A Bit of Texas Pride

Mmmm....  Texas Style food is the BEST!  There's nothing better than waking up to a pan full of flaky biscuits, warm and fresh out of the oven.  I'll bet you think they are lots of work to whip up, but I promise you they are easier to make than Grandma's were! 

Follow me, and I'll lead you to a recipe that will make your family happy, fill your freezer, and give you a taste of old-fashioned Texas pride!!!

Before we get to that amazing biscuit recipe, I want to share another bit of Texas Pride:  Texas Style Barbeque!!  Is there anything better in life than a slice of tender smoked brisket or a rack of savory baby back ribs?  And doesn't the thought of a pan full of peach cobbler or pecan pie cobbler just make your knees week?

Let me share a bit of the Texas lifestyle with you.  There's an old BBQ joint located in Adkins, Texas, just outside of San Antonio.  The place is called Texas Pride.  How can you get any prouder to live here than to name your restaraunt "Texas Pride"??  One of the many reasons that I love living here in this state, a place that I've called home my entire life, and a place that generations of my family have called home, is that we have so much pride in who we are. 

The feel of going back in time hits you as soon as you pull into the parking lot.  When was the last time you were greeted by a parking attendant on horseback? 

Walking up to the restaraunt, you begin to feel that you have gone back in time to the old towns of times gone past. 

I remember riding one of these at the grocery store when I was a little girl.  I'll bet you have the same kind of memories!

Once you enter the building, the awesome aroma of wood smoke and meat just fills the air.  Right away your stomach starts to grumble!  (I don't know who this guy is who ended up in my photo!)

This sign just cracked me up.  And for you who don't live in Texas, Big Red is the most amazing soda ever.  It's fizzy, red, unmatchable deliciousness!!!

Here's one of our trays with some of our goodies:  Baby Back Ribs and Pit Smoked Brisket (in the wrappers), mac-n-cheese, cole slaw, beans, and peach cobbler.  Our other tray had more ribs and brisket, cheezy potatoes, green beans, and pecan cobbler.  YUMMM!!!

Holy Cow! 

While there was a concert in their music venue, we had such full tummies, so we decided to share a dance out in the parking lot under the Texas stars and the full moon, then ride off into the South Texas sunset.

  

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 Now that your tummies are grumbling for some South Texas grub, here's a recipe for you!

Waking up Sunday morning, we still had that feel of old-time Texas in our hearts.  There's no better way to satisfy our nostalgic feelings than to bake up some super easy Homemade Biscuits ~ Texas Style.  Did I tell you that these wonderful old-fashioned biscuits are FREEZABLE!??  Make some on Sunday morning, and have biscuits for the rest of the week.  No cans of biscuits in The Menu Maker Mom's kitchen today!  No strange chemicals either!

Ingredients:

6 cups all-purpose flour

3 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 sticks butter, very soft

2 cups plain Greek yogurt

Enough milk to thin the yogurt until it's the consistency of buttermilk

In a very large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Using two forks or a pastry blender, blend in the butter until you can't see any big chunks any larger than a tiny pea.  I have also done this in my Kitchenaide mixer, using the whisk attachment.

Mix up your yogurt and milk in a small bowl.

Add the thinned yogurt to the flour and mix with your hands or a wooden spoon. 

Turn the whole mess out onto a surface covered with another 1/4 cup of flour.  Knead the dough only about 10 times.  It will feel quite wet, not at all like pizza dough or bread dough.

Pat the dough out until it's 1" thick.  Cut out your biscuits with a biscuit cutter, clean can, or glass that is about 2-1/2" in diameter.  Just press the cutter straight down, don't swivel it around to cut the biscuits.  Straight cuts make higher rising biscuits!

Bake your biscuits at 400 degrees farenheit for about 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. 

Flash freeze any extras, then transfer to a plastic freeezer bag, and pop them into your freezer.  Place frozen biscuits on a cookie sheet, bake at 425 for about 15 minutes for fresh homemade biscuits any time!

Makes 24 2-1/2" biscuits.

Wanna bite?

The Chicken Spaghetti Story

It was 10:45 in the morning.  My cell phone vibrated in my hand and I saw that one of my daughters was calling.  My motherly instinct said, “Worry”!  After all, my 14-year-old twin daughters and their best friend rode their bikes across town to feed and care for their FFA animal projects at the school’s agricultural barn.  It was a short ride, but one that took them across a small highway.  Well, as you know, we Mamas like to worry, and I’m an expert at it!

“What’s wrong?”, I abruptly answered.

“Mom do we have any chicken?”, asked Baby B

“Chicken?” I curiously replied.

“Yes, Mom.  We want to make chicken spaghetti, but don’t worry.  We’re going to ride our bikes to the grocery store to buy the other stuff.”

Let’s park here for a moment.   My kids were offering to shop and cook.  While my girls like to cook, they have never wanted to shop for the food, much less ride a bike to the store and spend their own money on said food.  Were my girls abducted by aliens while they were bike riding?  Were these industrious shopping and cooking teenagers really just extraterrestrial replacements? 

I granted permission, promised to thaw the chicken, and started a litany of worried mother’s advisories:  “Just be careful crossing the highway.  Use the crosswalk.  Don’t talk to strangers.   Remember, bad people don't always look weird.  Don’t ride against traffic.  Stop at the stop signs.  Call me when you get to the store.  And…”

“We’ll be fine, Mom.  Thanks!  See ya later!” Baby B sang to me.

By the time the shoppers arrived home, I discovered that they had decided to do some additional shopping by first taking a detour to a feed store to buy a $15.00 can of  fly spray.   Apparently the barn had flies of biblical proportions, and they needed the expensive stuff to get rid of the infestation.  After that, they rode their bikes to the grocery store and purchased all the ingredients for their lunch.  Before riding home, they went back to the ag barn to spray those pesky flies. 

Finally, about an hour after that phone call, they arrived home hot, thirsty, and hungry.  Amazingly, I was never asked to cook the casserole dish that they had planned.  (I just helped a bit here and there.)  And about an hour after their arrival, we were all eating delicious Teenage Style Chicken Spaghetti.  YUMMM!!!