Heavenly Biscuits

I haven't posted for awhile, because I was too stupid, in the words of my sister, to write. It started out as a little pain when chewing on Monday night and by Tuesday afternoon, I was calling the dentist. Which means it was a really big deal for me. Yeah I know everyone says that, but 3 years ago when I finally went to a dentist after something-teen years, I had to have two teeth pulled and a root canal. Even then, the only reason I went was because I found a dentist who used sedation - in my case just a pill and some gas- but for some people she did IV's. And it worked, so well in fact, that I have coped without any medication assistance since then - at least until this week.

First thing Thursday morning I travel an hour to the dentist to find that my root canal has developed some sort of problem leading to a very nasty and very painful infection along my jaw. While they can pull the tooth, they don't have the expertise to try and fix and aren't even sure it can be fixed. So they set me up to drive straight to a root canal specialist to see if the root canel redone and the tooth saved.

I have been taking an antibiotic 4 times day, for 24 hours now and as of the evening before, pain medication. The specialist is concerned because the infection was worse that morning so he prescribes an additional, strong antibiotic, to be taken 3 times a day and an appointment to come back that afternoon for the re-root canal. I ask if he has any nitrous or I can get something so I won't be a nervouse wreck. He reassures me that I won't feel a thing and sends me on my way. However when I stop to pick up the prescription for the antibiotic, I find he has also prescribed, if I want it, an anti-anixiety pill - and dam right I want it. Apparently with the pain meds in my system, I chattered on so much he realized how nervous I was and thought perhaps a little something might be in order after all (maybe more for his sanity than mine, who can say). So by the time I get back for the afternoon appointment, with all the junk in me, I can barely stay awake - that is until I hit the dentist chair. It was a grueling two hours in that chair although I was pretty calm so I guess all the meds were working. With the tooth repaired I headed home where I found how difficult it was to take two antibiotics at different times and keep track of what to take when while under the influence of the pain meds. For the first time, I realized how the elderly can become confused when they are taking a lot of pills. So, I slept a lot and felt groggy and stupid when I was awake. Even after I quit the pain pills (last one at 4 AM Saturday), the one really strong antibiotic continues to make me feel tired.

Well here I am rambling on and on even though I have promised you biscuits - heavenly ones at that but I wanted to make it clear what a big deal it was for me to finally make them. Sunday night I decided, for the first time all week, to actually cook a meal. Prior to that there was a lot of oatmeal and soft snacky stuff, but now it was time to get back to real food. I tried to start three times before I finally got off the couch and began to peel the potatoes for the biscuits. Its been year since I've made heavenly biscuits because they use a starter and it is as much work making the starter as the biscuits. Plus there was the stew I wanted to make to go with them. After the slow start, I got the starter started and then made the stew before retiring back to the couch to rest. Dave made the biscuits when the starter was ready. These really are great biscuits, I remember now why I use to make them, and I remember why I stopped but now with starter in the fridge, we will make them a couple more times. Here is the recipe I got in 1978 from Organic Gardening Magazine.

Yeast Starter
5 potatoes
4 T honey
1 T ground ginger
2 C whole wheat flour
1 pkg dry yeast or 1 C. yeast mixture

Peel potatoes, cover with water and boil until soft. Drain and reserve water. Mash potatoes then add honey, ginger, and flour. Pour a pint of boiling potato water into mixture and beat until smooth. If mixture is too thick to beat add more of the potato water. Let cool to lukewarm. Add package of yeast to a little warm water and stir to dissolve. Let stand until yeast begins to work, then add it to the potato mixture, stir and allow to rise. Use mixture immediately or refrigerate. 1 Cup yeast mixture equals 1 package of yeast.

Renew every two weeks. Reserve one cup of starter, and add to fresh potato mixture as above. Make sure to thoroughly wash container before reusing for starter mixture.

Heavenly Biscuits
5 C whole wheat flour
7 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 C butter
1/4 C honey
1 C yeast mixture
2 C buttermilk

Place dry ingredients in a bowl and stir. Cut in butter. Add honey, yeast mixture and buttermilk. Stir and knead lightly till well mixed. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to desired thickness and cut biscuits. Place on a greased baking sheet. Preheat oven to 425 degrees, letting biscuits stand in a warm place while oven is preheating. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until lightly browned.

These biscuits are fantastic fresh although still quite tasty the next day. Or pop ithem in the toaster to recapture the fresh-from-the-oven flavor. They can also be frozen and reheated. YUM!

Sunrise and Moonset

I can never seem to get my body adjusted to daylight savings times. With the end of it, I seem to be back in sync with my natural body rynthms. This morning I bounded out of bed with the alarm - something I couldn't do all summer. I looked outside and saw the full moon setting through the tree so I grabbed yesterday's pants, a warm hooded sweatshirt (refuse to start calling them hoodies) a hat, my Ughs and my camera and headed out to catch a few shots it. I turned around and saw the rosy light of dawn over the pond and snapped a few more shots. So here are my East meets West photos from this morning. For a view of the rising full moon in Kentucky with some love musings, I recommend: http://inthepantry.blogspot.com/2009/11/pushing-night-away-and-chasing-down.htmlay-and-chasing-down.html