Biscuits and Defrocking our Christmas Tree

January has come and gone but I wanted to share a late January Saturday that seemed like a holiday but it wasn't. We decided it was time to take our (fake) Christmas tree down. So while we did that, we also cooked up a meal that seemed holiday-ish. Angel flake biscuits and......



.........Turkey that was still in our freezer from this past fall. It was quite good. Here's Phil cutting up the turkey. Then there's the plate of food before I ate it. The pitcher on the left is of gravy that I made from the turkey drippings. Yummy! So much better than the packaged mix with icky stuff I don't want my family eating. We got it with the free meal deal. I should have just left it on the shelf. I will share the biscuit recipe at the end of this post, in case you'd like to make it. It's my go to recipe for holidays and everyday meals.


Here's my Precious Moments ornaments off the Christmas tree. It was much easier to put them in this box and take them over to the case than walking back and forth with a few in my hand. And maybe dropping some on the way, even tho there's carpet, I could still break one. Not gonna try that.
This tree has served us well. For twenty years. But it's time to let it go since it's not going together well. Nor the branches holding up like they should. So Phil took it apart and we put some of it in the garbage and recycled the metal pieces. Another tree awaits in the garage that I purchased after Christmas for $20. We need to check it out soon to make sure all the pieces are there b4 Dec. May be hard to return if there's a problem then.

Here's creative juices flowing from angel's skirt and stockings. Up close and personal from first photo on post. Then there's the poinsettia that's a bit tired from Christmas. It looked better after I watered it. It didn't die this year. I realized I watered it too much. I kept it a couple more weeks, then tossed it since the soil was starting to smell musty. It was fun to have it though even if I did get it on Christmas day after church.

Phil is making two different batches of gak after dinner. I just watched since I was tired. We were teaching the kids the following day. Jonah. Gak was like slime that Jonah may have had on him when he was in and out of the big fish. We did a hands on type Sunday school glass in Jan. The kids enjoyed it. The boys went for the color purple more than the girls but they all got both colors and they took it home with them. Hopefully nobody put it under their bed and forgot about it! HA! We had a good time instilling Godly principles (hopefully) in their minds.

Angel Flake Biscuits

5 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon soda
3 tablespoons baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
1 cup butter
1 envelope dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups buttermilk
Sift dry ingredients together and cut in the butter
Dissolve yeast in the warm water;
let stand for about 5 minutes.
Add yeast mixture to buttermilk and add to the
dry ingredients, stirring with a fork until a soft dough forms.
Turn out on a lightly floured board and knead briefly.
Pat the dough out and cut with a biscuit cutter.
DO NOT LET RISE AT ANYTIME!
Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet
450 degrees F.
10 minutes.
May keep dough in tight plastic bag or bowl
in refrigerator up to one week.

I have also made these as drop biscuits.
Sometimes I'm in a hurry and don't have time
to roll them out. I usually mash them down a bit when
I drop biscuit them. They still turn out delicious.
I've had this recipe for years and got it from a
good friend when we lived in Las Cruces, NM
years ago. Thanks, Clarellen!

The gak I talked about can be made from simple household ingredients.
We used the recipe from Steve Spangler Science but it now appears it's
no longer listed on that website anymore. Apparently Beaker has moved it. Sorry!
I'm sure you can find it on another page...it's basically Borax, Elmer's glue, water, and food coloring. I bought Bi-mart out of little glue bottles at 99 cents a bottle....well I think I left them 3 bottles. Cheapest place in town. The bigger bottles, when I could find them, were more expensive. But it was a fun project. We loved playing with it!

Thanks for stopping by for a visit and have a good week, my friends!