Friday, September 2, 2022

Biscuits, explained.

I was making biscuits again here. There was some discussion about biscuits the last time that I mentioned them. These are biscuits on my side of the pond. You can split them and serve them with chicken gravy or sausage gravy over them. Or you can drizzle syrup on them for the mornings. You can make egg sandwiches out of them. Our favorite way is to have them fresh from the oven with a good butter mix. If you use this recipe (which is my favorite), note that he doesn't mention the oven temp which is 425 F for 12-15 minutes. Note also that you can whip a batch of these up, and then freeze them, baking them two at a time or something. There is something very nice about a piping hot biscuit with dinner. 

I like to make a flavored butter for them. 

Honey butter, which is a healthy jolt of honey, a drip of vanilla, and probably a half cup of room temperature butter. You can add more honey to taste if you want. Blend it together. I use my immersion blender with the whisk attachment. Once it is blended, I put it in the refrigerator until I'm ready to use it. 

Another butter we like is cinnamon butter. which is about half a cup of butter. a quarter cup of confectioner sugar and one teaspoon of sugar blended together. 

The butter is best spread on biscuits or bread as it comes right out of the oven. 

Anyways, I wanted to explain the biscuit part to you. 

So I was making biscuits yesterday to go with supper. We had company coming over. Tim walked in and said, 'your friends are out here...' I know what he's talking about, and he's pretty unhappy. Mangey comes back every couple weeks, and to be honest, he seems to come back for the human interaction as much as the food. I got the good stuff from the top of the fridge and went outside. I did not have time to stop and play with him. He stood watching me sadly through the kitchen glass for some time. It was only when another stray came slinking over to check out the food dish situation, that Mangey decided to eat. 

(Don't worry. I made it up to him this morning. I also went back out and gave the second cat some dinner too.)

There are three strays showing up here regularly now. One of them irritates Tim because he looks for a rolled down car window and hops inside to make himself comfortable for a little snooze.

 

He is not hurting anything, and really, it's easy enough for Tim to keep his windows up. Then I wouldn't have to listen to him howling when it starts to rain and he hasn't noticed it until his car has gotten a good soaking. I tell Tim the same thing that I tell William: 'Every problem has a solution.' 

(Of course, I have no room to talk. I had washed the cotton bathrugs and had them drying outside. When they are wet, they are so heavy that I worry about damage to the dryer belt. They had been out all day, and were just about dry when the skies opened up. Tim was upset about his car. I was upset about once again soaking wet rugs. We're a pair.) 

But back to the cats, when we get the house built, we'll probably move those three cats right along with us, if they are amenable to the idea. Mousers would be useful to have, and Tim is agreeable to that. He likes a working animal. I'll probably move Mangey inside if he wants to come for the winter. Tim will NOT be agreeable to that. I'll probably see if the tabby (car cat) wants to join us. The long haired black one we tried to bring in a few winters back. It was not successful. He wanted to be an outside cat.

The property is being surveyed down the street. It will be good to have that officially mapped out and fenced in. I will never understand what started the whole thing, but people are mad! Even neighbors across the street who have no skin the game, so to speak. Before it is all said and done, we will have spent $3000+ to end the hostilities. We also chose not to renew a lease over it, which was the first time we've ever had to do that. 

William is back at school. I'll be walking across the bridge to meet him tonight. We'll be going to the camp to pick tomatoes, among other things. It will be fun to hear what he thinks of school.

So there is your update. 

Anyways, the biscuits got done, and supper was nice, a pleasant visit with an old friend. 


22 comments:

  1. Good to know the strays are OK. Great cat and car photo.

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    1. They are all well. Although today, I did notice Mangey with another spot beginning between his shoulder blades.

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  2. Well your 'biscuit' seems to be a hybrid between a scone and flaky pastry Debby. It looks delicious though..

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    1. I am not such a fan of them cold, but I do like to have one fresh out of the oven.

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  3. In my experience, Canadians aren’t as biscuity as Americans although we know what they are and don’t have anything against them. We also probably call them other things too for the most part when we do have something similar.

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    1. Well, at least you didn't say that Canadians aren't as flakey as Americans, so there is that. (Thanks for that...)

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  4. You and cats, me and dogs. Our current "endeavor" is a little more challenging than any we've faced before, so I haven't shared anything about it yet. *sigh*

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    1. If we had stray dogs, it would be dogs. Here it is cats. Looking forward to learning more about your challenge.

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  5. I love fresh biscuits from the oven but if they're even a day old, they're not nearly as tasty so I don't oven make them anymore. They don't get eaten with only two of us in the house.

    Tim really doesn't like cats. I'm glad the cats have you watching out for them. We don't have strays around here. Too damned cold in the winter and the coyotes pick them off too. We've started letting our cat go outside in the back yard because she has arthritis now and can't get over the fence anymore so she's stuck. She sure likes it though.

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    1. That is the beauty of these biscuits. They go into the freezer. You can bake a couple at a time.

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    2. I'll have to give them a try then. Thanks.

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  6. I like that guy in the video, I want to try these! Debby, your honey butter recipe is missing honey? But I like these different flavored butters a lot, I'm anxious to try these too thank you. And that is wonderful about the stray cats, please keep us posted on them! 🙂♥️🐈

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  7. Hi Debby, in Australia we call your cookies biscuits, your biscuits are a bit like what we call scones, the same as the English. We're we live cats are supposed to be kept in at night, preferably contained on your property if out in the day also. Most native animals here are tiny marsupials and cats are directly linked to the extinction of many but feral cats are a big problem everywhere.I hope your grandson has enjoyed school

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    1. In the country here, they are far more likely to be prey at night. We have coons, coyotes, and foxes. Mice have over run the property because the house has been vacant for many years. The cats will have a purpose. That is why they will have a secure place off the ground...to minimize the dangers.
      The biscuits would probably be good with jam and clotted cream.

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  8. That tabby is rather gorgeous. I think you should start explaining to them their up coming move and potential employment as mousers. As others have said your biscuits are more like scones but I might have a go at making American biscuits to see what the difference is. When you say gravy, is that just the stuff you pour over meat or is that something different, too?

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    1. We haven't begun building the house yet, so there is plenty of time to gain their trust. The tabby does not let anyone pet her. They will have a tree house that is converted and cozy.

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  9. My sister made marvelous biscuits, then taught the grands. For about twenty years we had lots of biscuits. Now, she doesn't make them and neither do I. McDonalds are pretty good.

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  10. It is satisfying to me to make bread, quick and yeast.

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  11. You're so good to those cats. So the property that's being surveyed is land you own? Has it not been surveyed before? (You probably explained all this and I'm just not remembering.)

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    1. Yes it has. We never had a quarrel about it. Suddenly, out of the blue, the neighbor was telling people we told her we owned half her house. (We never said such a thing. We never even discussed the boundaries.) Her parents got involved, and the neighbors across the street. A tenant got involved. It got nuts and it got nuts fast, and we were the baddies. We're getting it surveyed to put up a fence and simply end the quarrel.

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  12. Those kitties must love you. Hmmm... I think biscuits were popular in Illinois too, but here in Hawaii... I haven't seen them much. I can just imagine how scrumptious they are with a little (or a lot) of butter and honey.

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I'm glad you're here!

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