Biscuits and Heat
During that last extreme cold snap we had, since we were avoiding the panic and ransacking of grocery shelves apparently happening in our largest urban cities, we decide to enjoy a nice warm fire and spend our time ransacking the pages of our current books and perhaps taking a nap or two. Our fireplace had frosted over quite a bit due to the extreme cold air in the chimney and the warmer moist air inside our house. Never the less, I stuck a few logs inside, threw in a couple handfuls of my wood scraps from various projects last year, and got it lit. In a matter of minutes, the moisture was gone and the heat was starting to heat up the room.
Since I have to open the outside sliding door a bit while starting the fire until it starts drafting properly, the basement cools off a bit before it gets warmer. It is naturally a bit cooler anyway due to the property of heat rising. So while the basement family room was preheating, I decided to go back upstairs and make some biscuits.
Biscuits were a family staple growing up. I would guess we had them at least once a week. Ours were always just a breakfast meal in themselves, eaten with our choice of condiments. I always started by splitting them into two halves and putting some butter on the hot biscuit before then topping half with honey and the other half with homemade jelly. These days, none of my family really craves for them so I don't make them too often as I usually end up eating most of the leftovers which are never as good reheated as they are fresh out of the oven.
Below is a picture of the biscuits ready to go into the oven. I never took a picture of them afterwards as I like to eat mine piping hot right from the oven. Once finished with breakfast, I headed down to enjoy the now warmer family room and did indeed spend the day reading and napping while the world was apparently going to pot according to the evening news cycle. Life is certainly good in my neck of the woods.
Your biscuits are lovely and so is your fire. When I have leftover biscuits, I split them and toast them in the toaster oven. Not as good as fresh, but they are really good that way too.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a toaster oven so my only option is the microwave these days. Back when I wasn't lactose intolerant, I would make a gravy to pour over them but those days have passed.
DeleteIt's funny that you crazy Americans call those baked items "biscuits". Over here in the birthplace of the English language, a "biscuit" has entirely different characteristics. For example an American "cookie" would count as a biscuit. Your "biscuits" are more like our scones. We only really use the term "cookie" in relation to computers but the evolution of language is a funny thing - American influence on British English has been apparent for a hundred years with early imports including "jazz" and "cool". More recently: "burger", "vacation", "truck", "movie" and "soap opera". A lot of this has been tied to America's economic and cultural power.
ReplyDeleteMy wife, who spent several years in Britain, has similar concerns about my use of the term biscuit but after a couple decades of marriage, she has now learned the correct definition!
DeleteI frequently make scones and rarely make biscuits. Coming from my oven, they are totally different things.
DeleteI agree Kelly. My wife makes scones to and they are nothing like my biscuits.
DeleteYou are quite a biscuit case. Actually, they look good. Even though still uncooked, I am still visualizing the end result.
ReplyDeleteMy recipe anyway, doesn't really change them all that much. They are a bit taller and a bit more dark colored on top, but not as much as many commercial biscuits. I think that is mostly because I don't baste the tops in butter before baking as some do.
DeleteI would eat those biscuits with butter and homemade jam. (not by me) I never got nor do I understand the hoarder gene. I still remember the frustration of trying to find toilet paper for my elderly parents at the beginning of the pandemic. It was ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI guess I sort of understand the hoarding feeling. I too at times feel security in having something I might need on hand. But I also have a feeling of claustrophobia when my possessions start piling up around me reducing space and in my case, it happens to be the stronger of the two feelings.
DeleteI still say it's not hoarding if you are anticipating a lengthy time without power. My daughter's family was without for six days. PB&J sandwiches get old quickly. Fortunately they could cook a few hot meals on their outdoor flat top grill (during daylight hours, which were still freezing).
DeleteI’m in agreement. The Midwest is much different than the coasts during these sorts of storms. We tend to get ice and due to the amount of above ground lines, can loose power for days. But I also say that is why we tend to be better prepared by “hoarding” some essentials well in advance.
DeleteI would love a piping hot one from you! I would just put gobs of butter after cutting them open and eating them just like that. However, now that I don't drink milk anymore, I wonder what I would have to drink with them. Hmmm. What do you drink? And did you make these from scratch or are they Pillsbury, etc. ready to bake?
ReplyDeleteAlways from scratch! I usually just drink water with mine.
DeleteI'm a biscuit lover, and yours look wonderful. They are making me hungry!
ReplyDeleteA couple of those warm in your pocket would go good on a hike into a desert, say Joshua Tree National Park!
DeleteLooks like the ones my Dad made. I have the tin biscuit cutter, but he usually used a glass. Must make some soon so my grown son knows what real biscuits are like. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteI actually have a biscuit cutter, essentially a ring of thin steel with a hoop handle. Thick biscuits are hard to get out of upside down drinking glasses at times.
DeleteYour biscuits look wonderful! Yes the whole world gots to pot every night on the news. I would like a good news only channel. The best news story last week was the young man who swam a long way to report that his Mom and brothers needed help in Australia...what a brave young man!
ReplyDeleteI saw that story! I too am amazed at the bravery of that young boy and the fear his mother must have felt seeing him swim off towards a very distant shore.
DeleteI like the biscuits. Skip the butter but anything else is good
DeleteI’m okay with that. It means more butter for me!
DeleteThose biscuits are looking good!
ReplyDeleteThey were pretty good. It was a reminder that I need to make them more often than I do.
DeleteOne of the things I do miss is a good warm wood stove to sit by. Haven't had one here for years. But the warmth is incredible.
ReplyDeleteWe had one too in our old farmhouse that I grew up in. I miss the direct heat source too. I used to put on two pairs of heavy wool socks, pull a chair up and put my feet on the corner of the firebox to thoroughly warm up, periodically switching the contacting foot when it got too hot for the other.
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