Biscuits & Gravy… by JoAnn

Sometimes you just need comfort food! Food like your mama or grandma made for you as a kid. Food from a favorite restaurant, or junk food from a gas station. Anyone who likes food has a favorite or two. On a stressful day, or even a cold day, certain foods bring comfort. Just like ice cream hits a special spot on a Summer day, hot soup warms you to your toes on a Winter day.

There is no better comfort food in the world than one that brings back fond memories of special days. Why do you think the traditional Thanksgiving dinner is such a favorite? I have yet to find anyone who doesn’t want the same dinner with all the fixings every year.  It brings them pure joy.  

My absolute favorite comfort food is one my mama made us almost every weekend.  Usually on Sunday morning.  It’s gravy and biscuits.  Any time I miss my mama, I get a craving for her biscuits and gravy.  Her creamy gravy, made from a bacon dripping roux, and rich milk, was smooth as silk.  She always added extra black pepper for me.  That hot gravy poured over her light as a feather biscuit, was a meal to die for!  It’s no wonder it was a family favorite.  And no wonder it gives me so much comfort when I am missing those precious days.

I was talking to my daughter Christine this week and somehow the conversation landed on cooking.  She was explaining to me that in Maine, she cannot find the flour or cornmeal that she was used to using here in Tennessee.  Christine is a very good biscuit and cornbread maker, and those are two of her favorite things to bake.  Our conversation then led to gravy and biscuits.  It turns out that is also her favorite meal.  A girl after my own heart!

Gravy and biscuits are certainly not on my weekly menu as it was growing up, but I do indulge now and then.  A couple of weeks ago, with the mornings turning cold, I had a hankering for my mama’s breakfast.  I found a new bacon brand that is, in my opinion, the best I’ve ever tasted.  I saved the drippings and made plans to make my mama’s gravy.  I decided to just use store bought biscuits, as I could never duplicate my mama’s anyway.  But I made the gravy just like she always did.  It was wonderful!  As I ate that meal, even the aroma of the rich, peppery gravy, brought me back to sitting around the table with my parents and siblings.  It not only warmed me up on a chilly morning, but it also filled my tummy and heart with the love I felt way back then.  Now that is comfort food at its best!