Bacon Cheddar Biscuits

Once, when I was just a wee little girl, my mother said something that has stuck with me forever and ever (about 30 years) until this very day. And lately I've been thinking about it a lot. It might have profound implications, a rare insight into my mother's sense of herself.  Or it might not, really, I dunno, I could be reading too much into things. (I do that a lot.)

My mother--her name was Trudy--said, "I don't like to put on very bright lipstick, because I don't want it to be like 'Here comes Trudy's Lips!'"

It makes me sad. Today I think, why not? What's wrong with Trudy's lips? Ok, my mother's lips were rather on the thin side, but there was nothing wrong with them. Why shouldn't she wear bright lipstick for everyone to see?

We should all be bright peacocks! We should all wear bright bright colors--vivid, unforgettable colors--that announce to the world "Here I am, and I am gorgeous!" Wear vivid red boots with a dramatic blue dress! Carry a searingly yellow umbrella and bright pink lipstick! Be special. Be brilliant. Don't hide away, because you deserve more than feeling like you need to hide away.  Don't tell yourself that you're not worth looking at, because you are. Everyone is worthy of being loved.  And you know how old people always seem to get away with stuff we can't get away with? Like mismatched lipstick, hilariously blue hair, and inappropriate statements? Get away with it now. "You shouldn't have to wait 'til you're 90 to be delightfully yourself." --Danielle Corsetto.

Sure, haters are gonna hate. Psh, let them. They're just jealous, because you're fabulous.

Be fabulous.

On that note of fabulosity and insanely vivid flavors, I present to you Bacon Cheddar Biscuits. They're very much like Red Lobster's famous Cheddar Bay biscuits, but with bacon! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

This recipe is slightly adapted from one given to me by my friend Julie, mainly in that she used Bisquick, and we don't have any. Had to make my own, so that's the first set of ingredients. If you have Bisquick, you can skip that first group. Also, she recommends that you chop up your bacon before frying it, instead of after, and it is easier than trying to chop up hot bacon later, but just be warned that that bacon is going to pop a LOT as you stir it to cook, so you might want to wear a welding helmet or something. At least wear long sleeves.  Oh yeah, and I added parsley too, 'cause if there's green stuff in it, we can say we're eating our vegetables.

Ingredients

3 cups flour
1½ tablespoons baking powder
1/4 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup Crisco (or lard, or unsalted butter)
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or 3 cups of Bisquick
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2 tablespoons garlic powder
1/2 cup dried parsley
1 (12oz) package of bacon
2 cups shredded cheese
2½ tablespoons of bacon grease
1¼ cup milk

1) Preheat oven to 400º.
2) Chop up the raw bacon. I pulled it out of the package, did not separate the strips, and just cut down across the strips with a chef's knife.
3) Put the bacon in a frying pan & cook it on medium, stirring every few seconds to break up the pieces. It will pop and hiss a lot, so you really might want a long-sleeved shirt for this. Cook until crispy.
4) In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Then cut in the Crisco with a pastry cutter or a couple of forks until it's all mixed together very well.  If you're using Bisquick instead, just measure 3 cups of Bisquick into a large mixing bowl.
5) Mix in the garlic powder, parsley, and cheese.
6) Drain the bacon grease into a glass measuring cup or bowl.  Add the cooked bacon to the large bowl of biscuit mix.
7) Measure out 2½ tablespoons of the bacon grease, and add that to the biscuit mix along with the milk. (Discard the rest.) Stir until well combined.
8) Drop the dough in about 1/3cup-sizes onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the edges are browning and they feel firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheet.

And there you have it! Any cheese and/or bacon loving family will love these. You can even get away with them for breakfast since there's, you know, eggs and bacon.

Early morning bacon biscuit breakfast sun!