Papa's Biscuits

My father's biscuits are famous in our family! He has been begging my sister and me to make them for years. I have attempted several times, without success.  There were always problems.  Frequently, the problem was that they didn't rise. Finally, I saw success this past weekend when making biscuits and gravy. They were perfect, and dare I say, as good as my Papa's.

Ingredients:

2 cups of self rising flour
Buttermilk
Crisco

Making them happen:

Preheat oven to 360 degrees.

Sift two cups of flour into a large bowl. Add a 1/4 cup of Crisco and cut, with fork, into sifted flour. Slowly add buttermilk until mixture comes to dough like consistency. Dust flour onto counter and put the dough on counter. Knead the dough. Finally, roll out the dough until it is an inch thick. Cut biscuits and place on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake until golden on top and cooked throughout. Serve with sausage gravy or on their own, drizzled with honey.

Sweet and Spicy Soup

The food network used to run a series entitled, "The best thing I ever ate."  This is the best soup I have ever eaten!  It is the perfect combination of sweet and savory.  And bonus, it is healthy! 

Ingredients: 

1 large sweet potato (peeled and diced)
1 tbsp of olive oil 
1 large red bell pepper (diced)
1 large yellow onion (diced)
3 gloves of garlic (diced)
3 carrots (peeled and diced)
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 (14.5 ounce) can of diced tomatoes
6 cups of chicken broth
2/3 cup of peanut butter
2 tbsp of honey 

Making it happen: 

Heat up olive oil in large pot.  Add in onion, carrots, and red bell pepper.  Saute until tender, about five minutes.  Add cayenne, black pepper, garlic, and ginger.  Cook an additional minute.  Then add sweet potato, broth, and tomatoes.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and continue simmering for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.  Your pot should be looking something like this......

Now you should puree the soup with an immersion blender.  If you don't have one of these, get one asap.  I got mine last Christmas and use it constantly!  However, if you don't have one, a blender or food processor will do.  Once you have brought the soup to a smooth consistency, stir in peanut butter and honey.  By now your house should smell like heaven and your soup should look like this......

Serve and Enjoy!