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My best friend moved away a year ago.  It takes a lot to make me cry, and that did it.  We popped in and out of each other’s homes.  Our boys are best friends and my girls are crazy about her. 

She got to move back home to Mississippi where they are from.  I am happy for her and her ENTIRE family in that respect.  But, I still miss her…

We went to visit their family this past weekend and had a blast.  She is totally in her element.  I love listening to her because she has all this wisdom on how to run a home.  I sat down with her, a cup of coffee and a pad of paper to get some tips.  I felt like Skeeter questioning Aibileen from “The Help”. 

The little treasure (and I’ll share some more in future posts) I want to dole out is her cooking everything in an iron skillet.  She had that thing humming all weekend. 

For our last breakfast she whipped up some eggs, bacon and homemade biscuits and gravy.  Yes, I will give you the recipe because that is the kind of person I am.

Vanessa’s Biscuits and Gravy

Ingredients for biscuits:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup buttermilk (You can use milk if you have to)

1/2 stick butter

1/4 cup shortening

Start with the flour in a medium sized bowl. Cut butter and shortening into mixture until it looks like pea sized pieces.

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Make a well with flour mixture and slowly add buttermilk into the middle. Mix together and add more buttermilk as needed.

Roll out dough onto a lightly floured surface, and roll out to desired thickness. Cut with small biscuit cutter (or a cute little green glass).

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Butter bottom of skillet and place biscuits in pan. 

Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

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Ingredients for gravy:

1 lb sausage

2 TBS flour (or maybe a little more)

2 cups (or maybe a little more) milk

1/2 tsp pepper

salt to taste

Directions for gravy:

Brown sausage.

Remove sausage from the skillet.  

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Add a TBS of bacon grease or oil and flour.  Whisk together.  You want it to have a light tint of brown. 

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You are trying to get rid of the “floury” taste, Vanessa says.

Add milk and keep whisking. I love the word, “whisk”.  Continue adding milk and more milk to make it not too thick.  When you have a great consistency and a lighter color add the pepper and stir.

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Then you can add back your sausage. 

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Get rid of the whisk and stir in sausage.

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You did it!  You will have very happy customers (that don’t tip).

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