home again, home again

Well, I survived my first week in the cabin!
It's been good, but I am very happy to be home for the weekend!  I ate a lot of quinoa and steamed vegetables all week so I was anxious to get back to my "real" kitchen.... including a fridge full of butter ;)

I was most excited to make something with my homemade vanilla I made a couple blogs back!  It has been about 7 weeks that it has been aging.  I got really obsessed with making something that would really highlight the vanilla flavor.... and I finally settled on just plain pound cake.  I didn't want other flavors to overpower the vanilla.  And all I have to say is.... yum!  We got strawberries at the farmers market yesterday too, so I'm excited to put those together!

Last night I also made biscuits to go with dinner and thought I would share that recipe too.  Homemade biscuits are such a simple addition to dinner and infinitely more tasty than the ones in a can!  (And we got to have biscuits and gravy for breakfast today with the leftovers!)  Give them a try... you won't be disappointed.

Biscuits
2 c flour, plus extra for kneading
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
1 T sugar
1/2 c cold butter cut into small cubes
1 c milk

I like to blend the first 4 ingredients in a food processor and then slowly add a couple chunks of butter at a time (you can also work the butter in with your fingers).  At the end it should be pea-size or smaller crumbs.  Then I pour that into a bowl and add the milk.  It will be very wet! 

I take small balls of dough (with very floured fingers!) and roll them in a small bowl of flour.  I knead the ball in my hands for a minute or so and then place them into a non-stick sprayed pan.  Then bake at 425 for about 13-15 minutes or until they are golden brown.