Recipes for Biscuits, Authors and Life

RECIPE FOR MILE HIGH BISCUITS

1/31/16    As many of you know, buttermilk biscuits are a passion with me.  I make them from scratch almost every Saturday morning.  For several years I’ve been searching for the right balance to get mile high, flaky biscuits that are memorable.  This is the result to date:  

1 cup all-purpose flour. 

¼ tsp. baking soda.

1 heaping tsp. baking powder.

Pinch of salt. 

Mix together thoroughly. 

Next:   3 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into pea size chunks. (use floured knife blade) 

Now, this is key----put butter chunks into flour mix and with flour coated hands, separate and squeeze each chunk flat. 

Buttermilk:  SMALLEST amount possible in order to pick up flour and butter mix.  Form into ball and place on floured breadboard.  Knead 4 or 5 times until it’s cohesive, spread into oblong shape about ½ inch thick.  Fold back onto it-self in thirds.  Knead and repeat.
 Knead into a smooth ball.  Pat out to a circle about ½ inch thick, cut with floured biscuit cutter and bake.  425 degrees for 15-16 minutes. (keep checking) 

Hints:  Hands should be kept cold and dry.  I use paper towel to cleanse my hands during process.  Do not twist cutter, plunge and lift. 

RECIPE FOR AUTHORS:
1)            Works for me, something I learned from bitter experience.  When I start a new novel the first thing I do is buy a fresh steno notebook and start a chronicle.  I have a date column, a subject column, a name column and a page column.  Whenever I finish a writing session I record what I’ve done.  I enter the date, a few words about the session if necessary, names of any new characters introduced and the page number.  Additionally, I highlight names in yellow.  You will find yourself referring back to these pages constantly as your book grows and your characters multiply. Try it!
2)       Check out FIVERR.com and GURU.com. There are a whole number of talented people on both who are willing to work for you at a reasonable price.  I Interviewed (by email) 9 line editors on Guru.com. Each one submitted a sample of their work with a price estimate. I chose one in Florida. She did an outstanding and thoroughly professional job on my 4th novel. 
Fiverr is great for things like press release distribution, logo design, business cards, proofreading, marketing strategy, press releases, webpages and so much more is available.   You can correspond with each source before making a decision.  It is worthwhile investigating.

RECIPE FOR LIVING:
                Someone once observed, “most dogs are better people than most people” Kind of a stretch but I understand. For an example of loyalty, forgiveness, fealty, friendship, admiration, etc. they are tops.  Are dogs ever not supportive? They’re dependable, loyal, never criticize, never borrow money or tools, never argue with us about politics, even keep us warm at night without excessive demands.  Everything we wish all our friends were but seldom are.  Maybe we should learn from our K-nine friends?