Yesterday I was invited to join some other PEO members for lunch and to go to see a wonderful antiques collection nearby. Sue has been collecting antiques, particularly gadgets, for over 30 years. Her kitchen gadgets were stunning. Walls were lined with graters, grinders, pudding molds, colanders and cast iron corn stick pans. On hooks were dozens of egg beaters, lots of gadgets to hold canning jars, soap savers, whisks, and so much more.
She had a cute metal measuring cup that was a coffee measurer. A thin piece of metal for the bottom slid in and out of slots to move the bottom up or down depending on how strong you wanted your coffee.
She had bushel baskets full of cooking tools like spoons, forks, slotted spoons, potato mashers...and each basket had different colored handles. It was overwhelming. One item caught my eye and she agreed to let me photograph it for the one off event - That Crazy Kitchen Gadget hosted by Not Eating Out in New York. The photograph is above. Do you think you know what it is? Look below the next photo to see if you guessed right. Wish I had one of those myself.
It's a biscuit cutter. It rolls along and cuts a whole row of biscuits (or cookies, I guess) at a time. Did you guess correctly??
My Dad loved biscuits, so these quick and easy ones were baked often when I was growing up. Since I don't own the cutter, I'll be using a floured drinking glass. I'm also including a photo with jam and one with honey because I like eating them both ways. Mmmmmm.
Dad's Simple But Nutritionally Suspect Buttermilk Biscuits3 cups sifted self-rising flour
1/2 cup shortening (Crisco was what we used)
1 cup buttermilk
Cut shortening into flour until consistency of coarse meal; add enough buttermilk to make a soft dough (you may need slightly more or less than 1 cup). Turn onto lightly floured surface; knead gently about ten strokes. Roll 1/2 of the thickness desired in finished biscuits. Fold over on itself and roll out again to same thickness. Cut with a floured biscuit cutter (or drinking glass OR crazy kitchen gadget if you have one). Place on a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 400 degree F overn for 12-15 minutes. Makes about 14 - 2" biscuits.
