Ok, ladies of the gardens, (and kitchens), let's let it ALL hang out now and go for it! We've worked all spring, summer and fall, and now it's time to talk cooking! And enjoying the fruits, (or veggies) of our labors. Like the rest of you, fall is the time when I love to get in the kitchen and cook, filling the house with wonderful smells. That's one of the reason I love Oklahoma, the change of seasons. Fall just brings with it, a change in the feeling of things as we change from one mode to another. It's time for soups, and stews, and baking breads, pies, muffins and biscuits,( slathered with butter and jam or jelly of choice). Tonight, I'm making, more for DS than me, chicken and biscuits. Only I make the biscuits separate, so they don't get soggy baking in the oven with the liquid part of the concoction. Then, he splits them once done and ladles the chicken "gravy" over all. Of course there are a hundred variations on the theme, and I've tried most all of them at one time or another, but that's what's on the menu tonight. I came across this blog and started reading. Great stuff, you can tell these ladies, (and guy) know their way around a biscuit. The one moniker cracked me up, "Old ladies in Fist Fights". Anyway, they were discussing the pros and cons of biscuit making. I am making mine ala Carol's, by the BIG BATCH, with the exception that I use butter. I keep my batch in the fridge or even freezer to keep the butter cold and fresh. I do mine a little different that those discussed in this blog. I melt a large batch of butter in the microwave, and then cool and put it in the freezer til it's ice cold and solid. Then, I work in the cold butter bits, one half at a time, to coat the self-rising flour mixture, to prevent as much gluten from forming as possible. Everythings done with the lightest touch possible and the least mixing. When the biscuits are patted out and cut, in this case, "Cat Head" biscuits, I dip them in melted butter, and pop them in a preheated 450 degree oven til nice and golden. I always make buttermilk biscuits, buttermilk pancakes, buttermilk cornbread, and as often as possible. Carol's method makes this painless. I suppose we could make many of our standard quick bread mixes this way. Salute Carol! Ladies, start your engines, (I mean ovens)! Barbara Here is a link that might be useful: Joes's Biscuit Blog

Here's the recipe I use for Minestrone soup, which does call for a small amount of pasta, but the amount is so small that I do not notice it getting mushy: Minestrone Soup 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 cup minced white onion (about 1/2 small onion) 1/3 cup minced celery (about 1 stalk) 2 chopped zucchinis, chopped 2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 2-3 cloves) 2 cups water or vegetable broth 2 tsp vegetable soup base (if broth is not used � dissolve in the 2 cups water) 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes (or whole tomatoes pur�ed in can) 1/4 cup carrots, shredded 2-4 tablespoons minced fresh parsley 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon dried basil 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 1 to 1 1/2 cups water or vegetable soup base 1 to 1-1/2 tsp vegetable soup base (dissolved in the water, if broth not used) 2/3 cup small shell pasta (orzo, or similar) 1-3/4 cups cooked red kidney beans, drained* 1-3/4 cups cooked small white beans or great northern beans, drained* 2 cups fresh or frozen baby spinach (optional) 2 tbsp tomato paste or 1 tbsp tomato powder salt, to taste, if soup base is not used Directions: Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Saut� onion and celery in the oil for 4-5 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent. Add the zucchini and garlic and saut� a couple of minutes more. Add vegetable broth to pot, plus tomatoes, carrot, and spices. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Add additional 1 cup hot water/vegetable broth (more, if needed), pasta, beans, spinach leaves (if desired), and tomato paste, and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until desired consistency. Less water will be needed if the spinach is used. Add salt to taste, if you are not using soup base. I use Better Than Bouillon brand vegetable soup base or one that I get from a restaurant supply store. Use more parsley if you are not adding spinach. *Note: I use 7/8 cup of each dried bean to yield the amount needed and cook the beans earlier in the day or the day before in plain water with a couple of bay leaves. I simmer them in the same pan. Alternatively, canned beans can be used (14 oz can each), drained and rinsed. ------------- This soup freezes extremely well, but I have found that most bean based soups are best for freezing. If I am making an Indian style garbanzo soup that I want to freeze, I will use rice instead of potato. Lars

That much chicken, barely covered with water - seems like it should have flavor! But I don't make chicken stock with breasts, that being the least flavorful part of the modern chicken in my opinion. I use the carcass, which has more connective tissue, skin, cartilage, and so on. That all breaks down to gelatin which you want in a chicken soup. So, I second the suggestion off adding some necks and backs. I also make my stock separately, strain it, then use it to make chicken soup. That allows you to cook the stock for hours until every bit of flavor is extracted from the chicken and veggies, then remove the now-tasteless mush, fat, clouding particles - that you don't want in the soup anyway. When you use that stock to make soup, in effect you are further enhancing the broth with a second pass of chicken and veggies, which you'll cook just enough and not too much. I usually put the veggies in last. I know this is not the simpler process your mother used, but those of us without "mom magic" have to resort to more laborious measures. One thing - your mom might have used more salt than you are using today. Salt enhances flavors and back in our childhood, people weren't usually trying to control sodium. Her "mom magic" might have been as simple as an additional tsp or two of salt.

no mantis, but,I do have a Elizabeth salter, too.I took a picture of it today and may post it tomorrow if weather permits,