Biscuits : sweet and savory Southern recipes for the all-American kitchen

99 Pages·2015·2.73 MB·English

by  Garvin

In memory of my grandparents, Payton (1902–1992) and Virginia (1907–1990) Phillips, whose unfaltering
love showed me the way to peace and grace.
John 14:27
Contents Acknowledgments
My Biscuit Heritage
My Biscuit Story
America’s Biscuit History
Biscuits in My Kitchen—Products, Tips, Equipment
Biscuits in Grandmother’s Kitchen
Leftovers: Be Smart
Biscuits in Bakery Shops
Strawberry Fields
Makin’ Doughnuts
Tassies and Pecan Pies
Biscuits in a Biscuit Shop
Lunch in the Drugstore
A Cotton Mill Worker’s Lunch
Biscuits in a Butler’s Pantry
Sal-mon Patties
Biscuits in Everyday Home Meals
Chicken ‘n Dumplins
Biscuits and Toppings in Diners
Cane Syrup
The Little White Bowl
Biscuit Neighbors and Kin
Hush, Puppy!
Granny’s Tea Cakes
Blackberries from the Beginning
Bibliography
Resources
Index
Conversion Charts
Acknowledgments
T
o my husband, Sam: Finding your soul mate is a blessing and I have been
abundantly blessed to share my life with you over the past forty years. Our
married life has been rich, sweet, fulfilling and, at times, sad. The rich blessings
we received at the moment we first laid eyes on each of our three babies will
carry us through the rest of our lives. Watching those sweet babies grow into
responsible, caring, loving adults is the grand prize of parenting. We’ve gently
caressed each other’s broken hearts and shared the sadness when we had to say
goodbye to loved ones. Our travels have taken us on fun, exciting, and
interesting excursions. My heart would swell each time I saw the pride on your
face when you talked to someone about my cookbook. I’m undeserving of such
loyalty and love but eternally grateful.
To my children, Marcia, Amy, and Tyler: I’m so proud of each of you. You’ve
brought an immeasurable amount of joy and love into my life. I give thanks to
God for you every day. Thank you for your encouragement and interest in this
project.
To my son-in-law, David: You’re a wonderful addition to our family. Thank
you for being such a loving husband to my daughter and father to my
grandchildren. Your support of this project means a tremendous amount to me.
To my grandchildren, Jackson and Ella: I hope you’ll be proud of Nana’s book
one day and that it will help you understand a little bit more about your
Southern heritage.
To my friends, Dawn, Shari, and Myrna: I’ve leaned on each of you in different
ways and you never let me down. Such friendship is a rare commodity and I can’t
adequately thank you for all you’ve done. You’ve been there with me every step
of the way.
To my editor, Nicole Frail: You were the driving force behind this book and
held the hand of this novice author throughout the process. You were editor,
psychologist, cheerleader, and advocate. Thank you for believing in me.
To my publisher, Skyhorse Publishing: Thank you for taking a chance on me.
To all the members of Buckhorn Springs Golf and Country Club: Thank you
for your willing acceptance of our many offerings of biscuits.
To all the friends who I know in person or who follow me on various social
media outlets: You have been so sweet and kind to me. Your notes, emails, and
comments keep my spirits lifted, my motivation high, and my belief in the
goodness of people alive. Y’all are the reason Syrup and Biscuits continues.
To Kurt Halls: your constant quest to be good and do right inspires me.
To Becky and Mary Pat: not only are you top notch personal trainers and
fitness experts, but you are my inspiration to stay on track and healthy. Thank
you for taking a personal interest in my crazy, wild aspirations.
To my fellow Stephen Ministers at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church,
Brandon, Florida: You have lifted me up and given me inspiration. God works
through each of you. Thank you for sharing your loving hearts with me.
To my sisters, Kathy and Sue: You will always be a part of my story.
To my mother-in-law, Dorothy Garvin: You’ve supported me in everything
I’ve ever attempted. I hope you enjoy sharing this cookbook with your friends.

My Biscuit Heritage
A
baby born to teenage parents—parents who had no advantages, no
education beyond high school, low paying jobs, and no prospect of higher
earnings whose own parents were former tenant farmers—isn’t usually destined
for greatness. In fact, that baby has a lot of odds stacked against her. How that
baby was able to thrive, meet and marry her soul mate, get an education, raise a
family, achieve every professional goal she set, and eventually land a contract to
write a book is either the stuff from which fairy tales are made or simply an
example of the power of traditional Southern values such as faith, family, respect,
hard work, honesty, and lots of good homegrown tomatoes. My story is the
former. Who’s to say how much of a role homegrown tomatoes actually played,
but I know the important role and impact of Southern values in my life.
Southerner is as much a part of my identity as woman, wife, mother, sister, aunt,
grandmother, friend, and neighbor. It’s more than an identifier; it’s a component
of my DNA. I live in the South and the South lives in me. I willingly and proudly
accept, admit, and display it.
My birth at Fort Rucker, Alabama, in 1955, added another generation of
Alabamians to a multi-generational Alabama lineage. That lineage continued for
one more generation with the birth of my daughters in Mobile. With Alabamians
above and below me in my ancestral line, and all around me in everyday life, the
connection to biscuits is obvious. Biscuits were as common as air and almost as
necessary.
So many of the good things in life, the things that really matter, came to me by
way of an unassuming cotton mill village in the small southeastern town of
Geneva, Alabama. That’s where my parents grew up and both sets of my
grandparents lived. I only lived in Geneva a few years, but I certainly spent a lot
of time there during the summers with my mother’s parents, Payton and
Virginia Phillips. If you noticed a few pages back, I dedicated this book to their
memory, which indicates the profound impact they had on my life and my view
of the world.