Ruth misses Horace terribly, but when she leaves the Howland ranch and Idaho Territory, a chunk of her heart will stay behind with little Will Howland. She's been Will's nursemaid and nanny since his birth, and especially shortly after when his mother ran off with the neighbor, back in Virginia. Making a comfortable home for Will and his daddy, has been Ruth's mission in life, and her own love and romance, will have to wait.
On many occasion, when Will wasn't tagging after his daddy and Uncle Travis, he helped Ruth mix and cut out her biscuits.
Taking a nice big, heavy bowl, Ruth would mix 3 cups of flour with a teaspoon salt and 4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1 teaspoon soda. She gently mixed the dry ingredients, then added about 1/2 cup lard and mixed it in with her fingers or a fork until it resembled peas. Too much mixing toughen the finished product, so she'd busy Will with drawing pictures at the table so she wouldn't get distracted and over mix. Then she'd add 3/4 cup buttermilk, to moisten the mixture until it was nice soft dough.
Flouring a board, she'd roll out the dough and have Will help her cut out rounds with the mouth of a drinking glass or cup. Greasing a pan, she'd carefully place the biscuits on the pan and bake in a hot oven for about 15- 20 minutes ore until they were a deep golden brown. If fresh fruit, or even the berries she canned were available, she'd add sugar, about 1/2 cup to the biscuit mix and have shortcake for dessert.
A nice fresh cream, whipped to soft peaks would top off that shortcake and make the men sign when they saw it!
the biscuits were served with fresh churned butter and berry preserves. In the Northwest, there were wild raspberries, dew berries, huckleberries and black caps galore. Ruth spent many a summer day picking berries and making jams. She might even share one of her recipes with you on another day!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment