Hot Biscuits

Childhood visits with my Alabama grandparents guaranteed I would hear five of my favorite words: Hot biscuits in the oven! Hot biscuits in the oven! Joyfully sung on summer mornings to bribe sleepy kids out of bed, the thought of my Grandma’s biscuits motivated me every time. I’m convinced we woke up so sweetly and easily for Grandma because of the savory aroma of biscuits drifting into our subconscious just before waking. Suddenly, grumpiness was traded in for excitement, and one of my favorite memories was born. When our parents collected us at the end of the week, they were always informed with a wink that it was no trouble getting us out of bed. I’m not sure if the parents knew exactly what the trick was, but there must have been some suspicion.

Biscuits have always been special to my family, showing up as part of the happy memories of holidays or breaks from the routine. Natasha and I were lucky to have a Yankee father who quickly adapted to the pleasures of Southern food. When we were kids, it was our father who drove us to Catholic school each morning. Every now and then, he would wake us up earlier than usual and take us to breakfast at Hardees. They had these huge, delicious biscuits, and we enjoyed that warm biscuit buzz for the rest of the day. On a particularly good streak one winter, our father also bought us the Shirt Tales stuffed animals. The Shirt Tales became synonymous with biscuit mornings at Hardees, until an ex-boyfriend’s dog soiled that association by humping Pammy the panda.

The biscuits we bake now are sometimes a bit healthier, but OH MY! Butter on a biscuit is the ultimate breakfast pleasure. If Mumsly is rolling out the dough, it's probably wheat flour with a sprinkling of flax, sesame, and poppy seeds. I kind of have a thing for cheese grits too, but me and biscuits go way, way back. Pretty much every weekend these days starts with a frozen biscuit – the ones by Mary B’s or White Lily are actually quite good. I suppose now the supreme way to wake up is to a rainy day where I don’t have to be anywhere. But I still make sure to get my biscuits.