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

Maureen

Maureen is my older sister. I have just one older, then three younger, not to mention Pat, my older brother. So that puts me almost square in the middle of six. How does that actually work when there's an even number?

Today is Maureen's 63rd birthday. My, oh my, does that sound surreal or what? I can still remember our four bedroom home at 3216 Montclair Street where we shared a bedroom. Pat had one, we had one, of course our parents had one, and then poor Carol, Nancy and Lisa had to share the other one. Because Maureen is five years older than me she obviously went through everything way before me. I can still  remember asking her questions at night while we lay in bed before sleep like, "when did you get your period?", start shaving your legs?, wearing deodorant?, liking boys? That sort of thing. (Please forgive me male readers!) She was only too happy to explain the intricacies of growing up.

It wasn't until I was very grown up that I discovered that both of my parents were on their second marriages. It was a well kept secret. I guess I'd have to ask Nancy how it came out that both Maureen and Pat were not Tom Price's children, instead, they were fathered by Tom Malloy. So, in reality, she's my step sister, but Lord knows, I've never thought of her as such.(Since I wrote this my friend Karen was kind enough to point out that Maureen is my half-sister--duh!) She's my sister and I love her.

The last few years have not been kind to Maureen--she not only lost her long time job, but she gained Parkinson's Disease. And then there was last year's stroke. Medications are doing wonders for her tremors, and she's on something or other to minimize her stroke risk. Still and all, it's a lonely life for her these days. Don't get me wrong, she's wildly popular with friends, but most of them work. Days can be long.

This morning I had a dental appointment, scheduled for a filling because Karen, my hygienist thought I might have a cavity. Fortunately, that was not the case, leaving me out and about early. After stopping at Clemons' Produce, I called Maureen around 9 to wish her a Happy Birthday. How about a movie Maureen? Sounded good to her.

When I got home I found out movie times, calling her for input. She'd not seen The Help and neither had I so after picking her soon thereafter we went to Fashion Square Mall, which is dying on the vine by the way. Turns out the first showing of the day was only $4.50 a ticket! Good grief! I bought the medium popcorn--$5.00. We both mostly enjoyed the film. I will tell you that, despite being raised in the South, although Florida hardly qualifies as it is mostly Northern transplants, I can't think of anyone I knew who had "help."

From there we went a few blocks to the Steak and Shake. Maureen enjoyed a Mocha milk shake with her burger.

I am so hoping this next year will be a huge improvement on the last few!

While at Clemons I bought some discounted tomatoes and cilantro for salsa. Today let's talk about the red kind of salsa. Discounted tomatoes Gail? Why not when you're going to be roasting them? Which is what the recipe from the Flying Biscuit Cafe cookbook calls for. I was planning on including the recipe but, as they say, a picture tells a thousand words:

So here's how I started with all the goodies in the pan. After both broiling and roasting, here's what happened:

Nicely scorched. The cilantro got a good chopping to be added after this step:

You may be well aware that some jalapenos have big heat, while others seem to have little. Mostly it seems to do with the smaller the pepper the hotter it is. Not so in today's batch--the jalapeno was big, the salsa, way hot! Where is Bruce when I need him? Why, he's in Massachusetts, that's where he is. On to New Jersey and Maryland this week, returning home Friday afternoon. I'll have some kind of treat for my heat loving husband when he returns!

Because of the show, he put off traveling until this morning, working from home yesterday from dawn to dusk. Maybe later than dusk. Anyway, although I was fully prepared to make dinner, I thought if I got him out of the house, he'd quit working. He agreed. We decided to go on a recognizance mission to a nearby Thai restaurant, maybe some place Matt might enjoy during his visit home next month. Chai Thai, about two miles from the house, was our destination.  Last weekend, I heard a piece on the radio from our former newspaper food critic, that it is quite tasty. As well, my friend Pam, told me it was great, although she was concerned they might not make it because there were few people dining there during her visit. Well, she was right on both counts. Only one other diner and excellent food. Bruce was initially skeptical, however, once the food came, he was sold.

Even the Thai beer was fine by him. He ordered the Thai Basil hot, not Thai hot, just hot. Totally yummy. As you can imagine, the food in the forefront was MORE than enough for two or three meals for me. I'm going in the kitchen momentarily to heat some up for my dinner. The server/owner was indeed very pleasant and when I asked about the lack of folks she said you can't find a seat during lunch time. Very good news that they are doing just fine.

Tomorrow, we'll talk green salsa.

Until then,
Gail