Biscuits and Mom’s Birthday

When we were young, my big sister and I would hang around the kitchen watching how Mom would do what she would do. Many mornings our eyes were fixed on a ritual that seemed so simple and so certain. Virtually no words were said. We knew that too many questions in the kitchen would only lengthen the wait for breakfast. But, we watched – we watched every measurement and every move. Our thinking was, “Someday, someday in the far, far away, we would be able to make biscuits just like Mom’s.

Well, many, many years have passed and we’re living that someday in the far, far away. Although we can both make biscuits that our children and grandchildren love to eat, my big sister and I have never replicated what Mom could do.

We still can’t figure out why, if we use the same three simple ingredients Mom used, we can’t make the morning magic happen like she did. What was it she knew about self-rising flour, milk or buttermilk, and Crisco that we could never figure out?

Well Mom’s birthday was yesterday, and I’ve been thinking about her – I miss her a lot. Perhaps, when the predicted snow and nasty weather are all around us tomorrow, just maybe, I’ll take out the three necessary ingredients and make my hubby some biscuits. Then, as I’m sitting with my second cup of coffee and eating a fresh, warm biscuit with butter on it, I’ll think back on how I would hang around the kitchen watching Mom.

Happy birthday, Mom!

P.S. Perhaps you might like to try your hand on making some biscuits too. If so here’s a simple recipe – Self-Rising Buttermilk Biscuits.