Mama Lindsey's Biscuits

This past weekend I made a trek out to historic New Bern to see my lovely grandmother Mama C. She's one of the sweetest ladies you'll ever meet. She's 4 foot 10 and makes me feel like a giant! (I"m so used to being the shortest one in a room unless the other person is under the age of 10 that it's an odd feeling being so tall). I had never made the trip out to New Bern by myself, but looking back , after my grandfather, Big Daddy (yes, I realize that's a sorta funny name for a grandfather, especially since he was only 6 foot 2 and that's not like THAT tall, but when you're 3 years old, he's HUGE!) passed away nearly 5 years ago, I started wishing I'd spent more time with him. So I've really enjoyed the past years of getting to know both of my remaining grandmothers better. 


Mama C and I had a lovely time. She was this beautiful home where the upstairs is a condo and the downstairs is a street-front shop called "Art of the Wild." She and my grandfather opened it to sell his wood carvings of birds, which, by the way, are incredible! This man probably had more patience that just about anybody to be so attentive to all of those minute details. Here's a bird that he carved for my parents. A good story here: it's so life-like, our cat took a bite out of the tail!

I learned a fun story while I was there, too. Mama C told me that Big Daddy started carving on his way home from the war (that's WW2 for the historically uninclined). He took an old apple crate or something and carved a duck out of it with a knife. He had a good relationship with his sergeant who loved the carving and asked to keep it. Mama C told me that years later, the 2 of them met up with that sergeant and she got to see the original carving, which she says was not very good, hah! Especially compared to how great he got over the years. 


So Mama C and I minded the store for a bit, then took an extended lunch break to eat chili and make Mama Lindsey's Biscuits! I must confess, I told Mama C before I came that I HAD to learn how to make them while I was there. I've been wanting to learn for years. This is a recipe passed down from Big Daddy's mother. I'm not sure if it goes back beyond that, but it's one of our few family recipes that are still family favorites. I've never been a huge fluffy biscuit fan, but these are different. They're smaller and flatter than something like a Bojangles biscuit. (I should've taken a picture when I made them!) These are one of the very few items that I will continue to eat until they're gone... despite how full I may be. 


It was so fun getting the chance to bake with Mama C. She'd already set everything out in little cups and bowls before we started, it was cute. We put together one batch while I was there and they came out so great! Well, they tasted great, the form could've used a little work, but she gave me some tips for better looking biscuits. She boxed the rest of the batter up for me to take home and try again. I made some for Jarrod and me the next day and this time they came out perfectly! They were exactly as I remember Mama C making them all those years growing up and my whole family sitting at the table devouring them! Those are some of my most wonderful memories growing up and I'm so excited that someday I'll be able to make Mama Lindsey's biscuits for my children and pass along the family recipe.