A Simple Breakfast that Became an Adventure

Twenty five years ago Hubby and I bought a simple stainless steal refrigerator to keep in the garage of our Las Vegas Home. When we returned to California, that same refrigerator came with us. It served as our only refrigerator for years.

Then when we moved yet again to our current home, that old refrigerator became a second refrigerator again and spent time once more in the garage. The heat of Las Vegas and the central valley for a refrigerator kept in the garage eventually became too much. It struggled to keep things as cold as it once had. The doors sometimes didn’t properly seal. Hubby and I knew the day was coming soon when that refrigerator would soon be leaving us for appliance heaven.

Kiddo decided he would pay for a new refrigerator. He’s a good, generous person like that, so we must have done something right along the way to his adulthood. We picked out a new refrigerator, one designed for the garage and scheduled a deliver for the very next day.

FYI: Garage ready refrigerators have thicker walls then your standard refrigerator. This results in some loss of space inside, but a reduction in the cost to keep everything cool and hopefully will increase the life of the appliacne. (Fingers crossed)

The timing could not have been more perfect. That day when we came home from Mass, the poor garage refrigerator had died. The top freezer was melting, while icicles hung from the shelves in the refrigerator itself. Everything above was beginning to thaw, while everything below was in varying stages of freezing. Some things were tossed, others seemed to have survived. One of the things Hubby thought had survived was a bag of frozen Southern Biscuits.

The day I decided to make Biscuits and Gravy for breakfast turned into a delicious adventure. The frozen biscuits had thawed, then refrozen into one giant biscuit. Time to punt. I pulled out my recipes for biscuits. While I had a box of Bisquick in the pantry that would make quick work out of baking biscuits, I really wanted “from scratch” biscuits for a change. One problem. All my recipes called for buttermilk. Buttermilk isn’t something we keep on hand. So I went in search of how to turn milk into buttermilk. The basic recipe is simple enough. For each cup of milk, add 1 tablespoon white vinegar. My favorite recipe only needed 2/3 cup of buttermilk. Simple enough, 1 tablespoon equals 3 teaspoons. So 2/3 cup milk with 2 teaspoons white vinegar should do the trick. With fingers crossed and a quick prayer, I gave it a try.

Oh my, these were the best, most fluffy biscuits I have ever had! So glad the refrigerator died when it did. I might not have learned this handy substitute otherwise.

Betty’s Southern Biscuits with Sausage Gravy
Make Your Own Buttermilk
2/3 cup Whole Milk
2 teaspoons White Vinegar

Measure milk in a glass measuring cup. Stir in the white vinegar. Set aside and let sit for 10 minutes before using.

Southern Biscuits
2 cups Flour
1 heaping tablespoon Baking powder
1 teaspoon Salt
6 tablespoons Shortening
2/3 cup Buttermilk

Heat oven to 450-degrees.

Combine flour, baking powder an dsalt in a bowl. Cut in the shortening with fingertips. Add buttermilk to create a soft dough.

Lightly flour a cutting board. Round up the soft dough, lightly knead in the flour for about 30 seconds or so. Roll out or pat dough into a quarter-inch thick disk. With a lightly floured biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter, cut biscuits. Regroup extra dough, roll again and repeat once more.

Arrange biscuits on a baking sheet, place in the heated oven. Bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Sausage Gravy
1/2 lb Jimmy Dean Regular Sausage
1 package Country Gravy Mix
2 cups Milk
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Crumble sausage, brown in the skillet, breaking sausage into small pieces as it brown. Allow sausage to develop a little sear around the edges to add flavor to the gravy..

Sprinkle powdered gravy mix over the sausage, let mix soak in the excess oils in the skillet (more flavor!) Gradually add milk, stirring well after each half-cup addition. Once all the milk has been added, let simmer for just a few minutes. Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper to taste.

If the gravy thickens too much, thin with about 4 tablespoons of milk, adding a tablespon at a time until desired consistency is reached.

To serve, split biscuits open and ladle with gravy. This is delicious served with sausage patties and scrambled eggs.

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