Mothers in the Kitchen

Yesterday afternoon I was planning to have sausage gravy and biscuits for our supper. Since I was volunteering at the hospital 12-4 and our Bible study now begins at 7 o'clock, I decided I would use the box I Bisquick I bought recently and make my biscuits from that.

As I was stirring up the biscuit dough, I was filled with nostalgia because I remember making Bisquick biscuits as a girl at home! It was probably one of my earliest kitchen endeavors. And so, I began to think about my mother. I seem to remember making biscuits on my own, but certainly she was close by. What I mean to say is that I really don't remember her getting out the box and giving me instructions. I think she just let me go ahead and do it!

What a great gift from my mother! To allow me the space in her kitchen and life to just learn these things, kind of on my own, but not totally. It helped me get courage to try new things, whether it is in the kitchen, at the sewing machine, or probably lots of other places. There have been successes and failures along the way, but hey, look at all you can learn from the goof-ups!

My mother enjoyed making bread, and I can still remember seeing the pan of dough, sitting in a bigger bowl of water on the radiator to rise. She began to allow me to help her shape the dough into bread, cinnamon rolls, or what we called a "beautiful thing". A beautiful thing is more accurately named Swedish Tea Ring. Instead of slicing the cinnamon rolls, we made it into a circle, placed it on a cookie sheet, and cut about half way through the dough all around it and laid those slices on their side. When is came out of the oven, we drizzled it with frosting. Mmmmm! Not only was it beautiful, but it was also delicious!

But the beauty for me in the bread dough lesson is that Mom mixed up the dough and kneaded it, let it rise, and then let me help shape it. So, I knew what bread dough was supposed to feel like! After I was married, I began to make the famous "Grady Buns" and since I had worked with dough at home, I was well on my way to establishing my place in Cinnamon Roll Hall of Fame! When a bread machine became a part of my kitchen, I adapted that recipe to make a small batch of buns or a dozen cinnamon rolls.

Like a lot of wonderful things in life, the love of baking and cooking started small in me and keeps growing and growing, thanks to my dear mother who allowed me to make messes in her kitchen!