Biscuits
Measure 3 cups of self rising flour into a bowl. The very best is King Arthur’s—it is unbleached and uses aluminum-free baking powder. Next, on the course holes of a grater, grate in 1 stick of very cold butter. The butter can even be frozen, which might not be a bad idea if you’re working in a very hot kitchen. Using your fingers, work the butter into the flour; be quick so the butter stays cold. You’re mostly just trying to disperse the butter evenly throughout the flour; it’s good to leave it in fairly good size pieces so that your biscuits will be flaky. Then pour in 1 cup of very cold milk or buttermilk, mix rapidly, turn out onto the counter and knead briefly and lightly until the dough looks fairly smooth; roll it out to about 3/4 of an inch thick, and cut out biscuits with a water glass. Don’t twist the glass! Just straight down and up; if you twist, your biscuits aren’t going to rise because you will have pinched the edges shut. Place them on an ungreased baking sheet and bake in a hot oven (450°) for about ten minutes, or until the tops are lightly browned. My friend J* over in Tennessee says her grandmother taught her that a real lady never lets her biscuits get brown at all—(pure white=virginal?)—but fortunately I’m from Georgia, not Tennessee; and not much of a lady anyway.