Butternut Squash Biscuits

Small town life is growing on me. Though I've only lived here for two months, it feels longer. The town is modest, with only a few main roads, so getting around has been simple. I've settled in quickly, my new job as a high school teacher introducing me to a hundred fresh names and faces. In fact, lately it seems I can scarcely leave the house without running into a familiar face.

Familiarity is comfort.

Last weekend I went to buy groceries as I do each week, pulling items off shelves and gathering them in my red basket. As I approached the checkout, the woman working greeted me, complimenting me on how my hair always seems to be in place, no matter the day. As my basket emptied, she stopped on a lone chocolate bar, pointing out how she always seems to find one buried in my basket. Good for you, she said. You know how to treat yourself.

Our society has become so anonymous, it feels strange to be recognized. To be a friendly face and to have a story, even if it is as simple as my love for dark chocolate.

Since the advent of fall and all its cool weather, I've gravitated towards hearty dinners. A recent choice includes butternut squash mash, smoked sausage, and roasted mushrooms. After dining on it for two consecutive days, I decided it needed a new component, lest I grow tired of my new favorite. Instead of turning the entire squash into a mash, I saved a little of the puree and made biscuits.

Seasonal and spiced, the flavor melded well with my dinner. With a spread of cream cheese, an old mealtime favorite turned into something new.

Butternut Squash Biscuits bring the taste of autumn to the traditional biscuit. Pureed butternut squash puree is mixed into biscuit dough and seasoned with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. The lightly sweetened biscuits have a savory flair, pairing well with comfort food such as soups and potato dishes. For tall and flaky biscuits, follow these biscuit tips and tricks!

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Caramelized Leek, Basil, & Black Pepper Biscuits

Food has been a struggle for me the last couple months. After discovering that my body cannot process dairy during the completion of my month long vegan challenge back in June, it has not been easy for me to go dairy-free. Perhaps it seems a little counter-intuitive, but going vegan for a month was much easier than trying to be dairy-free for the last two months. In part, I think this may be because my month long vegan challenge was a personal choice and becoming dairy-free was a decision my body made for me.

Food and I have been at odds since, fighting the dance of siblings as we bicker over what I should put on my plate.

I do fairly well when I eat alone in the confines of my apartment, cooking up meals for one in a place where I can control the amount of dairy in the refrigerator and cupboards. The real struggle begins the moment I step out of my safe haven. Restaurants have become the enemy; an unwanted challenge as I sift my way through what I can eat and what I can't eat on the menu, feeling little more than an irritation as I ask the waitress pointed questions and make half a dozen omissions and substitutions from the list of entrees.

I struggle with food because it puts my family in an awkward position as they try to make meals around my new disorder. My mother creates the most wonderful food—the vast majority of it made with dairy in one form or another—and I'm conflicted over asking her to leave it off the menu or keeping it on, since I don't want to deny anyone else the pleasures of her cooking. I struggle with food when my boyfriend casually suggests making macaroni and cheese for dinner, forgetting for a moment that I can't eat it, and making us both feel bad about the comment for different reasons—him, for making me remember my love for macaroni, and me, for refusing him a beloved food.

I struggle with food because so many of my favorite foods are now forbidden. Just because I cannot eat milk, cream, or cheese, doesn't mean I stopped enjoying them. I have cravings for fettuccine Alfredo and rich chocolate ice cream that refuse to disappear, no matter how much I will them away.

I struggle with food because I still want to share new and exciting desserts that are infused with cream and butter because, let's face it, cream and butter never stopped being delicious. In my own kitchen, I'll sometimes substitute margarine or alternative milks for recipes, but there are still occasions when I'll refuse to make pie without a buttery, flaky crust. I'm continuing to juggle this new world of food, trying my best to create recipes that work for me and you.

This journey has a long, long way to go, but I'm trying. Perhaps a little more time is all I really need.

Caramelized Leek, Basil, & Black Pepper Biscuits are packed with flavor. A basic biscuit dough is infused with freshly chopped basil leaves, caramelized leeks, and coarsely ground black pepper. While baking, the biscuits rise, becoming buttery and flaky. These biscuits make a wonderful side for a bowl of soup or casserole, but can stand alone for moments when a biscuit spread with a little butter is all you really need. For tips on creating mile-high biscuits, check this out!

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Cheddar Dill Biscuits

I'm a bookworm. I've been so all of my life. There are old photographs of me as a toddler sitting underneath the living room end table reading Mother Goose rhymes. Though cramped, my small space was perfect to spend time with my favorite storybooks, whether I could actually read them or not was completely irrelevant. I distinctly remember the day I outgrew my small reading cove; my neck was sore from bending over and my legs jutted out between the table legs. At the ripe age of three and a half, I had outgrown my special reading corner. Above all, I remember feeling sadness about losing this place so special to me.

Evidently the perceived tragedies to a three year old are strong enough to leave an impression well into adulthood. My books and I would simply have to find someplace else to delve into the world of fiction.

Nevertheless, much of my childhood was spent between the worn pages of a good book. Fiction and fantasy, kings and queens, dragons and mythical creatures—I loved them all. Reading of far off places, places that never existed nor will ever exist, made my imagination soar. As soon as my eyes start taking in the words on the page, my mind fades away from the Times New Roman font and a fantastic story begins playing out in my head. The faster my eyes dance across the page, the more vivid and real the details of the book become.

Fantasy, fiction, and food—my personal trinity of good books.

To this day, I struggle to pick up a nonfiction book and read it all the way through. Perhaps my childhood is so rooted into fairy tales and foreign worlds that to stray into the details of reality takes away a little of that magic. Whatever the case may be, my bookshelf is firmly filled with adventures and tragedies (with just a few culinary memoirs to break up the monotony).

When I was younger, I always envisioned myself as a fiction writer, spinning predictable, but engrossing tales of teen romance. Yet, when I sat down to write chapters, pages, or simple paragraphs of the ideas floating in my head, the words didn't flow. They stopped, utterly and completely, and I was left staring at a blank page. Yet, when I sat down to journal or to write short essays about silliness or food, the words came in droves. I'd often have to cut them back or stop them all together, fearing I'd write something too long for anyone (or myself) to want to read.

It's ironic, really. Nonfiction books are the one genre of books I can't quite bring myself to read, yet is the only style I can seem to write.

Which genre of books do you prefer?

Cheddar Dill Biscuits are tender, flaky, and full of flavor. I love the sharpness of the cheddar cheese contrasted against the fresh dill. The biscuits rise using baking powder, while the butter gives the biscuit the coveted flaky layers. The biscuits are wonderfully cheesy and perfect whether they are served plain or with a simple butter spread. For tips on achieving mile-high biscuits, check this out!

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