short'nin bread

One of my mother's only spoken regrets is that she never asked her grandmother to write down the recipe for her "perfect" biscuits. My grandmother (my mother's mother) made them often, but the secret recipe was in her fingers and nowhere else. I've been a little concerned lately that my children, full blooded southerners, have a taste for bagels more than biscuits. Bless their hearts...

Source

I know I'm to blame for this. It's almost embarrassing what I'm willing to do to get a good fresh bagel and a coffee...probably shouldn't allow my stomach to dictate my schedule like it does. 

...There's a certain kind of guilt only women living South of the Mason Dixon line can experience. That guilt is one of shame and comes from feeling like a traitor. There are only a few things that make me feel like I've betrayed my roots. One is the lack of monograms in my life, another is the lack of pearls in my small jewelry collection, and the third is knowing that my kids haven't experienced a biscuit that wasn't suffocated by butter and served through a window. 

Charleston's famous Callie's biscuits

It's time I give my oldest two a quick but thorough lesson on love and lard. My Aunt Susan swears by the recipe on the back of the White Lily flour sack. Some folks only cook with Crisco, others prefer lard, and butter will always be better, but I guess it depends on what happens to be in the pantry when you get a hankerin'. 

I'd love to hear about your family's best kept secrets. If you're lacking in that department, here are a few articles and recipes that peaked my interest. 

1. fancy pants goat cheese and chive biscuits

2. The NY Times tells us what we're doing wrong in this article

3. G's Georgia drop biscuits

4. different, but she made had me at honeysuckle

In the meantime, I'll be folding, kneading, cutting, and mixing up some hopefully delicious carbs. Stay calm and biscuit on...