Country Classic - Creamed Chicken over Buttermilk Biscuits

This is a big post - bear with the length.  

My grandma was an *amazing* country cook.  For eons, every Sunday, we'd all pile into her sunflower yellow little mobile home's kitchen/dining room and after she'd get back from church, lunch was served.  We're not talking like a nice little old brunch either...we're talkin' the full fixin's.  Turkey, green beans w/ ham, dumplings, homemade rolls, pies of all sorts - the list could go on and on.  That woman lived to feed her kids and grandkids!  There was no such thing as a small portion and if you left the table hungry, it was your own fault for not going back for thirds or fourths.  Such was Sundays at my grandma's house.  She raised 4 very big boys and the woman lived in the kitchen.  She was phenomenal to watch too.  Every recipe was in her head and heart - there was never a recipe book in sight.  She made so many amazing meals and while holidays were her shining moments that will forever live on in everyone's minds in the family, I liked when she did smaller meals, like when I'd stop by unannounced just to visit and she'd make dinner for just us.  One of those meals was a creamed chicken over biscuits that just made my mouth water.  Tender pulled chicken in a creamy gravy over hot, buttered homemade biscuits.  There was, and likely will never be, any that compare to hers but I've kinda come to a happy place where I like mine fairly much as I did hers.  Makes me think of her...alot.

Its My Cake & I'll Cry if I Want To...

Some things I learned today...

a)  arthritic hands SUX for decorating a cake with a squeeze type icing bag  

b)  when using gel coloring, start with the smallest dot, not a spoonful or else your sky blue goes neon navy

c)  if you nearly choke to death coughing on dry crumbs, that's not a good sign

d)  if your mouth feels greasy after you eat the icing, its prolly not a keeper recipe (gross)

e)  I really, really need to take a Wilton decorating class in immediate future

and finally...

f)  it sucks to make your own birthday cake but if I left it to my hubby, I'd be eating a Twinkie or Ho Ho with a candle in it.

Easy Wonton Soup

Hubs is quite the Japanese food fanatic.  In New York, we had the pleasure of eating at Yobo, which served the best dim sum I have ever had in my life and had some of the most beautifully prepared sushi I have ever seen.  Everything about Yobo made you want to just linger.  It had dark wood, was dimly lit, had a fountain and pond in the middle of the restaurant and everything was geared to make you feel like you welcome to stay just a little longer...they served a fabulous spicy, hot tea at the end of the meal as if just beckoning you to kick back and relax a little longer and sip your mug of hot, steaming tea.  Nothing was rushed or hurried - it was just perfection.  Our last meal from New York was at Yobo, in fact.  I miss the Hudson Valley more and more every day.  Not their 8 feet of snow at the moment, but you know what I'm getting at.  :)

Terrific Butter Dip Biscuits

Last week since Jon and I couldn't decide exactly what we wanted for our menu, we decided to try something different.  We picked ALL new stuff we'd never had before.  Every meal we ate was brand new to us.  That ended up being a good and a bad thing.  Good because I found some really lovely new dishes (as in Jenna's Spicy Sweet Asian Beef) that renewed my faith choosing new recipes but then bad as I wasted ample time and money on others as they went down my garbage disposal from "big name bloggers" which I thought would be better than they were.  *cough* 

Spicy Sweet Asian Beef

Ever come across a recipe that you think will be just "ho hum" but you want to try something different so you make you and then...BOOM!  Sparklers go off, a marching band trumps through your kitchen and the heavens open up and a beam of glorious light sprays across your stove?  Yeah...I had that last night when I made this recipe from Jennalaughs.com  

I mean, just LOOK at that picture for crying out loud!  The rich, spicy, sweet beefy sauce just beckons to me to remake it tomorrow.  I could, in all seriousness, eat this once a day & not ever get bored.