We have had no company since the pandemic begin last spring, that is until Jackie came to spend a week with us. Jackie is married to Anne's brother Brian. They live in Albion, Michigan. She quarantined in place before coming to Tennessee to visit us.

One of the highlights of her visit was our biscuit making project. Jackie can make a decent biscuit. I made biscuits the day after she arrived. She loved them and wanted to know how I made them.

One word led to another. Why not make a batch of my biscuits? Why not, indeed. Jackie would stir them up following my verbal directions. We assembled all the ingredients on the counter. As we proceeded, I realized that not everything had been written down. I will talk you through our endeavor.

First of all, we addressed the buttermilk situation. I didn't have any. Never fear. A little cider vinegar in the milk would solve that problem. We put 2 teaspoons of vinegar in the two cup milk container and set it aside. Next, came the flour. The recipe called for self-rising flour. Jackie couldn't find that up north, but I had it. As she started to measure the flour, I told her to “back up the truck”. She should fluff up the flour with a wire whisk before measuring it. She did. Jackie added more baking powder and some granulated sugar as the recipe ordered her to do. She whisked it all together, then added the Crisco shortening. She works with lard at home. Lard would be just fine.

After rubbing in the shortening with her fingers until almost as fine as cornmeal, I had her pour the soured milk in the center of the flour. She stirred it with a large kitchen spoon until all the dry ingredients were moistened. The mixture looked too runny. I told her to dump it out on a thin bed of self-rising flour and let it sit a few minutes. The pile of dough firmed up a bit. Next came something most recipes tell you not to do. Knead the dough about fifteen or twenty times. She did.

I had her let the dough rest while she sprayed oil on a baking sheet and found the biscuit cutter. She rolled out the dough to about 1 inch thickness and cut out the biscuits. The oven had been heating to 450 F. and was ready. Setting the timer for ten minutes, the biscuits began to bake.

Jackie nuked a half cup of butter in the microwave and found the pastry brush. When the biscuits came out of the oven, they had risen nicely and were lightly browned. She removed the pan and brushed melted butter on each biscuit before returning them to the oven for another minutes work.

Wonder of wonders! Those biscuits were beautiful. Tall and nicely browned, she split one in half and slathered it with butter. Light, tender and fluffy: that was how she described her creation. Try the recipe yourself. It is on page 54 of the Revival Vision Cook Book.