Some Thoughts on Little Boys

Matthew and Michael

I spent the weekend with 5-year-old Michael and 4-year-old Matthew. Here are a few things I noticed about little boys.

Favorite word: poop.

Favorite activities: jumping on the bed, racing down the hall, and laughing.

Something little boys can't help but do: tell the honest-to-goodness truth. ("Wow, Aunt Donna, you're the oldest one here.")

Favorite food: pizza. Anytime, anyplace.

Favorite collectables: rocks.

Here are a few snippets from our most memorable conversations:

~

"Mommy!" Matthew ran into the kitchen. "Michael said suck is a bad word and I can't say it. Is suck a bad word?"

"Yes," Mom said sternly. "Don't say that word."

Matthew looked horrified. "But I like to suck on lollypops!"

Mom looked at me with rounded eyes as if to ask, what do I do now?

~

"We should clean up this mess," I told the boys one morning.

"Nah," Matthew said, waving off my idea, "Mommy will do it."

Michael nodded. "It's good to have a mommy."

~

While exploring the bay, one of the boys pointed to a cluster of mussels growing on the rocks and his voice filled with awe as he said, "Look, Aunt Donna! Living creatures!"

~

After he arrived home from a day at the beach, I asked Michael, "Did you have a good time?"

"Yes! But I got sand everywhere." His chin dipped and his brows arched as he added, "In every crevice."

~

And my favorite:

"Aunt Donna, would you fix me a ham and cheese sandwich?" Matt asked.

"Of course," I told him. "Let's go ask Mommy first."

"You don't have to ask her." Matt shook his head as if I were a complete imbecile. "I can tell you how to make it."

I couldn't help but smile. "You can?"

"Sure." He shrugged. "It's ham. It's cheese. It's sandwich."

~

My ham-and-cheese-sandwich knowledge might be a bit iffy, but I do know that I LOVE little boys!

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Beautiful Biscuits Recipe

Few people would use a word like 'beautiful' to describe these easy homemade biscuits, but that's just the way I roll. (Pun intended!) You see, I have an on-going love affair with food so it's easy for me to see an type of bread as beautiful (as well as delicious)!

Today, I'm sharing my Buttermilk Biscuit recipe. Mmmmmmm!

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons shortening
1 cup cold buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. (Preheating the oven is important.)

Measure out the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Work in the butter and shortening until you've got a crumb-like consistency. (I use my fingers, and I work fast so the butter and shortening won't melt.) Add the buttermilk and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Dough will be sticky.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface and fold it a few times. Pat into an oval that's about an inch thick. I use a drinking glass to cut the biscuits into rounds. Gently reform the 'scraps' and cut into rounds. Place the dough rounds on a cookie sheet. (If you like soft-sided biscuits, let the rounds touch. If you like crisper sides, give each biscuit some room on the sheet.) Bake for 15-20 until they're tall and golden brown.

Alton Brown has a similar recipe, but suggests using a little less salt. Even with all those cookbooks and cooking shows under his belt, what does he know?

Here are some other delicious biscuit recipes I've found on the web:

Paula Deen offers a great recipe for Garlic Cheese Biscuits. Yum, y'all! Yum!

These Mayonnaise Biscuits look interesting, although I haven't tried them. Yet.

And for those who feel biscuit-challenged, here's a neat video from the Joy of Baking website. (Please note, I never add sugar to my biscuits.)

If you're looking for fast and easy, the Betty Crocker website has a recipe using Bisquick, that very well-known all purpose baking mix. I've added chopped herbs and a 1/2 cups of cheddar cheese to this recipe to make dumplings for chicken stew. Everyone knows a dumpling is simply a steamed biscuit!

Whether they're slathered with butter, honey, or jam - or steamed on top of a pot of thick, luscious chicken stew - there's nothing quite as delectable as a fluffy biscuit!

If you enjoyed my Buttermilk Biscuit recipe, or any of the recipes I've linked to, please use the buttons below to share this post. Thanks, and happy eating!