Preserving Our Memories

Food isn’t just nourishment, it is family, special events, memories. My mother gave all of her grandchildren a book of her recipes this Christmas. It was a beautiful gift, not just because of the wonderful food, but also because of the amazing and tender memories. Grandma’s cooking has a tender place in all our families’ hearts. In the words of one of my sons, “Everything tastes better when you add ‘Grandma’s ____’ in front of it.”
Being celiac, I haven’t gotten to taste many of those special dishes for many years. Here is one of my most missed “Grandma” recipes passed on from her mother.

Mom’s Biscuits

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

5 tsp. baking powder

2 tbps. sugar

6 tbps. lard

1 cup (approx.) cold water – to be added as needed

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients together. Cut lard into dry ingredients. Gradually add cold water a little at a time until the dough just holds together. Do not overmix. Place on floured surface and roll out to 1/2 inch thick. Cut with cutter and place biscuits on cookie sheet. Bake in 425 F pre-heated oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

We would eat these delicious biscuits at breakfast with butter and syrup, almost like a hotcake! Yum. Cold biscuits were ate at lunch as a sandwich, wonderful with homemade jam. And these are wonderful at suppertime with stew or a thick soup. These can even be used as a dessert with some fresh fruit and cream!