. Mostly I taught our boys to like, that is if they wanted to eat, the same sort of foods I cooked growing up. Not entirely, because we did add taco salad ,and stir fry, to our repertoire, but in general, Mid-Western American cooking because that is what I knew best. Then, when Matt was fifteen or sixteen, he decided vegetarian was the way to go, so I added a tiny bit of that to my cooking expertise. That said, he left for college a month after turning 17, making that was experiment short-lived on my part.

I can't make cheese, but I can make bread. I made my own bar-b-que sauce and salad dressings before it became fashionable to do so. But one thing that has always eluded me is a good biscuit. Yup--the humble biscuit. Just cannot seem to get them right. So it was, the other night, while Bruce went fishing down at the lake, I decided I would give it a go one more time. Well, maybe this won't be the last, but you get my drift.

Every city Matt has ever lived in is usually the inspiration for his gifts. This would include spices from the Chicago Spice House, books, bags, and more from London, and two fantastic restaurant cookbooks from his stint in Atlanta. One restaurant, Agnes and Muriel's has closed, however, it looks as if Flying Biscuit Cafe is thriving, if their website is any indication. And I see they have another cookbook....

I've had their namesake biscuit before, and it is worthy of naming a restaurant after. Thus, having both the half and half AND the heavy whipping cream the recipe called for....

(Please ignore the little white dots of light--the product of under cabinet lights!) The biscuit dough came together beautifully, and although I thought I'd rolled it to about an inch thick, perhaps not?

Please note the green tomatoes just waiting to be fried tonight! So, yeah, the dough seemed perfect, the cutter was beautiful to work with.

In spite of following the recipe as written, my efforts, once again came to no avail. Although they look nothing like the biscuits they serve, they were tasty nonetheless.

Because the two of us could never eat that many at one time, I froze the unbaked ones, and we'll see how that works out. Why they did not rise more is beyond me.

The other morning, while I was gazing at the owl kids, and thinking I could tell one was larger than the other, meaning one is female, and one male, Cheryle came running down the street. We commiserated; her take is that they look the same size. How about your take?

In other news, my stamp stuff is back in my possession...

I may just have to gift this to our friend Mary who has been a great supporter of my efforts in whatever I've done. :)

Just like the boxed water from last week, which turned a few heads at the market I might add, here's another new product I spotted that somewhat mystifies me. Won't black mulch just bake the soil in this heat?

Then too, a local controversy seems to have ended on a happy note. Back in November I wrote HERE about a pink bunny statue placed on the lawn of Lake Como. At the time of writing I knew not what it stood for, but later on learned it was a memorial to a man who was the assistant to Commissioner Patty Sheehan. Seems like for years he dressed as the Easter Bunny for several annual events. Sadly, although a fairly young man, he passed away.  Just last week I saw news that a nearby neighbor insisted on its' removal. Not so fast...

Looks like it is going nowhere any time soon!

Before I thought of writing about biscuits I meant to write about a paper Fallon, Bill's girlfriend wrote for her Sociology class. Last week she said she needed to interview someone over 60, and would I be willing. Sure thing. Generally when I try and cut and past an email in here it screws things up and this time may be no exception but still I'm going to share:

1. Please tell me about your childhood, family and school life.
2. Do you consider yourself old? At what ages (or stages) did you notice that you were getting older?
3. What is the most important historical event or period of time that you have lived through? How did it influence you personally?
4. What is the biggest change you have seen in how people conduct their everyday lives?
5. What have been the best years of your life so far? What are your plans for the future?
6. How are young people today different from when you were their age?
7. What advice would you give young people to help them prepare for their old age?
8. Have you ever experienced any negative attitudes or discrimination because of your age? If yes, please explain.

Well,  you can imagine how I answered #2. Not on your life do I feel old!! I did tell her at the outset to be prepared as I can be pretty wordy as my readers well know. And I was.

Finally, the heat wave that began last Friday continues...highs of 97+ degrees are in the five day forecast. The sun is so blazing hot it is best to stay indoors for at least the middle part of the day. 

Trying to stay cool, (in more ways than one)

Gail