The Best Biscuits and Good Ol' Southern Jelly

Missy Tippens

Thought I'd do a throw-back post today! It's from October 19, 2012. Enjoy!


The Belle, here. Well, I had promised a pumpkin recipe but never got to make it. So, in celebration of all things pumpkin, I want to start with something yummy I tried this week...

A Pumpkin Pie Moolatte from Dairy Queen!

It even had nutmeg grated on top!

Now for my "recipe" for today. ;)

My favorite biscuits. Are you ready for this? Here are the ingredients:

1 Bag of frozen Mary B's Biscuits! :)

Yep. That's it. I promise you these are about the best biscuits ever. They make several styles of biscuits, but my favorite is the Tea Biscuits. They're just a couple of bites each and have the best texture. A little crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.

YUM! And easy peasy--perfect for someone like me whose homemade biscuits always turn out like hockey pucks.

Preheat the oven to about 400. You can just put the biscuits on a cookie sheet frozen.

Bake 15-20 minutes.

And voila! You have beautiful, golden brown biscuits. Quick, while they're hot, split them and add a nice thick pat of real butter!

Here are our favorite Georgia-style toppings...

Muscadine jelly! (This jelly is actually made with muscadine wine as well as grape juice.) Muscadines are a type grape that are grown around here. In fact, the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension website says that in 2006, Georgia was the largest producer of muscadine grapes with 1400 acres of them. The grapes are high in resveratrol, the compound found in red wine that's supposed to lower cholesterol and the risk of heart disease. So we'll pretend eating the jelly is healthy, too! :)

I have to tell you a funny story. When I first moved here and started working, I went on break with my coworkers, and one of them asked me if I'd like a scuppernong. She held out a baggie of huge grape looking things. I looked at her like she was crazy, I'm sure, and asked what she'd just said! LOL Such a strange word. I just now did a bit of research and found it's a variety of the muscadine. However, some sites calls the red grapes muscadines and the white ones scuppernongs. Either way, they make fantastic jelly!

Another local jelly we love is mayhaw jelly. I had to do a little checking to find out what in the world a a mayhaw is (I'm originally from Kentucky so had never heard of them either). They're tart red berries (aren't technically a berry but are in the haw or apple family) that grow in the swamps and bogs of southwest Georgia.

So, you've had your tasty lesson for the day! Hope you enjoyed a visit to the south. :)

Missy
www.missytippens.com

Substituting Fruit for Sweets--A Challenge

Missy Tippens

Our insurance company has a wellness program. They offer incentives for exercising and eating well. We can earn points and actually get cash or other prizes.

So I just signed up to take part in one of the challenges. Whenever I want something sweet to eat, I'm supposed to eat fruit. If I do it 5 of 7 days this week, then I'll be a winner.

So far, so good! I've grabbed apples with peanut butter instead of eating scones. I've added frozen strawberries to oatmeal for breakfast and for a snack. And another morning, instead of eating regular jelly, I made cooked strawberries and spread them on my toast!

I thought the idea was pretty clever.

I took about a cup of frozen berries and heated them in a skillet until they were softened and cooked through. Then I mushed them a bit.

Then I spread it on my toast.

Next time, I'll probably add a sprinkle of Truvia to sweeten it some so it'll taste more like jam. But it was a good substitute! And it helped me be successful in my challenge. :)

Have you ever made your own jam or jelly without added sugar?

www.missytippens.com

Lilac Jelly repost, a favorite poem and SPRING HAS SPRUNG

Happy weekend, everybody! Mary Jane here and a new friend reminded me of this interesting recipe. I first posted it back in 2014 and looking at these pictures really made us laugh. Three years ago, helping with the hot air balloons meant the older kids worked-- and the younger guys ran around with their hands over their ears. We had a good chuckle at some of these. They're seasoned hands by now and are looking forward to their fifth season crewing for the hot air balloon festival. 

Before we start, remember Purple Like the West (you can find it here)  is on sale for .99 this week! Oh, and yes, the new covers are new! They were designed and created by my talented 15 year old. :) I told her, "I keep changing the covers, and then a month later my cover girls are all over other books. I have to have something UNIQUE." And this is what she came up with for the series. LOVE. 

Now, onward to the lilac jelly....

 Although, I had a hard time choosing what to bring to the cafe, Edna helped me decide.

The lilacs are in bloom!

Did you know there are over 60 varieties of lilacs?

We have our half an acre of a backyard ringed with lilacs and there are four different varieties. My favorite are these double blooms.

So, to make lilac jelly we must have lilacs! You'll need 2 cups of packed blossoms. This means stripping the flowers from the bushes and picking off the green stems.

I doubled my recipe, but you'll need a package of Sure-Jell.

Rise your lilac blossoms in cold water.

For every 2 cups of packed lilacs, add 2 1/2 cups of BOILING WATER.

At this point I'm thinking this is going to be a big batch! 

Weigh down the lilacs with a plate...

And let it sit overnight or for 8 hours. The water around the lilacs will start to turn brown. Don't worry, this is natural.

Edna had a wonderful time with this recipe. She said it all reminded her of one of her favorite poems.

Sometimes - Sheenagh Pugh

Sometimes things don't go, after all,
from bad to worse.  Some years, muscadel
faces down frost; green thrives; the crops don't fail,
sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.

A people sometimes will step back from war;
elect an honest man, decide they care
enough, that they can't leave some stranger poor.
Some men become what they were born for.

Sometimes our best efforts do not go
amiss, sometimes we do as we meant to.
The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow
that seemed hard frozen:  may it happen for you.

(And in case anyone thinks Miss Sheenagh Pugh is going to sue me for using this... here's her response to whether or not we can use her poem... And I should have left her name off, but Edna made me keep it. Sheenagh can come and discuss it with Edna.)

Of course, we have lilac here and not muscadel (those little grape hyacinth), but indeed, this spring is one of these "sometimes"!

OK, put away the poetry and strain out the blossoms.

Hmmmmm.... The kids are look at this and shaking their heads. 

For every two cups of liquid, add 1/4 cup lemon juice. 

Add  1/2 tsp butter, and one box of pectin to a heavy-bottomed pan.

Bring to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and add 4 cups of sugar. Bring back to a boil.

Remove from heat and skim foam. 

Let the liquid cool a bit and then add to clean jars.  They can be sealed with a ten minute water bath. (Put the jars in a pot half filled with water, and bring to a simmer, letting it boil for ten minutes.)

Letting them cool. I really do like how this color came out. I was a little worried by that brown muck in the measuring cup.

I did find some odd bits in the jelly. They reminded me of insects trapped in amber, but I think it adds to the *ahem* charm of the product.

  Here is Edna, teaching "Sometimes" to the lilac jelly jars. We're going to send them out into the world with that little poem printed on a card, and tied with a raffia ribbon. Because, "sometimes our best efforts do not go amiss" and we wish it for you!

 Happy spring, all! We'll leave you with a picture of the Walla Walla Balloon Stampede. We were the ground crew for one of the pilots and even though we had to get up at FOUR IN THE MORNING, it was a wonderful experience.

 I just saw the sun rise!

 Almost all the brothers...

 Balloons getting ready for passengers.

 Almost... up....

 First in flight!

 Goodbye, balloon!

 Someone is sneaking up on us!

 Isabel wore two sweaters and a coat, thinking it would be cold. She had no idea she would be standing in front of the FIRE.

 Another launches from behind the trees.

 Our pilot, Ingrid, needed some human sandbags.

 Ana is ready to take a nap and it's only 6 AM!

 Little dude hated the sound of the burners. And there were a lot of burners.

 Lots of rainbows!

 The inside of the Liberty Bell. 

 Kids squishing the air out of the pocket, now that the balloon is wrapped back up and inside.

Ingrid taught Jacob the Daisy Chain knot and he's been practicing ever since.

 And then we were part of the Night Glow exhibit. Not early in the morning, but late at night.

 At dusk, all the balloons are fired up.

 All at once, like a race! Up, up, up!!

 This was ours. Great pilot, he was a hoot. And again, we were human sandbags to weigh down the balloon while the pilots made the balloons glow in unison with the music the played through the speakers.

 I went back to the sidelines for a bit and took a few pictures. There were about 15 balloons and they were beautiful at night. Thousands of people came to cheer them on. It was like the Fourth of July... but no fireworks.

 It gets hot right under the burners. But if you get out, it was chilly. Cold, hot, cold, hot.

Here's our pilot telling some story we can't really hear...

And the best part was our friend Mindy was here for a visit, all the way from Savage, Montana! Talk about togetherness time. "Hey, wanna come use your body weight to hold down a giant balloon while having your hair singed by propane flames?" And she said yes, of course, because she's cool like that.

OK, snap back to 2017 and my teens are visiting Mindy in Savage, Montana at this very moment! I love those long-term friendships. I only wish I was there to hang out with her mom! SAD FACE. But we moms have work to do... which reminds me I should get writing. I've got a deadline!

 Until next time!