Biscuits

Bacon-Pimento Green Chile Cheese

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I’m somewhat of a lazy appetizer maker. I readily concede it. I nearly always do make some something or other from scratch, pairing it with a bowl or two of nuts and maybe some high end potato chips. (My current chip crush is a Truffle one you can order on amazon. Shoot me if I’m wrong.) More often than not – scroll down to IF YOU LIKED THIS to prove my tale –I whip up a cheese spread of some sort. It’s easy; it holds if made ahead; it keeps and might even freeze if it’s leftover. Works out all around.

A party loaf you can still make today. (courtesy Betty Crocker)

Over the past several years, I’ve gotten friendly with the, by now, very famous Lee Brothers Pimento Cheese (google it). Born to a southern-bred mama, I’m no stranger to pimento cheese, especially layered into a party loaf for a baby shower. But I don’t think I’d ever made it myself as a young cook, so was glad to rediscover it. While I liked the basic batch lots, I quickly began to play with it, as is my wont — not a popular thing to do in the south, where Pimento Cheese is serious business. Nonetheless, play with it I did, going all southwest (I do live and love in Colorado) with the addition of roasted green chiles and later on even adding shrimp. Oh no!! Oh yes!! I loved them all but yesterday, when my good friend Jim White was coming to dinner, I had everything for a pimento cheese spread of some sort but also had leftover crisply-fried bacon. I know; who has leftover bacon? Well, you know what happened. And, I couldn’t help but think, “Bacon for breakfast, bacon for lunch!!” You do remember the movie “Grumpier Old Men,” right? (If not, time to watch that and its predecessor. You missed out.) This movie has prime bacon dialog. If you haven’t seen it, Grandpa Gustafson was played by Burgess Meredith and John (Johnny) Gustafson was played by Jack Lemmon. Here’s the dialog:

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FRIDAY FISH: Whole Wheat Smoked Salmon + Cheese Scones

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Sunrise at our house

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My friend Thomas, who attends a weekly Wednesday class with me, often asks, “Any scones today, Alyce?” Once in a while, given an early morning with extra time, I’ll throw together some blueberry or peach or strawberry and chocolate chip scones (or some muffins) and bake them off, bringing them along in a basket with butter for the class to enjoy with our coffee. But that’s not every week and maybe not even every month. For Thomas, however, hope springs eternal. I thought of him today as I worked on a new savory scone for this week’s FRIDAY FISH — I know, a bread for FRIDAY FISH!! — and wondered what he’d think of a not-sweet, craggy whole wheat scone featuring smoked salmon, two cheeses, and some finely chopped brightly-colored veggies. I’m guessing he’d go right ahead and eat a couple anyway but might be a little surprised to not find berries or even currants in his scones. While you might be surprised, too, I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy them, especially alongside a bowl of tomato or asparagus soup, a crisp salad, a brunchy egg dish, or even spread with a bit of goat or cream cheese with a glass of sparkling wine at appetizer time. Everyone loves homemade bread but not everyone has the hours it takes to make it. Scones, a for real “quick bread” can be tossed together, baked, and in your tummy in about 45 minutes.

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FRIDAY FISH: Tuna Stew on Cheddar-Dill Biscuits

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Looking for St. Patrick’s Day Ideas? Just click on “St. Patrick’s Day” in the categories section at right to find my favorites including Salmon on Caraway Cabbage, Irish Soda Bread with Potato Soup, Salmon on Colcannon, Colcannon Soup, Traditional Kerry Apple Cake, and more.

I haven’t made a tuna casserole in so many years that I can’t count. I like the stuff, but my husband says he had his fill during our early married life when I often made my sister’s Helen’s version — she always baked the good kind with potato chips, of course.

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Whole Wheat Biscuits and Gene’s Sausage Gravy for Father’s Day

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Brunch, and maybe especially Father’s Day brunch, is one of my favorite meals! This post is dedicated to my father-in-law, Gene Morgan, a good cook who makes the very best of all Sausage Gravies.

Gene, after a lifetime career in nearly every sector of the grocery store arena, knows the food business.  Just ask him about how long green beans are picked before they’re canned, when a melon is ripe, where sugar beets are grown in the world, how coffee is stored in the warehouse, or what H.E.B. actually stands for.  He’s a fair hand in the kitchen, too, and can keep dinner coming. In fact, the man can bake when he wants to. What he’s really famous for, however, is his sausage gravy.  Well, that and being just about the biggest Illini (University of Illinois) fan in the state of Illinois. He once sported an Illini ROOM in the house, in fact, all decorated and gussied up by his wife, my mother-in-law, Lorna, who joins right in year in and year out with the Illini devotion.

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