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XI. United States
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Chapter 23: Chico, California
Little Chico Elementary School
Teacher: Mary Edwards
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Student: Eli C.
Grandpa John's Famous Potatoes
Recipe
Place one potato and one onion quarter on a sheet of foil with one teaspoon of butter. Add salt and pepper to taste. Wrap potato and onion mixture in foil pouch. Repeat for all potatoes. Place foil wrapped potato and onion packets in a 450 degree oven for one hour. Remove from oven and serve immediately.
Essay
You smell them, your mouth begins to water, and then you take your first bite. It is wonderful. That's right - Grandpa John's Famous Potatoes are the best. This recipe is special to me in many ways. One is that I never knew my Grandfather and this recipe reminds me of the stories my Dad has told me. It is also special because I like these potatoes and so do my family.
It is amazing to think that my Grandpa grew up in Oklahoma City. When my grandpa's family went camping it was a big deal. Whenever Grandpa and his family went camping they made these potatoes over the hot coals of a fire. When he grew older and moved to California he brought the recipe with him.
Let me tell you about some family gatherings, usually barbecues, I have had... Whenever my Grandma comes down from her house we have a big barbecue and serve these potatoes. We have these Barbecues at my Dad's house, in the summer, with my family. Whenever we have these potatoes everyone complements the cook on how good they are, and everyone wants more. So I have good memories of family barbecues.
In conclusion, I am glad we have this recipe. I am glad my family can come together and have something we all like as a family. I am glad that my Grandpa passed this recipe down to my family. Furthermore, I am glad that this recipe is here today and that many people like it.
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Student: Rosa C.
Flan
Ingredients
1/3 cup of sugar (melted)
1/4 cup of sugar (not melted)
2 eggs
1 13 oz. can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Dash of salt
Recipe
This recipe makes 6 to 7 servings. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Melt 1/3 cup sugar in a small skillet, stirring constantly. Remove quickly from stove when melted. Pour into baking dish. In a mixing bowl, combine evaporated milk, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup sugar, and a dash of salt, mix. Pour into dish on top of melted sugar. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes. Let cool before eating.
Essay
It was 350 degrees fahrenheit in the oven where my favorite dessert baked. My mouth was watering. I could smell it from my room. My mom was making flan. Flan began with my great, great, great grandma, on my mom’s side of the family. She would bake it every time we went to visit her. After awhile her children started making it and they taught their children, and they taught their children, one of who was my mom.
Year after year we made flan only for Christmas, but we loved it so much that we decided that we would make flan for Thanksgiving and the rest of the big holidays. It finally became a family tradition to make flan. It has been in my family for decades and I have lots of memories of eating it during the holidays.
One special memory is the night my mom was making flan and my little sister and I decided that when my mom was out of the kitchen we would sneak in and drink the evaporated milk. We opened the cans quickly and poured the milk into solid colored cups so my mom would not be able to tell right away what was in our cups. When my mom returned to the kitchen she noticed right away that the milk was missing. When she found out that we were drinking the milk she didn’t get mad, as we expected; she just sat down and enjoyed a cup of milk with us.
Flan is special to my family - and me - for many reasons. We have a lot of memories together eating flan. It brings the families together and makes them put their differences aside. We all have one thing in common. We love flan! In conclusion, over the years flan has become a family tradition with special memories that I hope to pass along to my children.
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Student: Ciri C.
Posole
Ingredients
1 30 ounce can of hominy beans (drained and rinsed)
1 lb. pork
1 ancho chile
1 fresh pasilla chile
2 cloves garlic
Salt to taste
Recipe
Begin to cook the pork in water for about half an hour or until there are white spongy bubbles on top of the water. Dump the water out and rinse the pork. Put it back in the pan. Place the pan on the stove and add salt for flavor. Start cooking the pork for 2 hours on stove.
Blend the Chile ancho and Chile pasia with 2 cloves of garlic and mash it together. When spices are blended, drain the Chilies and garlic in to cooked the pork. Add hominy beans into the pork.
Essay
Have you ever thought about what posole is? Well it is easy to make and it is delicious. It is my family's favorite dish for special occasions or just for dinner. You will soon see why posole is my favorite food to eat. When I first ate posole I was 7 years old. At the time I hated my first taste of posole, so I spit it out. Over the years it has become my favorite meal.
The recipe has changed in many ways over the years. Everyone in my family has changed the recipe a little. For example, my aunt puts pieces of tortilla in the posole. My mom mixes posole with menudo, which is my personal favorite. There is one favorite memory that sticks out in my mind about posole. That's the time I helped make posole on my 9th birthday. It was early in the morning when I woke up. The sound of pots had awakened me. My mom knew that posole was my favorite food. She asked if I wanted to help and of course I said, "Yes!" I watched as my mom put pieces of pork and garlic into the pot. I added some spices. That day I ate so much posole that I had a stomachache.
Do you know that posole originated in Mexico? My grandma and grandpa were not rich so they had to make something that tasted good that was not expensive to make. My grandma heard about posole and how to make it from her friend, Maria. Since then posole has been a family favorite and a family tradition. As you can see, posole holds special memories and good times in my family. It's been in my family for generations and I hope to pass it on to my kids.
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Student: Kyle D.
Grandpa Chammie's Ice Cream
I can taste it right now, my Grandpa Chammies homemade ice cream. It is so good. It tastes even better when it is fresh out of the ice cream maker. This great tasting recipe has been in my family for decades. We make the homemade ice cream at every family celebration. I also have some memories to go along with the recipe. It is tradition to make this delicious ice cream at Easter.
We also make this recipe at all of our family reunions, birthdays, and family graduations. On Easter we go to an early church service. My mom makes this recipe when we get home and afterwards all the kids in the family get baskets and have an Easter egg hunt in our front yard. I like helping my mom make it on Easter.
When my mom graduated from college we went home after the ceremony and made my Grandpa Chammie's ice cream. It was so hot at Chico State University on the day she graduated that we had to have my Grandpa Chammie’s ice cream. At about 2pm we rushed home, put the ingredients in the ice cream maker and waited for the ice cream to be done. There are many reasons why this recipe is special to me.
One reason is that whenever I have the ice cream I think of my grandpa. I also wonder how he got the recipe. Another reason it is special to me is because it tastes way better than store-bought ice cream. The last reason it is special to me is because it has been in my family for decades.
The memories I have of enjoying this delicious ice cream are about having it at family reunions and birthdays. I don't have any memories of having it with my grandpa. I never knew him because he died the year I was born. My mom told me about a memory she has of having the delicious ice cream. She said that on every Easter she would go over to my grandpa's house. At his house he would have a piñata and an egg hunt in his back yard. After she ate breakfast and got the candy out of the piñata, she and my grandpa would make the homemade ice cream together.
The best ice cream I have ever had is my Grandpa Chammies homemade ice cream. It is also cheaper to make the ice cream, instead of spending a lot of money on store bought ice cream. It is amazing to think that there are so many traditions and memories that relate to this recipe. I love my Grandpa Chammie’s homemade ice cream and I'm going to try to keep the traditions alive, and pass the delicious recipe on to my children. (See artwork at chapter end).
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Student: Elizabeth G.
Green Bean Casserole
Ingredients
1 bag frozen cut green beans
1 can of mushroom soup
1 can of fried onion rings
Secret Ingredients
1 pint of sour cream
1 small brick of Colby cheese
Recipe
Mix sour cream, 1 cup of shredded cheese, one large can of French fried onion rings and cream of mushroom soup. Mix well. Put half or the bag of cut green beans in large casserole baking dish. Put in half of the soup mixture. Stir well. Stir in the remaining frozen cut green beans. Bake at 375 degrees, until the top of the casserole gets a brown around the edge of the lid. By this time the casserole should be bubbling from the heat. Take out the casserole dish for finishing touches. Place the remaining French fried onion rings on the top along with the remaining cheese along with some Italian bread crumbs. Place back in oven for at least 15-20 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool for about 15 minutes.
Essay
Now let me tell you about my favorite dish, called Green Bean Casserole. My mom makes Green Bean Casserole on special occasions such as Thanksgiving. The recipe came from the USA. Our family recipe is made with two special kinds of ingredients, sour cream and a brick of Colby cheese. My family has changed the recipe just a little bit, from how it is originally made.
I also have a lot of special memories. When I first tasted it on Thanksgiving as a child at first it tasted like green beans and lots of what looked like brown cheese. It was very good. My mom has lots of memories when she first made the casserole in the seventh grade. She was taught how to make it at the Summer Somset Jr. High School in Home Economics.
As you can see there are a lot of things that happened over the past fifty-four years. It's amazing to think that my mom has lots of past memories and still makes the recipe the same way it has always been made with all of the same ingredients. To this very day, and forever, she will make it until it is passed on to me. Most importantly it is great to know about my family and our traditions that run in the family.
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Student: Ward J.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
4 cups of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups (4 sticks) butter (melted)
1 cup of white sugar
1 cup of brown sugar (packed)
4 teaspoons of vanilla extract
4 eggs
4 cups of chocolate chips
Recipe
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine sugars and melted butter in large bowl. Mix until all sugar is dissolved. Add vanilla extract and eggs to mixture, beat well. Add flour and baking soda and mix until all flour and soda is mixed into batter. Add chocolate chips to batter and stir well. Drop a tablespoon size of batter on ungreased cookie sheet pan, approximately 2 to 3 inches apart. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. If you use an air bake pan increase time to 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on pan for 2 to 3 minutes; ready to serve.
Essay
The taste, smell and feel of a warm chocolate chip cookie as it slowly dissolves and travels down your throat can represent an experience of seemingly indescribable joy. Indeed, that is what it is like when you try one of my mom's cookies. She has been making these cookies for well over twenty years.
Surprisingly, these chocolate chip cookies were invented in the United States. My mom first created these cookies when she lived in Davis, California as a newlywed. She experimented with several different chocolate chip cookie recipes and finally settled on this one. Without a doubt, this recipe is special to me because my mom was the person who created it. She allows my brother, sister, and I to help her make the cookies. My family and I enjoy eating the batter as well as the warm and delicious baked cookies.
Of course, the best thing about these cookies is that it leaves you with enjoyable memories. One of the memories that I have related to these cookies was when my brother and I ate so much cookie batter that we got sick for several days. Another memory that I recall was when my mom had baked about five dozen cookies for a party at her office, and as she was preparing to gather the cookies together to leave for work, my dog jumped up and knocked almost all of the cookies to the ground. The cookies ended up smashed by the dog's paws. I also remember staying up late with my dad, sitting in front of the fire on many occasions, to dip the warm chocolate chip cookies in cold chocolate milk before eating them.
So, every time I eat these cookies with my family, I think of the memories and history, and when I think of that, it makes the cookies taste even better. Furthermore, I wish my mom could start a small cookie shop to sell her wonderful cookies. Then she could not only share her cookies with her family, but also with everybody who came to her cookie shop and the people around the world.
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Student: Jim M.
Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsn flour
1 tspn of salt, nutmeg & allspice
1tspn cinnamon
Recipe
Blend in 1 cup of mashed pumpkin (cooked or canned): mix well. Add a 14 oz. can of evaporated heated milk. Turn into a 9" pastry-lined pan. Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes. Then 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 50 to 60 minutes or until it is done. Test by inserting and removing a toothpick in the center of the pie. Toothpick should be clean when removed. (See artwork at chapter end).
Essay
What is scrumptious, mouth watering deliciously covered in whipped cream and tastes so great? Of course it would have to be a homemade pumpkin pie. Even after a full course meal it taste extremely great. My family has given a homemade pumpkin pie to my teachers for the past five years of school.
This recipe is special to me because my family shares special memories, like making pumpkin pie with my mom. The taste reminds me of the cinnamon, and sugar in the pumpkin pie, and how that same taste was in it right around Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Another reason why this recipe is special to me is because pumpkin pie helps bring our family together. The original pumpkin pie recipe came from a Pillsbury cookbook, but my family made a few changes to the recipe so we could call it our own. One of the changes we made is when we prepare the Pumpkin Pie we use a fresh or a homegrown pumpkin. We mash the pumpkin ourselves so it is as homemade as possible.
In conclusion, we get to eat a scrumptious whipped cream covered pumpkin pie together and have fun preparing it around the holidays. My teachers love the taste. The recipe is very special to my family and I am sure you will enjoy this recipe too. I hope to pass this recipe down to my children so the tradition will continue in my family.
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Student: Joshua M.
Tamales
Ingredients
4 pounds of chicken
7 pounds of masa (Mexican cornmeal)
1 pound of pork lard
1 cup of salt
3 cups of warm water
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 15 ounce can of chili sauce
1garlic and onion
Recipe
Mix masa with lard, water, baking powder, and all the salt except 1 teaspoon until it gets soft and smooth. Soak cornhusks in warm or hot water until they get soft. Cook chicken in oven until done with 1 teaspoon of salt, garlic and onion. Shred chicken. Add chiles or chile sauce to chicken and cook it again for 10 min. Grab husk, spread masa and some chicken in the middle. Fold the husk into a small rectangle and put them in the steamer. Steam for 45 to 60 min.
Essay
How do you say it? Tamlee? Tamabo? Tamala? Tamales may have a weird name but they smell and taste like HEAVEN. What are tamales? It is meat-filled corn dough, wrapped in a husk of corn. Tamales are a traditional Mexican food. For over one hundred and fifty years, generations of women have been making the delicious, mouth-watering treat. The reason why I know so much about tamales is because my dad came from Mexico, and his mother and grandmother made them.
Over the years women spent many hours making tamales. Most women didn't work out of the home and they didn't have television, so the women would make them for their families. Corn has been one of the major foods in Mexico and it is used in many different ways, such as in masa, tortillas and roasted ears of corn in a fire. For more than 20 years my dad has been making tamales. He learned as a young boy, when he helped his mother in the kitchen.
Christmas Eve is the big night for tamales. That's when all the aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents come together. Different aunts will bring their favorite kind of tamales and everyone will feast. Tamales are almost more important than presents! In fact, my dad and his brothers and sisters could only open tamales for Christmas. They were too poor to have real presents, so they were happy to be able to unwrap husks from the tamales! Tamales are more than just a food. They are a reminder of all the special times our family has gotten together. At any Mexican fiesta I bet you will find a tamale somewhere, if there are any left, because tamales are three hundred sixty five degrees of corn and meaty goodness!
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Student: Francesca M.
Chicken Tamales
Ingredients
3 pound chicken
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
1 large onion, chopped
2 x 15 ounce cans tomatoes
10-15 sprinkles of parsley
Tsp ground cumin seed
Tsp ground coriander seed
1 bag of red chili
4 cups water
Ingredients for Dough
4 cups of masa
3 cups of hot reserved
chicken broth
1 cup of lard
1 teaspoon salt
Recipe
Soften purchased cornhusks in warm water. Combine all ingredients in large pan. Bring to a boil and simmer until chicken is cooked through. Remove Chicken from broth. Shred Chicken and set aside. Reserve broth for the tamale dough. Mix together and combine well. Place masa in cornhusk and spread a layer about 1/2 inch thick. Place about 2-3 tablespoons chicken in the center of masa. Wrap cornhusks until only outside of husk is exposed. Place in large steamer and steam for one hour.
Essay
They are delicious and I cannot stop eating them. When I take a bite, my mouth starts to water. They have been in my family for generations. They have shredded chicken in the middle of the masa, and they are wrapped in cornhusks. They are called chicken tamales. Chicken tamales are from my culture. How are they in my culture you ask? Chicken tamales are from Mexico, where my Father was born. My Father was raised in Durango, Mexico.
When I eat chicken tamales it brings back memories from my childhood. My favorite memory is when I used to go to my Grandpa's house and eat chicken tamales for dinner. Another memory is going to my great aunts and having them on Christmas Eve. It is a tradition from Mexico to eat tamales on Christmas Eve. I like the memories I have of eating chicken tamales with my family. Chicken tamales are great because of the memories I recall when I eat them and because they taste excellent. I will always make chicken tamales, on holidays and for family gatherings, in the years to come. I love chicken tamales. They are my favorite dish.
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Student: Jessica N.
Enchiladas
Ingredients
4 large chicken breasts
2 dozen flour tortillas
1 clove of finely chopped garlic
2 cups grated cheddar & monterey jack cheese combined
8 ounces cans of ortega chilies
16 ounces of sour cream
32 ounces of canned Los Palmas red enchilada sauce
Recipe
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat enchilada sauce just until warm in a skillet on top of the stove. Combine shredded chicken, garlic, half of the cheese, chilies and sour cream in a bowl. Dip one tortilla at a time in the sauce. Let excess sauce drip back into skillet. Lay in 13x9 inch baking dish. Add approximately a cup of filling mixture in the middle of dipped tortilla. Roll tortilla and place on one end of dish. Repeat procedure until all tortillas are filled. Pour remaining sauce on top of enchiladas. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake uncovered, for about 30 mins, until cheese has melted and begins to bubble.
Essay
Three generations of hot, spicy enchiladas! (These originated from Spain where my great grandma lived and created them). To this day we still use the exact recipe. Since before I was born, all of my family travels to my nana and grandpa’s house for Christmas Eve. Surprisingly this is the only time my whole family is together. My nana always makes her enchiladas and we all love them.
This tradition all began when my nana and her brothers were kids. They would always ask my great- grandma to make her enchiladas. She would never make them because she said they took a lot dedication. But once Christmas rolled around, she decided to surprise her kids with a big plate of enchiladas. Ever since then, my nana has always made enchiladas at big occasions. It’s been a tradition for a very long time and we only have them a few times a year.
Everyone has memories of special or funny times in their lives. This is one that was told to me. When my parents met, my mom invited my dad to Christmas Eve. In the evening everything was going fine and everyone was having fun. Once everyone was sitting down at the table, my nana served the food and soon everyone began to eat. A couple minutes through the dinner, my dad turned to my mom and said, "I don’t think your mom likes me." She looked over at his plate and saw that there were nails in his enchiladas. Try and visualize everyone laughing including my dad, and my nana apologizing. Funny huh? Well it turned out that my nana accidentally bumped the metal nails off the microwave while she was cooking and they landed in the enchiladas. It’s hard to believe that some day everyone will be coming to my house.
I’m very excited that I will get to keep the tradition going. The only thing I have to learn how to do now is to learn how to make enchiladas. I hope that when the Christmas Eve tradition is at my house, my family will still be sharing memories, laughter and the delicious food that I will be making.
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Student: Gary P.
No-bake Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup of sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup of crunchy peanut butter
2 big cups of Cheerios or your favorite cereal
Recipe
Cook sugar and syrup in pan until sugar is dissolved. Pour into bowl with peanut butter and stir in cereal. Take teaspoons of mix and drop on wax paper to cool.
Essay
Have you ever wondered what no bake peanut butter cookies taste like? Well my mom’s no bake peanut butter cookies are so good, it makes you feel like you are rich! The cookies are even good after a filling meal. Once you taste them it will make your stomach want more. This recipe came from America. My great grandma found this recipe and passed it on. Not many of her family members knew she had this recipe until she made them for my mom.
This recipe is important to me because it reminds me of special times when my family is together. Every time my family and I eat these cookies, we have fun. They take no time at all to make and you don't have to wait for them to come out of the oven, because they are NO BAKE! My family has a story about this recipe: it was about my great grandma making cookies with my mom. My great grandma made these cookies during the holidays and when my mom was little she also helped make these cookies. They made these cookies all the time. The recipe has been passed down through our whole family. I love having a special recipe that has a story because I can tell everybody about my mom and my grandma making these cookies on the holidays.
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Student: Leah P.
Chili
Ingredients
48 ounces kidney beans, drained
32 ounces canned, diced tomatoes
2 pounds ground beef (cooked and drained)
2 medium onions (coarsely chopped)
1 cup celery (diced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
4-6 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
Recipe
Put all ingredients in an electric crockpot in order listed. Stir. Cook on low for 10 to 12 hours, or High for 5 to 6 hours. Don't eat it yet! Add 1 can of tomato paste to thicken. Add 4 adobo chilis. Refrigerate overnight. Re-heat the following day. Now your "Chili" is ready to be enjoyed! (See artwork at chapter end).
Essay
Mmmmm… I can smell the food right here in the living room. My mom must be making chili again. I can't wait until I can get to the table, because my mom makes the best chili in the world! Two times a week my mom makes a delicious, tasty chili. She also makes it for special occasions. She makes it different every time by adding more ingredients or substituting others. Chili is very special to me, because you can smell the aroma of the chili anywhere in the house. It also soothes me with its delicious taste. Most importantly it brings the whole family to the table.
One day when my brother and I finished watching the movie, Mickey and the Bean Stalk, my brother got this weird idea from the movie. That night, after a chili dinner, he picked up one of the cooked beans and ran outside to plant it. Right after that he started to water it. After a few days of care it was not growing. Of course after another few days of watering the ground he realized that the plant would never grow. Chili came from the continent of Africa, which is where my ancestors originated.
My mom was taught how to make chili from my grandmother. Then my mom started to make it on special occasions and holidays. It is amazing to think that chili has been in my family for years. My grandmother passed the chili recipe to my mom, after that it became my family's favorite food. I hope you will try my mom's delicious chili some day. Perhaps you will add some of your favorite ingredients and "plant" some of your own family memories.
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Student: Jessica S.
Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
2 large cups of flour
1 large tablespoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1 egg
8 ounce glass of buttermilk
8-9 inch round cake pan
Recipe
Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl. Knead dough on floured surface until smooth and elastic. Add more flour as needed, so that dough is not sticky. Lay down a paper towel and sprinkle flour on top. Place dough on top. Put flour on top of dough. Flatten dough with rolling pin to about a 1-inch thickness. Cut biscuits with a glass or cup, edges dipped in flour. Put butter in cake pan and melt it in pre-heated oven; whirl butter around in pan. Roll biscuits in melted butter. Bake for 20-25 minutes (until biscuits are golden). When done baking put dishtowel over the top of pan. Makes 9 biscuits.
Essay
What do you think of when you hear the word buttermilk? Do you think of that strong smell coming from the oven? Yes, those are the buttermilk biscuits. You might be thinking of the taste of them. They warm your throat as they travel to your stomach. But most of all, you realize the soft, yet crunchy feeling of the baked dough. I guarantee you will love these biscuits, at least my family and I do.
For years my family has baked buttermilk biscuits. But it all started with my Great Grandmother. She started making the biscuits at a very young age in Spavinaw, Oklahoma, USA. She passed the recipe down to my Grandfather. She made them around the time of the wheat harvests. You will find that in many ways the buttermilk biscuits have some family background. The recipe came from only three generations ago. My Grandmother's mom made buttermilk biscuits also, but she never added the egg. That is why we have the buttermilk biscuits in my family as our recipe. Because of her adding her own touches to it she made it very special to me. Like I said my recipe has some family background.
Let us take a look at my special memories. One of my special memories is waking up to the smell of freshly baked biscuits. My Grandfather has shared some of his buttermilk biscuit memories with me. He said that sometimes all he could take for lunch was a biscuit dipped in cooking grease and sprinkled with sugar. All that they could cook their biscuits in was an old wooden stove! Those are what memories my Grandfather and I have from the family recipe.
Finally, I have enjoyed telling you about the buttermilk biscuits, my family history, background and special memories. I hope you enjoy this recipe if you decide to bake them!
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