There’s no graceful way to say this, so I may as well just be blunt…I can be a complete ass sometimes. And by sometimes I mean when I just react instead of stopping and thinking about how I want to react. It’s the dark side of living in the moment. Because in that precise moment, it’s a head spinning, furious fisted meltdown. I was swallowed whole by that moment this morning at breakfast.
That’s right. I had a tantrum over a plate of scrambled eggs.
And here’s the kicker….as soon as I started, I knew I was over reacting. I knew it and knew that it was easier to just be swept out by the rising tide of my anger than it was to dig my heels into the shifting sand and ground myself to a halt. And while I see progress in the fact that I’m not sitting here stewing mad hours later, listening to the looping rant in my head about “why can’t you just listen to what I say?”, this place of saying I was wrong is uncomfortable.
Wasn’t I just talking about being a student of life and the continuing education that has come courtesy of the Tater Tot? What is the saying about pride coming before the fall? Yeah, the Universe has a way of keeping us humble and in check. So maybe I should expand this particular life lesson plan to include being mindful enough in that moment to consciously choose how to react.
Since the Universe also has an uncanny knack for giving us repeat opportunities to try and get things right, I have a hunch this won’t be the last time I get quizzed on this particular life lesson. I can only hope that my scores improve so that I get to move on to the next chapter in the lesson plan.
And what exactly does this have to do with a pan of biscuits? Well I’ll tell ‘ya. Once upon a time, I tried to make Touch of Grace Biscuits. There were multiple attempts. And they all failed to make a passing grade. Really, click that link and take a look at the best I could do. That’s no biscuit.
But thanks to putting my pride aside and paying attention to the lesson as the Universe presented it to me, I was able to create pans of graceful biscuits. So while I still have a ways to go with some of life’s lessons, I’m going to say that I’ve gotten a passing grade on this one.
Thank you Shauna Server for bringing me face to face with perfectly graceful biscuits. I am in your debt. Not only did you get the right recipe in my hands but your photos gave me great visual cues to how my biscuit dough should look.
Touch of Grace Biscuits
Adapted from BakeWise
BAH Note: I don’t typically say you need to use a specific brand of anything…unless it really makes a difference. And in this case, I think it does. So look in your grocery store for White Lilly self rising flour. Once you get to know these sinfully graceful biscuits I don’t think that bag of flour will go unused in your pantry.
Oh, and if you were inclined to brush a tablespoon or so of melted butter on the tops of the biscuits when they come out of the oven, it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad choice.
- 2 cups self rising flour, preferably White Lily (see the note above)
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup shortening (yup, shortening)
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup all purpose flour (don’t substitute any self rising flour here)
Heat your oven to 425 degrees and lightly spray a 8 or 9 inch round cake pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Mix the heavy cream and buttermilk in a measuring cup and set aside.
Place the all purpose flour in a pie plate or dish and set aside.
Whisk together the self rising flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Use your fingers to work the shortening into the flour mixture until it resembles wet sand with no large clumps.
Add the liquid to the flour mixture and stir gently to combine. The dough should resemble wet cottage cheese. To tell if you have the right consistency, use an ice cream scoop and scoop out some dough into your plate of all purpose flour. It should hold its shape. If not, return the test scoop to the mixing bowl and add self rising flour one tablespoon at a time and gently stir it in.
As soon as your dough holds its shape, place a few scoops of it in the all purpose flour. Working with one scoop of dough at a time, pick it up, dust it with flour from your plate, and gently toss the dough from hand to hand to form your biscuit. Place the formed biscuit in your prepared pan and repeat the process with the remaining dough. Fit your biscuits as close together as you can…they need to be snug up against each other to get a really good rise.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the tops are light golden brown. Allow the biscuits to cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes before turning them out and serving.
Bon Appetit Hon 