Dear Listening,
Well. We find ourselves in such a pickle these days. I don't really know where to start or how to address this mess we are in, so I guess I won't speak of it just now. Today is the anniversary of the first Dodo post; 12 years ago. Time flies, but not really. It goes forward and back and stays still too, sometimes.
I started writing the Dodo to memorialize all these things that were disappearing: the empty lot, the VHS player, the corded telephone, the roller rink; but right away, I couldn't do it; I couldn't only send you stories of my sadness and loss. It felt cruel; people want to look forward, to look to something that hasn't been despoiled yet. Plus-what, I don't think of every loss every minute of everyday. Double plus-what, I am not sure that sadness isn't a kind of patina that we could learn to enjoy. Nostalgia might be one; we seem to enjoy that kind of sadness so much it isn't even funny. I didn't want to just give you nostalgia either. I wanted to give you that one cream biscuit recipe, only now I usually make *these biscuits (which are NOT fast like the cream biscuits are!).
In any case, happy anniversary to you, too, if you read these pages- because if you don't, it's kind of silly for me to be here, whistling in the dark, but I will be here anyway. Making art is like that; you just make it, even if you can't find anyone to show it to.
PS Your song for today.
* Flaky-ass Biscuits adapted from Jessica Koslow's Everything I Want to Eat.
4 cups AP flour
2 Tbs. sugar
1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
Put all this into your mixer- mix it.
Add:
250 grams (1 cup plus 2 Tbs.) frozen unsalted butter that has been patiently cut into cubes.
Mix it for maybe 30 seconds. Then add:
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
while the machine is running- don't mix it too long! What does that mean? You know it if you know it, and if you don't, make biscuits more often, or watch some cooking shows.
Put the dough out onto a flat surface; shape, roll, or pat it into a rectangle about 3/4 of an inch thick. Spread:
4 Tbs. room temperature unsalted butter
over two-thirds of the patted out dough. Now fold the unbuttered third over the buttered third, and then fold the last third over that. Like you would fold a letter.
Put it in the fridge, and in a half hour, roll it out, and give it what the pastry chefs call a 'turn.' Repeat this two more times; then leave it in the fridge for an hour. Now, roll it out and cut it into biscuit about 3/4 inch a thick. I just cut them into squares, but you can cut circles with a cutter if you like. To be even more exacting, to exercise even more patience in the kitchen, you can brush the tops with buttermilk and sprinkle flaky sea salt on top of them before you bake them at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.
Note: One December, I gave this book to several pals, for Old White Man's Mas. It was received as though it were a Rubik's cube: it might be fun, but it is too hard. I still say, it is an amazing cookbook; I think my mistake was in my estimation of people's patience. If you, dear reader, are not looking for ease, if you like hard things; women like Violette LeDuc and Emily Wells, then you should get this book!
