I’ve probably started and stopped this post five times. To be writing about and referencing my grandmother in the past tense is something that I always knew would be hard. My grandmother didn’t pass away young, so to speak, she had turned 81 just three days before she died, but her passing away was not something my family was expecting. Though she passed in February of 2018, the grief still stays just below the surface, ready to pop up when you least expect it. As a therapist when I work with clients experiencing grief, I have always explained using the image of the beach. Some days the waters are calm and you can enjoy the surf and the sand. Other days, find high ground because the waves might swallow you whole.
To make a long story short, my grandmother arrived in Houston on her birthday, which was a Thursday, and her bypass surgery was scheduled for bright and early Monday morning.
A hard-headed and feisty woman, my family has always remarked that, “Mimi always gets her way.” Her venture to Houston and last days proved to be no exception. In the middle of the night on Sunday, she went into cardiac arrest, the hospital’s chaplin appeared, and next thing we knew she was gone. Our family now listless without our anchor.
She kept remarking that she did not want to have the surgery and that she would be so appreciative if one of her grandchildren would sneak her out of the hospital for some iced tea and envueltos. To the air ambulance crew that flew her from McAllen to Houston, when they flew over her country club, she offered them to take a pit stop for some margaritas. She did not want to have the surgery, and true to form, she got her way.
Losing someone is always hard, but it’s initial shock that accompanies the unexpected grief that feels like the toughest hurdle. Each of member of my family has grieved differently; for some it’s a quiet, internal battle, others find comfort externalizing and talking it out, but it seems two things that has brought comfort to all: her stories and her food.
My grandmother loved life and lived (and dressed!) out loud, something that she has passed on to her daughter (my mother), her granddaughters, and great-granddaughters. While we are all trying to reconcile what it means for her to be gone, as a family and individually, she was far too big of a piece to not figure out how to carry her with us.
Enter: her stories and her recipes. Recently, my mom, sister and I have been cataloging and curating a cookbook with all of her recipes, which has ranged from “Jezebel Dip” to biscuits to the Waldorf’s Red Velvet Cake. When I found her biscuit recipe, I was amazed at the simplicity, and of course, they were delicious—as all simple recipes seem to be. I really should start another page on here with her sayings/expressions/quips of wisdom because these biscuits personified, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
I shall call it “Mimi was right about everything…”
Recipe:
-2 cups of self rising flour
-2 sticks of cold butter
-8 oz sour cream
Method:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, add in two cups of flour.
Cut each stick of butter in half, length-ways, and then each half into 1/2 in. pieces.
Add those sticks of butter to the flour, and cut in using a pastry blender, or your hands. Breaking butter into pea-size pieces. The flour will start to feel and look like wet sand.
Add in 8 oz of sour cream (remember you need an acid to activate the self rising part of the flour) and mix in with a spatula until flour as pulled away from the sides of the bowl and a shaggy dough has formed.
Turn out on to a lightly floured surface, and knead softly (about 3-4 times) until you have a smooth consistency.
Press out dough into rectangular shape (about 6-7 inches long and 4 inches wide), about an inch thick, and then fold the dough on to itself—folding it in half length-wise, and turn it a quarter to the right. Press it back out to the rectangular shape, folding left side to the right again, and turn a quarter again. Repeat this process 2-3 times, you are building layers into your biscuit dough.
Flour a two inch biscuit cutter and cut out as many biscuits as you can. Re-roll scraps and repeat until you get 12.
Place in greased muffin tins and bake for 25-30 minutes.