A Few Recipes I used Over Christmas

Here are three recipes that I used either on Christmas Eve or Christmas day. The first recipe is an Angel Biscuit recipe and serves a dual purpose. The recipe makes the most delicious rolls that you can mix up ahead of time and refrigerate. Or, you can use the very same dough, roll it thin, put butter, sugar and cinnamon on it, roll it, slice it, bake it and have cinnamon rolls! I then simply top with a glaze made from butter, powdered sugar, a bit of vanilla and enough cream or milk to make thin enough to spread on the cinnamon rolls.

Angel Biscuits

5 Cups plain flour
1/4 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup shortening (I use butter instead)
1 pkg dry yeast (or 1 Tablspoon of bulk yeast)
2 Tablespoons of warm water
2 Cups buttermilk (or clabbered milk)


Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt. Stir in shortening. Meanwhile, dissolve yeast in 2 tbsp. warm water and add to buttermilk. Then add this to the flour mixture; mix well. Turn out on a lightly floured board and knead. If necessary, add additional flour to make soft dough. Roll out dough about 1/2 inch thick. Cut with biscuit cutter.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Biscuits are better if you let them rise before baking. Doough may be stored in the refrigerator.

Granny Durham's Biscuits

I remember watching Granny make these melt in your mouth biscuits. She mixed and kneaded everything right in the bowl and did not measure anything. We actually got the recipe when my mom stood beside her, watched, measured and wrote things down. Otherwise it was a "pinch of this" and a "pinch of that". There are a number of us kids an grandkids that use Granny's recipe, but no one will ever be able to make them like she did.

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp soda
1/3 cup shortening (I use butter)
2/3 cup buttermilk (or clabbered milk)

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Measure flour, soda, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Cut in shortening. Stir in buttermilk. Knead, roll, cut out, bake.

The last recipe is for Oyster Stew and is very simple. However the stew was absolutely fabulous because of all the wonderful ingredients used to make it! Thanks to my friend, Theresa Taylor, (who bought Cookie and Red Bull) we were able to have wonderful Louisana oysters for our stew. Of course, the milk and butter used in the stew were only the very best from our wonderful cows!

Oyster Stew

1/4 cup finely chopped shallot or onion
1 Tablespoon butter
1 pint of shucked oysters, undrained
1/2 tsp salt (I added salt to taste)
2 cups heavy cream (yum!)
1 cup milk
Pepper to taste

In a large saucepan cook shallot in hot butter until tender. Stir in undrained oysters and salt. Bring to boil. Reduce to medium. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until oysters curl around the edges, stirring occasionally.

Stir in cream and milk. Add pepper to taste. Heat through.