OT- I love living in Alabama lol

[Bridger]

http://thenewsstar.com/article/20090108 ... 1/90108014

I'll also be running for sheriff as soon as I attain 21 years of age

[Ysabel Kid]

Hmmm... cry me a river...

[Ray]

Deleted.

[the telegraphist]

Some 34 years ago Pops and I were camping and fishing in the Choccolocco State Forest and had our little bateaux stolen. Pops thought he knew who had stolen it so we went to the Cleburne County Jail to file a report. The jail matron invited us to share breakfast with the keepers and inmates.

In all of my 42 years I have never had a better meal. On army surplus aluminum trays we were served: A choice of hot cakes, cathead biscuits, or toasted loaf bread slices liberaly buttered and sweetened by grape jelly, apple butter, or syrup. Choice of oatmeal porridge with syrup or plain grits topped with melted butter or sawmeal gravy. Scrambled eggs and choice of bacon, country sausage, or white meat(crispy fried fatback) rounded out the meal. We washed it all down with strong black coffee. I was almost eight years old and I ate until I was as full as a tick.

The boat was never recovered but I'll never forget that Saturday morning in 1974. The inmates were polite and quiet. I don't remember any of them being overly fat due to the diet. The jailer/deputy we talked to kept a quid of tobacco in his

cheek the whole time he ate. Times, crimes, criminals and apparenly their keepers have sure changed.

Gday my friend,
You got me, never heard of cathead biscuits, what are they, must have had a deprived childhood down here in Australia.
Grits, what are they, love scrambled eggs though. Love bacon too.

[Ray]

Deleted.

[Tristan]

In our area, when we refer to catshead or cathead biscuits, they're a rolled quick bread that turns out to be about the size of a cat's head. The biscuits that are dropped on the cooking tray are called, curiously enough, 'drop biscuits'.

Just shows some regional differences, I guess.

Tristan

[Rusty]

I always thought cathead biscuits referred to the size... about the size of a cat's head.


I make biscuits at out house usually with

Self rising flour then cut in a good portion of butter. A pinch of baking soda and enough butter milk to make them the right consistency. Bake in a 450° oven in a greased iron skillet. Till golden brown on top. I pinch my biscuits out and butter the tops to make them brown a little better.

[Hobie]

Well, well. I apparently had one of those disappearing posts.

My wife is from LA (lower Alabama) and loves her grits. She particularly loves scrambled eggs in them along with the cat's head biscuits (the rolled and cut out kind). Give her that and a steaming hot cup of coffee and she's in heaven.

[Bridger]

Hobie, where at in LA? I'm in Dale County.

[the telegraphist]

Gday my friend,
You got me, never heard of cathead biscuits, what are they, must have had a deprived childhood down here in Australia.
Grits, what are they, love scrambled eggs though. Love bacon too.

Perhaps Doc Hudson or another of the culinary experts will step in and give you an official answer on the etymology of cathead biscuit. The definition differs based on family usage. Over here, a biscuit refers to a baked quick bread similar to your scones.

If one is used to making and or eating biscuits from a heavy rolled and cut dough then a softer biscuit made from a looser and wetter dough dropped from a spoon might be disparaged as a "cathead". If you are used to drop biscuits as was the case in my childhood, then a rough textured, large sized biscuit made from heavy rolled and cut dough was considered a "cathead".

Grits are a gruel made from ground maize. The starches thicken the dish into a porridge. Grits can be cooked in water, broth, whole milk, whey, or even beer. The type of maize determines the color. Yellow is also called corn mush or polenta. Ground indian corn will give you a grey, blue, or even purple color. The most common is white hominy grits. A bowl of steaming grits served with melted butter and seasoned with salt and black pepper is a common breakfast food in the Deep South. Small children and old ladies usually prefer them sweetened with jellies, fruit preserves, honey, or syrup.

Gday Ray,
Many thanks the info it all sounds real nice to eat. Will see if I can produce some. Again thanks.

[awp101]

Gday Ray,
Many thanks the info it all sounds real nice to eat. Will see if I can produce some. Again thanks.

Here's something I ran across that may be of help:

http://www.deltablues.net/biscuit.html (pictures there as well)

MISSISSIPPI DELTA CATHEAD BISCUITS

They're called "cathead biscuits" because they should be about the size of a cat's head. They should be somewhat round on top and not flat like canned biscuits. Do not cut them out of rolled-out dough with the rim of a glass or with any other implement as every biscuit recipe I've ever read said to do. Roll them into a ball with your hands. Why make home-made biscuits if they look like store-bought biscuits?
Here's the recipe for four cathead biscuits which will satisfy two hungry people. It calls for a Lodge Manufacturing 8" cast iron skillet. For more people, double the recipe and use a Lodge 10" skillet. You'll need:


1 1/8 cup self-rising flour
2/3 cup milk or buttermilk
1/8 cup oil or bacon drippings

Step #1: Blend above ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Step #2: Dump a hand full of flour on a pastry cloth or whatever. As you can see, I use a brown paper sack. Newspaper also works just fine.

Step #3: As in the top photo, dump the blended dough onto the flour.

Step #4: Pour a dash of oil into your skillet and smear it around with your fingers. Coat the inside of the skillet and the palms of your hands with oil.

Step #5: Knead the dough for about 30 seconds, rolling it in the flour and thickening it.

Step #6: Half the dough as in the middle photo. Half it again, making 4 pieces of dough.

Step #7: Roll each piece of dough between your hands, making it into a ball, then put it in the skillet.

Step #8: As you see me doing in this photo, use a spoon or a pastry brush and put a little oil or bacon drippings on the top of each un-baked biscuit. You're ready to start cooking.

Preheat oven to 350°
Bake 25 minutes at 350°
Broil/toast for 1 or 2 minutes
Enjoy!

[Hobie]

Hobie, where at in LA? I'm in Dale County.

Atmore and across the border in Davisville...

[Bridger]

Oh, that is a pretty good ways away from me then.

[DBW]

Those criminals should have simply gotten themselves a CDL so they could drive a truck for a honest living. Then they'd be all fat and sassy. Other than me (155#), I've never seen a truck driver that wasn't afflicted with Dunlap disease as a result of constantly trundling around the buffet at a Flying J.