Word of the Day: Biscuit

• (UK) Cookie–and sometimes cracker
• (US) Small, savory, bread-based food item eaten most commonly at breakfast

A girl (and hopefully a boy) can be happy anywhere by creating little bits of familiarity around them.  What else is a house wife to do, then, besides make familiar foods?  I’ve tried something like vegetables and dumplings.  We’ve had veggie patties with steamed broccoli and baked carrot/sweet potato/butternut squash medley.  There have been those nights that we enjoyed Thai dishes, but we have worn out pasta with marinara sauce.  I have even managed to find black beans for burrito night!  What I really wanted to do was surprise Drew some Sunday with flaky, steamy, yummy biscuits like his mom and Granny make.  

Vegetable shortening has been on my list for three weeks now.

Today I was determined to have my hands on the last ingredient to evade me, for the sake of Sunday’s brunch menu.  I bravely stood in the baking aisle, holding my ground while daddies ran me over with their recklessly driven strollers and little old ladies wobbled into me with their big bags and trolleys.  Busy Londoners stepped right in front of me to contemplate which varieties of Pot Noodles were part of the 2 for £3 special, but I stayed.  The thing I eventually picked up was Atoralight Shredded Vegetable Suet.  

The first thing I did back at the flat was research the word (please don’t click this link if you have a weak stomach) suet and attempt to discover if I had completed the mission.  Ick.  EEeeww.  Yes, I had, but I was suddenly less interested in flaky, steamy biscuits.  I wanted more information about how vegetable “suet” is made so I researched shortening, quickly navigating away from the photos of suet.  I found out some interesting things about how shortening works.  Did you know that you get better results from using cold or frozen Crisco?  If your recipe calls for water, use ice water.  Still, what is hydrogenation and how does it create trans fats?  (Man, I miss chemistry…)

Basically, what I’ve decided is that biscuits should be enjoyed rarely and I should attempt to find healthier fats to use when cooking.  I guess any time we “process” food we alter the nutrition in it, but our bodies haven’t been altered to deal with this, only our tastebuds.  Wow, a simple trip to the grocery stored turned into a science research paper.  Sorry folks.

We’ll enjoy our Sunday brunch with biscuits this week.  Then we’ll take a walk!