"UsingItUp" news and stories

The idea started as a way to use up some sour* milk. I couldn't bear to just pour it down the drain and so I started scouting around for ways in which to use it up. I remembered reading a line in a vintage cookbook about saving sour milk for quick breads and muffins (oh, the food knowledge we've lost over the years, I'm sure my grandma Bunny would have know what to do with sour milk without consulting a cookbook). Flipping through my turquoise-covered Joy of Cooking (the edition from the late 1960s), I settled on making a batch of biscuits.

I realize that for many of you out there, the idea of making biscuits to go with dinner isn't a groundbreaking idea. However, I grew up in a family where we did not eat bread products with our evening meal (although my grandparents always had bread on their dining table and my sister and I used to think it was the most thrilling thing ever) and so for me, dinner-time biscuits feels subversive and exciting.

They came together quickly and baked up quickly, adding a level of special-ness and comfort to a regular old dinner. There were a few leftover and I ate them for breakfast the next day with peanut butter and homemade jam.

*When raw milk sours, it's still usable in baking and cooking. Sadly, when pasteurized milk goes bad, it's just bad and can't be salvaged.