My Mother's Day

Buttermilk Biscuits

The day actually started with a prolonged session of playing "World of Darkness," the exhibit of bats and other nocturnal creatures at the Bronx Zoo that has unfortunately been slated for closure because of budget issues.  Bud and Sis just loved it--the bats, the sand cat (who was sound asleep, head on paws), the cloud rat, the porcupine we never could see.  And so we played bats under the covers for about an hour, then moved downstairs to a coffee-table-cum-couch setup with more blankets.  For breakfast later, we had mangoes and strawberries--get it?  we were fruit bats!!--but then I remembered that I had a carton of buttermilk in the fridge that was set to expire soon (which had been purchased to make Scott Peacock's poundcake in BH&G to take to church for Mother's Day but was used instead to make whole wheat bread earlier in the week).  Biscuits, anyone?  But of course.  What a treat!  And I'd never made them for the kids, who loved playing in the liberally-floured roll-out surface and with the squishy dough.  Then they loved eating the hot-from-the-oven, flaky and tender biscuits with honey.  "Mommy, you never made this before," Sis noted.  "We should do it next week, too."  Luckily, buttermilk is not a usual staple in my fridge, because I could easily be talked into making these all the time!  But the best part was that Bud dubbed them "butterfly biscuits." 

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup Crisco

1 cup buttermilk (or soured milk)

 

            Preheat oven to 450°F.  If using soured milk, combine vinegar and milk now and let stand, while continuing.  Sift dry ingredients together.  Add Crisco and blend well until like fine meal.  Add buttermilk and mix delicately until it comes together.  Dump out on floured surface and knead gently 5 times.  Roll out about ½” thick and cut into desired size.  Bake in greased pan, with sides touching, until golden brown, 15-18 minutes.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café

Pizza

We had pizza for lunch after church.  Not just any pizza.  But pizza from a special pizzeria--world famous--that we rarely get to visit (we didn't visit this time--Mama got take out while we were finishing up at church.  It was so cute--I was supposed to help out in the classroom today but was summarily excused so they could make surprise presents for moms--handpainted pots with real petunias!  And Sis's was red, Bud's blue, each with their names carefully written by them.  For family members present that one Christmas, it was the pizza we'd ordered on the day before Christmas Eve but never enjoyed because we ended up taking Bud to the ER for a disjointed elbow.  He was fine afterwards; the pizza wasn't).  And it was so good, so worthy of its fame.  A nice treat.  No dishes.

But I don't have a recipe for you.  Instead, I give you the homemade pizza dough we made on Tuesday with the kiddos and Mama Teacher and CJ--fun to play with but it needs more salt, or something, I think.  I used half of it to make rolls too, a la Bertucci's, but again, must need more salt.

3/4 teaspoon salt

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 3/8 cup water

3 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil

 

Toppings:

1 cup prepared pizza sauce

mozzarella cheese

other toppings (ham, artichokes, mushrooms, black olives, whatever)

            Combine all ingredients, at room temperature, into bread pan (wet, then dry, then yeast).  Select dough setting.  Press “start/stop” and remove when dough is ready.  Pat dough into 12 x 15 “ cookie sheet or 14” pizza sheet.

            Preheat oven to 400°F.

            Spread pizza sauce over dough.  Sprinkle toppings over sauce.  Bake 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown

Oster Bread Machine book

Mango Lassi

After rest, we spent a long time playing outside in the yard.  "Handy Mama" (Sis's appellation) put new batteries in the playhouse and the kids "helped," since they've garnered so much fix-it knowledge from their current tv favorite, "Handy Manny" (they used "Phillipe" today).   So now the fountain and doorbell work and the kids had a field day using the fountain to water the yard (and new plants we picked up at a plant sale yesterday, including zucchini, squash, and a sunflower for each) and clean their "lawn mowers."  Meanwhile, Mama and I mainly sat and marveled at the strong winds, which kept the windchimes ringing the whole time.  The fun only stopped for dinner a few hours later, during which time Bud put away huge amounts of zucchini, onions, and orange peppers with some garlic and Penzey's Mural of Flavor seasoning.  Mama and I had that with polenta and leftover lentils with chili con carne seasonings.  Sis had chicken fingers leftover from Mexican food yesterday (and, hey, Mommy Goose, I asked and they said they're not closing. But who knows).  Afterwards, we all had watermelon, grapes, and mangoes.  These are amazing mangoes.  Not the red/green/yellow mangoes you find in most grocery stores but the all-yellow-orange ones that Ma and Gong get in Flushing's Chinatown.  They are much sweeter, less stringy, richer flavor, creamier.  Divine.  Which is why I had secreted one away for a Mango Lassi after we got them to bed (during which we were both most of the happy thoughts of the day).  Mama and I shared it.  A perfect ending to a pretty perfect Mother's Day. 

1 ripe mango (or approximately 1 cup pulp)

1 cup whole or lowfat plain yogurt

3 tablespoons sugar

½ cup cold water

ice for serving

 

            Peel, pit, and coarsely chop 1 ripe mango (to yield about 1 cup fruit).  In a blender, purée mango with yogurt, sugar, and cold water until smooth.  Pour through a fine mesh sieve to remove pulp, if desired.  Serve immediately over ice.

Everyday Food