Cat Head Biscuits

Mama sent me up to Ma’s (my Grandmother)  one time when I was about 10 to cook breakfast for my bachelor Uncle and my older brother who spent the night with him. I just couldn’t get the eggs fried right and some were scrambled. My brother was highly indignant, but my Uncle Harold just laughed at him….said they all go to the same place, so it doesn’t matter. That was awfully nice of him, I thought. I’m thinking now it wouldn’t have hurt them a bit to cook their own breakfast! I have an older sister, but she wasn’t as interested in cooking as I was…plus she had to stay home and help Mama with the little ‘uns….
 
This brings to mind one morning Mama was sick and Joyce and I had to cook her breakfast…the kids must have eaten with Ma. We decided to make her some cocoa an followed the direction on the box to the letter. We planned to drink the most of it ourselves, but when it was done it was just enough for Mama a glass. Talk about a letdown! I don’t know why we didn’t think of making more….too busy worrying about the rest of the breakfast, I guess.  Joyce volunteered to make biscuits and I took some of the dough and made little turnovers…each one with a fresh strawberry and a little sugar in it. All the time I was fooling around with this Joyce was finishing up everything else.. Did Mama compliment her on her hard work ? Nope….Just went on at great lengths about those cute little turnovers I had made….For YEARS! To say Sis was not amused is an understatement….
 
I think different shapes of biscuits taste different…I’ve tried just cutting them with a knife when I was in a hurry….and it seemed like they didn’t taste as good….Different sizes of tin cans make great biscuit cutters…Just wash and dry the can, after removing the label, of course…Make a little air hole in the top, or cut out both ends…..You could make cookie cutters that way…To make a different shape, cut out both ends of a can and shape it into an oval by squeezing it….Mama always used a little Pet milk can that had the rim cut off of one end…It was sharp, too , so you had to be careful…All bent up, old looking….How I wish I had it !
 
My dear mountain born Mother in law – Lou Emma Anderson T –  ‘pinched ‘ her biscuits too…Called them Cat’s head biscuits because of the two little ‘ears’ that resulted when she pinched off the dough. She rounded them up in her hand, and when she finished a pan of biscuits they were all the same size. I asked her wasn’t it faster to roll them out, but she said she had always done them that way…and did till she died at a ripe old age. She would dip the back of a big spoon into meat grease and rub the tops over with it. I just melt butter shortening in the biscuit pan and turn each biscuit in it. I pat the dough out as it is easier that way, then cut them with a cutter or a Pet milk can like Mama did.. Next time I make up a big batch for hubby to snack on I plan to make great big biscuits like Ma did.. I asked Mama one morning why she didn’t make big ones like that instead of so many little ones and she said Ma did it that way because she was lazy….Hmnnnn….As I’ve told you before, they didn’t get along….
 
According to Mama the reason Ma canned her cherries  in quart jars instead of pitting them and making preserves in the summer was because she was lazy….Well, it seems pretty smart to me. No heating up the kitchen so much in hot summer…all that messy pitting to do. Ma just canned the cherries and opened a can in winter when she wanted to make a pie or needed preserves. She didn’t bother with pitting them, either. When you ate the cobbler or preserves you watched out for pits and put them on the side of your plate. Us kids thought this was awesome….Never heard of anyone breaking a tooth….I think the pits gave them more flavor, too. Mama always put a peach pit in the jar when she canned peaches, for extra flavor, she said.