Norm Matthews

This is the recipe I have used that my kids love. Regular self rising flour works too. Georgia Touch of Grace biscuits. 10 biscuits light and fluffy Cream is the KEY to flaky biscuits. This recipe makes a feather light biscuit. Non-stick cooking spray 2 C. Southern self-rising flour (Or 1 1/2 C national self rising flour plus 1/2 C Wondra -or 1/2 C. cake flour- plus 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/8 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4C. sugar 4 Tbs. shortening 2/3 C. heavy cream or whipping cream approximately 1 C. buttermilk, or until dough resembles cottage cheese 1 C. bleached all purpose flour for shaping 2 Tbs. melted butter 1. pre heat oven to 425ºF. and spray 8 or 9-inch round cake pan with non stick spray 2. Combine the self rising flour, salt and sugar in a small mixing bowl. With fingers or pastry cutter, work shortening into flour until there are no lumps larger than a large pea. 3. Stir in the cream and buttermilk and let stand 2 or 3 minutes. This dough is so wet that you can not shape it in the usual manner. It will look like cottage cheese. (YOU do NOT want it to be stiff enough to shape) 4. Pour the cup of all purpose flour onto a plate or pie tin. flour your hands OR spray a 2-inch ice cream scoop with non stick spray and gather a biscuit sized lump of dough and place it the flour. Roll to coat. shake off excess flour. The dough is so soft it will not hold it's shape so place them tightly side by side so they will rise up, not out as they bake. Continue until all dough is used up. 5. Bake just above the center of the oven until lightly browned. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 to 20 minutes, then brush with melted butter. Cool 1 or 2 minutes in the pan, then dump them out, cut them apart, split and butter while hot. Eat! Note: you do not want to make a biscuit with self rising flour that you can shape because the outside of the biscuit will likely be bitter from the leavening used.

Everytime I ask the kids for suggestions for dinner, they can't come up with anything so yesterday I said would you rather have chili, meatloaf or lasagne and they chose lasagne. Cassie made a spinach salad with raisins and walnuts and some tender crisp carrots. (They aren't really kids except to me.)

Quite true. Heritage pork is not easily found and isn't cheap either.

Some American hog raisers are bringing small farm methods and heritage breeds back on the market. http://store.heritagefoodsusa.com/cured-pork-cuts-c94.aspx

I cut the corn off like your mom too. But before I cut it, I usually put it on the grill for a couple minutes per side to darken the color and char it a little. Then I cream it with some butter, cream, salt and honey.

If by flour, you mean white flour, I would think you'd get best results with a soft white flour, not one meant for yeast bread.

Cassies recently found brother from New York came for a visit and we had ribeye steaks on the grill along with corn he had had before and specifically asked for: Grilled, cut off the cob and creamed with salt, cream, honey and butter, grilled bok choy, and twice baked potatoes. Also store bought buns, and a vanilla custard/mixed fruit pie. I didn't have time to take any pictures.

I have had a 9 1/2-inch Sitram Cybernox skillet for several years. I cooked two eggs over easy in it this morning. It heats evenly but isn't completely non-stick. It is easy cleanup. It is a little too big for a plain two egg omelet, which is the size I usually make.

Brings new understanding to what meat packers say about hogs: They use everything but the squeal. OInk.

I haven't read all of the previous entries in this old post, so forgive me if I repeat something, but I remember Julia Child on the French Chef talking about dedicated omelet pans, showing different kinds and how to care for them, then saying now that teflon pans are here, you don't need them anymore. There may be some die hards that still use them but they aren't all that necessary anymore.

Very artistic and tasty looking meals everyone. I found some shrimp and Louisiana Killer Shrimp Boil liquid in the freezer so defrosted them, shelled shrimp, got some mussels, green beans and romaine lettuce. I cooked the mussels in the shrimp boil first, then the shrimp. Pasta boiled, garlic sauteed in butter, a pinch or two of red pepper flakes added and tossed with the pasta. Green beans cooked with bacon, onions, and salt until tender, butter added. Charlie will hardly ever touch salad but eats cooked vegetables so I tried something I have seen a couple people do here: blanching romaine in water with oil floating on top, and then sprinkled a little tangerine vinegar on it. At least he ate it.

Venison meatloaf? Yum. Makes me wonder about lamb meatloaf.

The recipe for date shake isn't precise. I put about 9 or 10 seeded dates in a blender and added enough milk to make a slurry. Then added scoops of vanilla ice cream and blended, adding enough- about 8 I think to make a thick shake. There was enough for three 8 ounce glasses. I could have extended the amount by adding more milk and ice cream. The amount I had filled the beaker about 2/3 full.

My experience with steamed eggs is that they generally peel easier than boiled egg. I have no experience with pressure cooked eggs.

At my son's request, I made another recipe from the Italian cookbook he gave me for Father's Day..It is called Drunken Chicken and made with white wine; used up the last of the arborio rice to take another shot at making risotto and used up all of the leftover dates to make some date flavored milkshakes. Some friends in Palm Springs introduced me to date shakes a few years ago.

Hmm, the Wikipedia def. says the tenderloin is attached but the video shows him removing the tenderloin.

Thanks for all the information. I have never had risotto in a restaurant but only at home when I made once or twice a long time ago. I expected to hold it in the rice cooker for less than an hour but it turned out to be over two hours before they got home. I learned my lesson. It looked a lot more appealing before it went in the rice cooker than it did when it came out but it still tasted good. It was the first time Cassie and Charles had had it and they both made comments about how it looked.. like oatmeal or gruel, but both liked the taste. Charles said if he was forced to have only one thing for a long time, he'd be ok with that.

The rice was done about 5:30 and the kids were off work at 5 so i figured I'd be OK if they were a little late. They went to get rentals for the guys in their wedding and didn't get home until almost 8. The rice was in the rice cooker all that time. It didn't dry out but was kind of gummy looking. It still tasted OK but next time i won't start it until everybody is home.

Kids got off at 5 today so I planned dinner for 6 but they decided to get rentals for the guys in the wedding and didn't get home until almost 8 so everything was held for a couple of hours. I think the rice suffered the most but everyone liked it anyway. Stuffed dates were a big hit too. I was given an Italian cookbook for Father's Day so all the recipes came from it today.Wine was Valpolicella which I had not had in almost 40 years but used to be one of my favorites. Salad was mixed greens with candied walnuts, shaved parmesan and pears poached in red wine, , honey and cinnamon. Appetizer was dates stuffed with ricotta and wrapped in proscuitto. Meatballs made with ricotta and sauce made from scratch Risotto with pancetta, mushrooms, onions, red wine and chicken stock.

Thanks. I am glad to hear there is a stop and hold place. The only risotto I have ever had is what I have made myself and that was only twice before today and it was just plain and also quite a while ago.

I only plan to keep it on warm for an hour or so.

Son gave me an Italian cookbook for fathers day and I am making dinner with recipes from it. I want to make as much ahead as possible so last minuted prep will be at a minimum. The recipe is for risotto with onions, mushrooms, red wine and chicken stock. After I have made it on the stovetop, is it going to be ok to keep it warm in the rice cooker?

Son and his fiancee made Father's Day dinner for me today since Cassie works tomorrow. She made mixed vegetables cooked soft but still crunchy with jalapenos and Creole seasoning and fried sweet potatoes while son made T-Bones on the grill. Dessert was a trifle made with cake, baked apples, fruit jam, cake and whipped cream.

Once several years ago when I was driving to Seattle, I stopped at a truck stop in Idaho and ordered a Chef's salad for lunch. The menu said the salad had HB eggs, ham, chicken, cheese, etc. I would be surprised if they wouldn't have hard cooked eggs for breakfast. How hard is it go cook eggs ahead of time? The one I had seemed to have been cooked quite a while ago and/ or held in hot water for a while since the yolk was about as green and any I'd ever seen. The chicken and ham were processed lunch meat and the cheese was Velveeta. I didn't feel very for well the rest of the afternoon.

Kim Shook: Cassie said she used a Wilton #21 tip and started with a star in the middle then did a circle around it for each flower on the cake. It was only a 5 or 6-inch cake. Cassie has does cake making-decorating as a side line. If you are on facebook, you can see some of her work here https://www.facebook.com/CassiesCakesAndSweets