Country Biscuits

The year was 1997 and it was one of those unusually cold Thanksgiving days. My entire family packed up the cars and drove from Birmingham, AL to Collman, AL, for lunch at the farm. My great grandmother was famous for her country cooking, but more specifically her delicious biscuits. She had been cooking them for years. It was a recipe passed down form her great grandmother, slowly making its way down through generations. I had always wondered how she made these biscuits taste so good, and I was finally about to learn.
She used the same wooden bowl every time because “it enhanced the taste” she said. She pulled all the ingredients out of the pantry and placed them in the order of which she would add them along the counter. She poured the flower into the bowl, which made a beautiful white fluffy cloud rise from the bowl into the air. Mixing all the dry ingredients together we noticed she wasn't using any measuring cups. When we asked she said, “I don’t believe in measuring cups, I judge the consistency by the feeling of the doe.” As all the ingredients were getting mixed together she would already we prepping the pans for baking. She used four pans that she placed in the big old fashion ovens. After she placed flower on the counter and made an even bigger mess, she rolled the doe out to make sure all the air bubbles were crushed. This is a very important step, because when the doe has bubbles in it, it causes the biscuit to be airy and not as perfect. Then she pinched off the perfect amount and rolled it into a ball and placed it on the pan. After rolling hundreds of little balls she placed the pans into the oven and pulled up a stool to watch them bake. They baked for nearly thirty minutes and smelled more fantastic every second they were baking. She never set a timer or even opened the oven during the cooking time, she could judge when they were ready by the smell and how they looked through the class in the oven. By the time thirty minutes was up the entire family was drooling and anticipating biting into the biscuits.
My grandmother's biscuits had something that store bought biscuits didn't have. I had always wondered what exactly that was, and I finally came to the conclusion that it was because they were homemade. I never really knew the process of technique, and now that I know it, I am amazed. The process itself takes about an hour and it is well worth it. The most important thing about these biscuits is that you have to make sure that you don't miss a step, if you miss one than the whole batch is ruined.
The days at the farm for Thanksgiving are no longer the same. My great grandmother’s passion for her biscuits will be remembered as long as my family is using her recipe. Today the recipe is still being passed down and my children will someday get to see just how delicious and special these biscuits are. Every time I bite into one of those outstanding biscuits I think of the love that is put into them. I know that the one thing that made my greatgrandmother's biscuits so special and delicous was all the love that she put into them. I can’t wait until the day that I start making them, although I know for sure they wont live up to my great grandmother’s.