Vintage Recipe Friday--Make Your Own Bisquick

Cheddar Dill Biscuits--Make them for dinner!

I love old recipes--you know, the ancient ones from the 1940's and 1950's! I have some handed down from Grandma, Great Aunt Sis, and Mom. But I also have stacks of old recipe books and I thought it would be fun to start a new thing--Vintage Recipe Friday. It's the perfect day to get your hands on something old/new to try for the weekend!

The source for the recipe I'm going to share today is a pamphlet, which looks like it is from the 1930's or 40's, but it is not dated. It was prepared by the Home Economics Department for Proctor & Gamble. There's a word you never see anymore--Home Economics! This is the official "Crisco Biscuit Mix" which does not need to be refrigerated and can be stored in the kitchen in a covered container. Basically, this is your own homemade "Bisquick." Just imagine--they came up with this over 70 years ago. Bisquick was actually invented in the 1930's when a General Mills sales rep met a train dining car chef and got this same kind of recipe for his biscuits. I use Bisquick to make pancakes and their "cheeseburger pie" recipe. But I might have to try this--I also wonder if it would work with a wholegrain flour.

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Crisco Biscuit Mix

6 cups sifted flour

3 tablespoons baking powder

1 cup Crisco

1 tablespoon salt

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl or on a large square of paper. Cut Crisco into flour with blender or two knives until mixture looks like coarse cornmeal. 

To use biscuit mix: 1 cup of mix will make six to eight 1 1/2-inch biscuits. For each cup of biscuit mix, use 1/4 cup milk. Add milk, blend well. Knead dough lightly on floured board. Roll dough about 1/2-inch thick. Cut with a floured cutter. Bake in a hot oven at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until brown as desired.

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I would suggest using the butter flavor Crisco, which they did not have back then, for a buttery flavor biscuit--yum! For my cheddar dill biscuits, above, I just added chopped fresh dill, about a tablespoon, and a cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. A nice treat with dinner, or a fried chicken picnic.

Speaking of picnics, spring, and food--I am in the process of starting pots and pots of seeds on my greenhouse. We got a little taste of spring this month--and I am cheering spring on, all the way...hurry up and get here! I can't wait to watch my little tomatoes and herbs grow up and get them ready for the garden, and I will be in bliss when I can plant some lettuces and radishes in March--they like it a bit cool outside. My chives will be coming back around that time so chive butter, chive omelets, and big fluffy baked potatoes with chives will be on the menu.

I'm also very excited because a good friend of mine who teaches scrapbooking workshops, and lives a few hours away from here, will be coming for a visit in April, and we are going to have a wonderful scrapping session with all of those tags I've been collecting. For over a year, I've been saving tags off of almost anything we buy, so this will be such a fun project--very green--and I promise to blog all about it.

The other spring thing I'm planning is to design an Easter egg, using DMC floss. It's a contest on their blog--and I'm just going to give it a whirl! I have an idea incorporating some of my favorite images from the garden, sew I say, just go with it. Happy Friday to you!

Some people just want to sleep the winter away.