More on biscuits

I love bread. Yeast, quick, sourdough - you name it, I love it.

Well - except for pita bread, that makes my tummy hurt!

Biscuits are a quick bread. You can get mixes, you can buy the horrible little cans, but nothing beats homemade biscuits, unless my older sister makes them.

Dad always called her biscuits hardtack, then stated quite firmly that he loved hardtack.

He lied, he liked my biscuits bestest.

Variations on biscuits are practically endless.

The garlic and cheese biscuits you get at Red Lobster. The angel biscuits in Virginia. The buttermilk biscuits of the deep south. The beaten biscuits (also from the deep south).

I like oatmeal biscuits for a change of pace. They're incredible with butter and maple syrup, or for those not from Vermont, honey, molasses or even cane syrup. I hear it's a delicacy here in the south, but I don't really understand it.

To make oatmeal biscuits, replace 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the flour with processed oatmeal. You can use a food processor or a blender, either should get the results you need.

Fruit biscuits are also neat. Just add 1/2 cup chopped fresh apples, peaches, strawberries - whatever your taste of the day is. Make sure you chop the harder fruits into small pieces, or they'll not cook up in the 15 minutes it takes to cook the biscuits! Berries need to be firm rather than juicy, or you'll have a mess!

Also add about 3 tablespoons of sugar to the flour. Trust me.

Some spice is nice too. A bit of nutmeg and cinnamon for the apples - mace, cloves or allspice for the peaches - you can actually get measuring spoons that come in the dash, pinch and smidgen measurements. I'd use a smidgen, just don't go overboard and use a handful! (No, you have to use your hand for that one)

On the other hand, you CAN use the plain biscuit dough, with the sugar added, to make quick cinnamon rolls if you don't have the time to make the raised ones.

Make the dough, add sugar and a teaspoon of cinnamon to the flour before adding the buttermilk.

Roll it out to about 1/4 inch. Spread with some softened butter and sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the whole. Roll it up and cut into 1 inch sections. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and cook for 10 to 15 minutes at 450°.

These will NOT have the same consistency as raised rolls, but are quite tasty!

And yes you can frost them:

1 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup milk (or orange juice, the pulpy kind)
::you probably will NOT use the entire 1/4 cup of liquid::
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Put the sugar in a small bowl, add the vanilla then the milk 1 tablespoon at a time, until you reach a nice spreadable consistency. Make this while the rolls are cooking, you want to ice them while they're still hot.

If you use the orange juice, leave out the vanilla. Trust me.

That's it for today, I need sleep!