Happy Birthday ... have a biscuit

Its inevitable, people are going to have birthdays and you are going to have to buy birthday presents.  What I like to do for birthdays is getting a totally awesome container that I love and giving something baked inside of it, like these biscuits below.  

I fell in love with a wire basket at Target recently and had bought one for myself to store eggs that were given to me by my boss.  She had a birthday just recently and I thought she might be able to use a basket like this to store her eggs as well.  Instead of giving it to her empty, I lined it with a couple of tea towels that I had picked up and filled it with these tasty biscuits I baked the morning I was giving it to her.  Add some cool burlap ribbon and this becomes a really pretty present.  

Sour Cream Sweet Biscuits

Sour Cream Sweet Biscuits
For printable recipe, please click here

2 C Self Rising Flour
½ C Butter, melted
1 C Sour Cream
¼ C Sugar + ⅛ C Sugar (keep separate)
½ Tsp Vanilla Extract 

Preheat oven to 425°.  Measure out the flour into a bowl and whisk the  ¼  C sugar into the flour.  In another bowl combine sour cream, the ⅛ C sugar, and vanilla extract; whisk together.  Pour the sour cream mixture into the flour mixture, mix together with a fork or pastry cutter.  Pour the melted butter over the mixture and continue to mix until the dough comes together. Using your hands form biscuits, about ¼ C of dough each.  Place on a baking sheet.  Bake until biscuits start to brown, between 15-17 min.  

Makes about 8 biscuits.   

Sour Cream Sweet Biscuits

Sour Cream Sweet Biscuits

The best biscuit basket ever...

What's great about this biscuit is the fact it can work for breakfast with jam or with fresh fruit for dessert, think strawberry short cake.

Enjoy the foods of your labor. :-)

House guests, raffles and cooking...OH MY!!!

Its been hectic this week...Sean's parents are visiting us from California.  So, of course I have been busy in the kitchen, cooking up a storm.  Plus, I was waiting patiently by the door for the mailman to deliver my Super Levi gear for the virtual walk tomorrow.  Plus, I have been working on the 2 raffle prizes, trying to buy the cutest packing materials as possible...and Monday I start the biscuit baking (the pooches are looking forward to that day).

Well, you are probably wondering what has graced the dinner table this week...

We had a lovely Boeuf Bourguignon (Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon) on Tuesday evening when they arrived...

Boeuf Bourguignon

Then I woke up and made biscuits one morning...

Sour Cream Biscuits

Last night I made Pasta e Fagioli (thanks Cheryl) and a Banana Cake from Ina Garten's, "Barefoot Contessa, How Easy Is That" (apparently, it really is pretty easy)...

  

Pasta e Fagioli

Banana Cake

 I even got to use my new (old) cake plate I picked up at an antique store a few weeks ago...

My new cake plate

And tomorrow we will head out the door and help support Levi in our Levi gear and take lots of pics on our virtual walk.  There is still time to donate and participate in the raffle...please check out the blog "Two Pitties in the City" for details.

I will post the recipes next week...I have to head to dinner now before we go on our ghost tour of "Old Town". 

Enjoy the foods of your labor.  :-)

Just another Sunday...

Sour Cream Biscuits and Runny Blackberries

There is something great about a Sunday morning and the routine that goes with it.  The late start, the dog walking, the dog rescuing (seems to be a common occurrence at my home now), getting home to make brunch.  I like a routine.

This past Sunday was no different.  We got a late start and debated on how we wanted to walk the dogs (whether it was together or separate, in order for me to start brunch).  We decided on together and headed out the door with the pups following at our heels.  To our surprise a little Scottie dog named Maximus was waiting outside for us.  

This is not the first time this has happened; I have done head counts in the backyard that have left me with having 1 dog too many.  I came home after work one day, ready to feed the dogs that we actually own...realizing that we had a third dog in the yard, a little rat looking terrier.  First thought, "OH MY GOD!  There is a third dog in the yard!"  Second thought, "Did Sean put this dog in the yard and not tell me!?!?!?!"  Third thought, "OH MY GOD!  Someone must have thrown you over the fence, you poor thing!"  The "Poor Thing" thought subsided when it proceeded to bare its teeth at me, as he made his way under the fence through a small hole into the yard next door.  I grounded my dogs that day for having friends over when we weren't home and blocked off the hole...I don't think they noticed they were grounded.

Thankfully, Max was not as hateful as the rat terror...I mean terrier.  This little Scottie was kind of sweet, so we put the kids in the backyard together and called the owner.  While waiting for them to return the call, the fur kids played and I started on fixing something to eat.

With all of the excitement, I felt that something easy was in order...Sour Cream Biscuits with Runny Blackberries.  I like this biscuit recipe for its simplicity.  Anything that only takes three ingredients and takes no time at all to mix up and bake is my kind of biscuit.

Sour Cream Biscuits

For printable recipe, please click here

2 C  Self Rising Flour
½ C  Butter, melted
1 C  Sour Cream

Preheat oven to 425°.  Using a wooden spoon, mix the sour cream and butter into the flour.  Using your hands form biscuits, about a ⅓ C of dough ea.  Place on a baking sheet.  Bake until rolls start to brown, approximately 15 min.  Makes 6 to 8 biscuits.


Runny Blackberries
For printable recipe, please click here  
1 Pint Fresh Blacberries or 2 C  Frozen Blackberries
½ stick  Butter
1 Tbsp Flour
½ to 1 C  Sugar (depends on sweetness of the blackberries)
1 to 1½ Tbsp  Orange Juice
A Pinch of Kosher Salt 

In a medium sauce pan, over medium heat, melt the butter.  Stir in black berries and sugar.  After the sugar has melted, stir in the flour.  Let the berries cook down, the consistency should be getting thicker.  Stir in the orange juice and the pinch of salt.  Take off the heat, let set for 10 minutes before serving.  Refrigerate leftovers. 

Runny Blackberries

Sour Cream Biscuits

Sour Cream Biscuits and Runny Blackberries

So within 30 minutes, I had the biscuits and berries on the table and Max was returned to his owner.  I hope next Sunday is a little less hectic than this past Sunday.

Enjoy the foods of your labor.  :-)