Biscuits

A memory of the author as a young boy, watching his mother making breakfast

(Biscuits)
22:09 hours, 03 September, 2016
From the Mind of Doc

I stand at the side of the kitchen door and watch… I watch this woman I call mom as she makes biscuits for breakfast. She has not noticed me observing her, back then in  late 1958, yet I am there…

The drum stove is hot for she or my dad have put some coal into it before I awoke and the top edges are glowing red as I watch my mom at the kitchen counter adding flour and milk into the bowl and she mixes these contents with a big wooden spoon until they become a firm dough. She is humming softly to herself as she labors. I see this. I hear this.

This dough mixture she then removes from the bowl and places on a floured covered counter top and she kneads and mashes it all about the counter. The old wooden rolling pin, which if memory serves, was one she got from her mom, is used to flatten out the dough. Must be enough for about two dozen biscuits. She takes an old tin can which was probably a can of Early Days Peas, its top has some holes punched in it to allow air to pass out as she deftly uses the can to cut biscuits from the dough.

A baking pan is placed on a clean spot of the counter and she smears some lard on it which she has taken from a large silver can and smears it on the bottom and the sides so the biscuits won’t stick to the pan. The pan is full, must be about two dozen…

The old oven is pre-heated and she opens the door, brushes back her hair so it don’t singe in the heat, and places the pan of biscuits inside. She checks her watch and will check the oven to see when the baking may be done, ‘cause the old oven don’t have a timer… she has just got to know by her watch when they are done, or close to it…

Still I stand by the door, her second son, and watch while my feet continue to get cold on the old wooden floor of our farm house in Shelby County, KY. Perhaps she does not know that I will think about her making biscuits in September of 2016 and that I will write about it for my children and grand-children to read about, if they wish, long after I am gone.

She turns around and spies me standing there and says: “Good morning honey! I love you! Are you hungry? Breakfast in just a few minutes…”

Just a memory of a cold morning back in 1958 which my progeny may appreciate… down the road.

Reviews

[Tina H.W.]

This is such a lovely piece, a snippet from a childhood memory. It's a photograph of a simple happy time, watching your mother bake biscuits. I like your writing a lot - it's written with feeling and warmth. I love the simplicity of the memory and the fact you're letting the reader in to share it with you.
Thank you for bringing back my own sweet memories. You certainly have a wonderful gift. Thank you for sharing :)
Warm wishes
Tina

[EvaThornburn]

It was such a pleasure reading this. Your imagery was spot on. Wish I had some biscuits right now. Can't wait to read more of your writes. Eva