When I think of biscuits, it brings to mind the year 1949 when we first moved to the farm. I guess you’d say we had to “rough it” that first year, especially compared to today’s standards. Even though I was just 7 years old and had left all the comforts of Maplewood and the home my dad helped build, it still was the best life in the world!
The house we moved into was what they call a “work in progress.” We had no electricity and not even a well. We carried water from a nearby spring for all our needs and we both heated the house and cooked with wood-fired stoves. The house was an old, run-down log home that probably dated back to the 1800s, but my folks were determined to restore it.
To this day, the aroma of freshly baked biscuits reminds me of those my mom baked in her wood-burning kitchen range. And, I am not the only one who remembers them fondly. My late Aunt Blanche used to say there was nothing like coming into our home those Saturday evenings and being greeted with the smell of Mom’s biscuits!
Back then we had no real driveway. It was just a quarter-mile road cut out between the trees from the graveled county road to our house. So when there was rainy weather, you had to walk or your car would get stuck. It was on those rainy, cold evenings following that long walk in the woods that Aunt Blanche especially appreciated those biscuits fresh out of the oven.
I make Mom’s recipe for biscuits often, but I also found a drop biscuit recipe that I’ve tweaked and make for special meals. The drop biscuits are so fluffy and light and I serve them with a sausage gravy recipe that goes great with a broiled or grilled steak, mashed potatoes and a vegetable or salad any time of the year!
DROP BISCUITS WITH SAUSAGE GRAVY
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon margarine, melted
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon melted butter
Butter-flavored cooking spray
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and dried parsley flakes in a bowl; stir well, and make a well in center of mixture. Combine milk and margarine; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Fold in shredded cheese.
Drop batter by 6 heaping tablespoons onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Coat biscuits with melted butter. Bake at 450 degrees for 11 minutes or until golden. Split biscuits and top with Sausage Gravy.
SAUSAGE GRAVY
1/2 pound turkey breakfast sausage links
1 tablespoon margarine
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
Remove casings from sausage. Melt margarine in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add sausage and cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Sprinkle flour over sausage and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk, stirring until well blended. Cook 8 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in salt and pepper. Makes about 2 cups to go with 6 big biscuits.
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