A few days ago I made biscuits from a Pioneer Woman recipe (link is here). P-Dubs used sharp cheddar cheese in her recipe, but I had some smoked cheddar on hand and used that instead. And while I’m thinking about it, can I say how much I love smoked cheddar cheese? I love it so much, I’m thinking it may be an answer to many of life’s questions. I’m just sayin’.

 

Anyhoo, any time I make biscuits, I think of my great-grandmother – Granny Vera. I must’ve stood by her side about a jillion times, watching her make her biscuits. She’d dip a bowl into her metal flour bucket, then she’d dip her hand into her gi-normous tin of lard. Yes, lard. If she had buttermilk, she’d splash some of that in and mix it all by hand. More often than not, she’d just add water, as buttermilk was too dear. I can’t recall ever seeing her add any other ingredients, and the woman never measured a darned thing. And yet Granny’s biscuits stood out from the southern crowd. Those simple components somehow came together, under Granny’s cataract-laden eyes, to form one of my favorite childhood food memories.

 

I’ve tried and I’ve tried to replicate Granny’s biscuits. And I’ve failed and I’ve failed. So I try other recipes. No, the resulting biscuits will never be the same as Granny’s. The memories will have to do. And that’s okay. And the verdict on those Pioneer Woman biscuits? They may be my new favoritest. Then again, that could just be the smoked cheddar cheese, providing me with an answer to one of life’s questions. I’ve no idea which one.

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