NATIONAL BISCUIT MONTH
September is ‘National Biscuit Month and today is the last day of September so we have to take last minute advantage and promote Biscuits. Biscuits are just one of those foods that provide comfort and joy – they are good for Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner or even Snack Time. Most Biscuits are made from a Baking Powder or Baking Soda Recipe but there are some that are leavened with Yeast. There is one of each in the Baking Recipe Section of this Blog. Try them and then let me know how you like them or don’t.
Baking Powder Biscuits are more commonly made and served than Yeast Biscuits. Baking Powder Biscuits are made from a shortened Dough, which means that a Shortening Product either animal or vegetable is cut into the flour to shorten the wheat fibers which in turn helps to tenderize the product. A Flour and Water product would pretty much taste like hardtack whereas a product that has a fat in it will be tender and flaky, if made properly. The recipe referred to within this blog is a standard Baking Powder Biscuit and can be enhanced by adding other products to the mixture such as herbs or cheese. Try them in various ways and see what you can come up with. In addition to using them as a bread product for dinner or lunch, they can also be used as dessert. Strawberry Short Cake is called ‘Short Cake’ because a traditional Strawberry Shortcake is made from a shortened Dough which means that some type of fat has been cut into the flour to tenderize it. For Strawberry Shortcake you can make one large biscuit in a 9″ round pan and then cut it in half to make two layers. Fill the middle with Whipped Cream and sliced Strawberries and do the same to the top layer after you put it on the filled bottom layer. You can also make individual portions by making 4 or 5″ round Biscuits.
www.sylveeeskitchen.com/recipes/baked-goods/breads/buttermilk-biscuits/
Pictured below are the ingredients needed to make Baking Powder Biscuits:
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Ingredients Needed – Flour, Baking Powder, Salt, Butter & Buttermilk
Pumpkin Yeast Biscuits are unusual in that they contain Pumpkin, a product which is not usually found in Biscuits and they contain Yeast. Most Biscuit products are leavened with Baking Powder which is a chemical leavening agent.
www.sylveeeskitchen.com/recipes/baked-goods/breads/pumpkin-yeast-biscuits/
Categories: Baking, Bread, Cooking for Everyone, Main, National Food Days Tags: baking, Baking Powder, Bread, National Food Days, Pumpkin, Yeast
BREAKFAST
September is ‘National Breakfast Month’ and this is a particularly good time for it. With the kids back in school, it is a good time for parents to emphasize the fact that Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The word Breakfast literally means to break a fast. That Fast is the time between when you eat your last meal of the day and the first meal of the next day. This usually is a period of 10-12 hours. This is the reason that your body needs to replenish its fuel supply to run and to feed your brain. Automobiles can’t run without fuel and neither can the human body. Therefore, skipping breakfast is not good for your body or your brain.
A healthy Breakfast should contain some Protein and some Carbohydrates. If you eat wholesome nutritious foods they will also contain the vitamins you need along with essential fatty acids.
All cultures have a breakfast menu, although some do not call it as such. Breakfast foods as we know them in the West are not necessarily what people in the Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures eat. The typical American Breakfast is actually based on the English Breakfast which traditionally consists of Eggs, some kind meat such as sausage or bacon and maybe potatoes plus fruit and a beverage. And don’t forget the toast!
In Asia most breakfasts include rice of some kind. In China, it is Congee, a porridge made with rice but in other Asian countries rice is just used as one of the ingredients for the breakfast.
Since we could elaborate for miles and miles on the different breakfasts around the world I am going to stick with the Western Variety. This would include, of course European Countries as well as North America.
In Spain and Germany, the first meal of the day is usually just a cup of coffee and a pastry and a larger more elaborate breakfast is eaten a couple of hours later.
In American, many families have opted to have dry cereal for breakfast along with milk poured onto it. This is certainly faster for people in a hurry, but it is not necessarily the best or tastiest way to go.
My favorite breakfast stems back to my childhood when my parents and my brother and I usually had eggs for breakfast. To this day, Eggs are still my favorite food for breakfast.
Since this is ‘National Breakfast Month’ we will devote one blog a week to Breakfasts around the world. This month will be American Breakfasts such as we know them. The traditional American Breakfast at least as I knew it was Fruit Juice or Fresh Fruit, Eggs, Toast and Milk or Coffee for the Adults. Of course, there are many other variations such as Pancakes, Waffles, Crepes (one of my favorite filled with fruit), cooked Oatmeal (with Raisins! or dried Apples!) and the proverbial dried Cereal with Milk and fruit such as Bananas added.
Whatever your favorite Breakfast, just don’t forget to eat it! Remember, Breakfast is the most important meal of the Day! Especially for children who go to school and need the fuel and brain power that a good breakfast provides!
To give you some ideas and recipes for Breakfast Items check out the Breakfast/Recipe section of this Blog: recipes/breakfast-items/
Categories: Breakfast Ideas, Cooking for Everyone, Cooking for Kids, Main Tags: Breakfast, Children's Cooking, cooking with children, Fruit, holiday recipes, Pumpkin, Waffles
