Last Wednesday, when I was at my dance partner Kathleen’s house between belly dance classes, she showed me what she baked earlier that day. 

You guessed it, butter swim biscuits. She let me smell them, and I looked at them. They made my mouth water.

Within one minute, I found a gluten-free recipe almost identical to the conventional recipe she used. 

Friday morning, Marty’s birthday, I decided to make the biscuits. I failed. Dammit. I did everything correctly and knew I failed before putting them in the oven. 

The dough was described in the recipe as a moist dough. I had a soupy mess. Shit. I added more flour than the recipe called for just until it came together. I proceeded with the recipe.

As they baked, I thought I saved them. I let them cool as instructed. Then I tried serving them. The insides were gooey. I was pissed. We ate one each, but eating it wasn’t pleasant, and we needed salt big time.

The next day, I went on YouTube and watched Southern cooks turn out the most glorious butter swim biscuits, and there was no fussy shit.

I watched their technique and how they measured their flour by scooping a cup into it. I used to measure flour this way, and that’s why I failed.

When I follow gluten-free baking recipes, they are always more complicated than necessary. Every gluten-free blogger tries to up the others since they compete for how many subscriptions they have.

“You must not scoop when measuring your flour; you spoon the flour into the cup.” 

I follow the instructions if I want these gluten-free recipes to come out correctly. The next time I make the recipe, I cut out the bullshit extra steps and dishes.

The butter swim recipe I used had very few instructions for measuring the ingredients, followed by stirring it until a “moist dough” is formed.

There were no demo photos like most food blogs. Photos are extremely helpful, which is why I use them when I am writing a recipe.

I guess I back-seat drove the first time and measured my flour the “professional’ way. That was my mistake, silly Julz.

On Sunday morning, I needed to try making these butter whatamacallits again. Did I have to? Yes! I was still pissy; the first ones didn’t come out. I HATE wasting food and ingredients.

This time, I got to bake the way I used to, plunging the measuring cup right into the container of flour.

I added salt to the recipe, as all the Southern cooks did on YouTube. I was pleased with the outcome of the butter swim biscuits. They looked, tasted, and smelled like the ones I saw on YouTube.

After writing this, I know many people are shaking their heads and saying, “tisk tisk” at how bad these biscuits are for you since they are “swimming” in butter.

Butter swim biscuits use the same amount of butter or shortening as regular biscuits. These biscuits are a treat, not something you can eat daily unless you want to end up in a cath lab. 

Scones also use the same amount of butter, so I rarely make them. I believe food and eating should be thought of as “everything in moderation.

For example, if I want to eat a scone, biscuits and gravy, or high-fat items, I’d rather eat a small amount and be satisfied than make a low-fat version. Moderation.

So would I recommend making butter swim biscuits? Absolutely! They are also the easiest biscuits to make. 

We had the biscuits over three days with sausage gravy, preserves, and ham. They are so filling that you can only eat one, which helps when counting fat and cholesterol levels. 

I must admit I miss the days when I could buy pop & fresh biscuits and crack open that tube, like winding a jack in the box. Pop!

So, if you like dense, crunchy, and buttery af biscuits, these are for you! 

Just google butter swim biscuits, and a slew of recipes will come up, or go on YouTube and check out the southern cooks that helped me. 😊

When my friend Maria planned a bonfire cookie party to celebrate her 60th birthday, she texted me that she knew I wouldn’t be able to come.

I couldn’t go because of my lung disease and the smoke. I was so touched that she remembered and thought of it.

She went on to text why don’t we do a tea party to celebrate both of our birthdays. 

Of course, I began planning what type of tea sandwiches, tea cakes, and sweets to make. 

I also invited our friend Kat to join us. Kat and I have been belly dancing for 20 years. 

Kat and Maria were friends. She brought Maria to one of our belly dance shows. I think she came to class the following week.

Yesterday morning, I found an article about Galentine’s Day. Here’s the article I read to find out about it.

What Is Galentine’s Day? Meaning and Origin of the Modern Holiday | YourDictionary

“Gal”entines Day can be celebrated between February 1 and 13. The tea party was set for Saturday, February 10, so it qualified 

I baked Earl gray tea cakes on Friday and glazed them with a made-from-scratch lavender glaze. Next, I baked lemon bars made with Meyer lemons. They came out amazing. 

Finding Meyer lemons at Trader Joe’s that were $2.99 a bag, the same price as conventional and less than $3.99 for organic, is fantastic. 

Just before the party, I made two kinds of tea sandwiches. The first was a cucumber and Boursin cheese sandwich. I used the Boursin cheese I made for “Sydney’s omelet.” It made the sandwiches so flavorful. 

I forgot to take a photo of the sandwich platter. 😑

I whipped up a small batch of curried egg salad for the other sandwiches. The table setting came together quickly since I had a lot of different serving pieces and dishes.

Maria brought a tea party floral arrangement in a teacup. It couldn’t have been more perfect!

Nelly was a little doll and so happy to have friends over. She loves Maria, and she took her to Kat immediately. She settled into her little bed in the dining room. She would go over to Kat for a little loving. 

She also spent her time inside Maria’s sweater that was hung on the stair post. Nelly smelled Maria & Jon’s three dogs, two donkeys, two chickens, one cat, and a flock of sheep. 

Note…the sweater didn’t smell like any of the animals to a human’s nose. LOL.

I have always loved having tea parties since I was a little girl, plus I got to use my Mema’s rosebud teacups. I have beautiful memories of Mema and me drinking tea and having Stella Dora Anisette Toast. 💖

My friends and I enjoyed the food and tea. We had fun conversations and lots of laughs, exactly like the new holiday we had learned about, Galentine’s Day!

I took the leftover cookies with me to Martin’s dinner party last and got to share them with my other friends. Life is really good.

One of my favorite TV series is “The Bear.” I’m not going to get into the series or episodes, but in season two, Sydney makes Natalie, who is pregnant, an omelet. An omelet that is made with so much care and love.

After watching that episode, I started craving Sydney’s omelet. I watched Sydney several times making the omelet, taking note of Chef Sydney’s carefully prepared ingredients and techniques.

I made my first ever Boursin cheese and bought a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips, something I hardly ever purchase. I finely chopped some chives and was ready to go.

Marty likes to turn everything into a competition, which I knew when I asked him if we wanted to make our omelets together.

This is what was left in the sieve. When working on your culinary skills, this is a necessary step.

Marty is a better short-order cook than I am and can make a perfect French omelet. It is harder than you think.

This is why an executive chef will ask an applicant to make a French omelet. It tells them everything they need to know about the person’s skills.

Marty’s omelet is on the left, and mine is on the right.

I circled the flaws in my omelet in these two photos.

Long story short, Marty made a perfect omelet, while mine had two golden patches. I would not have been hired if this was an interview.

I know most people would think, “Big shit,” that I had flaws in my omelet, but I am working on my skills, and this bugged the hell out of me.

The last scrumptious bite.

The omelet is a viral recipe, and people are going nuts over it. We aren’t the type to try anything viral like people do on TikTok, but this was different because we “know” Chef Sydney.

Many people are making the omelet their own by using different chips, but we wanted to make it exactly as it was on the show.

I’m skeptical if cheddar jalapeño chips would have paired with the Boursin cheese, or would it take over?

It was every bit as delicious as it looked on the show. The smooth Boursin cheese and the sour cream and onion ruffle chips crunch were a flavor bomb with a great mouth feel.

Even perfectly cooked French omelets can be a bit bland, but this takes it to the next level. That is why this scene in the episode and the recipe is the talk of the town.

Call it what you will: meat mallet, pounder, or tenderizer. I have a 4-sided one that is about 30 years old. I have a flat pounder that I never use for meat but as a hammer.

It’s part of my Italian tool kit, which contains a pounder, a butter knife, duct tape, and zip ties. That’s what my dad called it, but I have to tell you this tool kit is very useful.

I admit that even though I had a 4-sided mallet, I never used all four sides. I never even thought about them until recently.

I become a better cook every day and love to share everything I have learned or taught myself with you. If only I learned these things decades ago.

Every kitchen needs to have a meat mallet, whether you are a vegetarian or vegan. Their use is not limited to only meats.

You can use a mallet to crush garlic, nuts, and olives to remove pits, peppercorns, potatoes, rice, lemongrass, cardamom pods, crackers, cookies, or candies. Pretty handy, right?

I wanted to attempt to make braciole, Italian stuffed meat that is braised in tomato sauce; again, I watched a video on how to make it and how to pound the meat with a mallet properly.

I felt stupid; I didn’t know how to use a mallet properly. You learn by doing, so that’s what I did. The braciole came out good! 100% better than my previous too-tough and thick version

Last Saturday, I wanted to make stuffed pork tenderloin. I remembered what I learned from the braciole and took photos as I went along.

Sam was visiting for the weekend, taking a class, so while he and Marty were out of the house, I prepped our dinner. This was perfect so I could spend more time with them instead of alone in the kitchen.

Knowing how to use a meat mallet is so much easier now. It’s all about using all 4-sides and letting gravity do the work—no more upper body workouts when preparing dinner.

The tenderloin opened like a book turned into this!

I removed the silverskin and butterflied the pork by carefully cutting it horizontally, like opening a book, making sure I didn’t cut all the way through.

Here is a video I watched: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQplmbaTzao

Next, I placed the open book on the cutting board and covered it with plastic wrap. I used side number one, then two, three, and the flat side. Gravity did the work.

The first pork tenderloin came out textbook perfect; the larger one I cut a little too far in the middle. Ugh! I repaired it when I used butcher’s twine to tie the stuffed tenderloin closed

The stuffed tenderloin in the distance looks like it did before I started, the front one not so much. 😕

I made a simple stuffing for the pork; you can use any recipe or boxed stuffing mix. I added cooked chestnuts since I have a few bags on hand.

The chestnuts gave the stuffing a delightful sweetness Marty and Sam couldn’t put their fingers on. I am so glad I tried this; now I’ll always put them into stuffing.

Ocean State Job Lot always has packages of cooked chestnuts at their registers. How random, right?

I always stock up on them since I use them for a pasta sauce with chestnuts and mushrooms and a dish called chestnut chicken.

I seasoned the meat with onion & garlic powder, kosher salt & pepper, and paprika, then put it into the fridge until dinner.

I popped the pork into a 400-degree oven and roasted it for about 30 minutes or until it registered an internal temperature of 145-150 degrees.

I also made garlic & parmesan sweet potatoes, a recipe Sam found turned out to be a keeper. Here is the link to the recipe:

https://www.eatwell101.com/garlic-parmesan-roasted-sweet-potato-recipe

The sweet potatoes didn’t turn mushy; you could remove them still “shingled” when plating.

A few green beans sauteed in butter, kosher salt & pepper rounded out the plate. Marty requested this meal that he loved for his birthday dinner next month. Yay!

Don’t let seemingly intimidating recipes, like braciole, dictate what you can make or not. Try it if you have never used a meat mallet or use it often. What else can I do with a mallet, you may ask?

Chicken that has been tenderized and pounded thinner is perfect for chicken parm, chicken marsala, grilled chicken, or breaded chicken cutlets for sandwiches. The same goes for pork or flank steaks. Trust me on this.

If you don’t have a meat mallet, they run from $9.99 to $30 at most stores or on Amazon. I recommend a 4-sided one, but the decision will be yours.

It will make you a better cook if it inspires you to become one like me. I always want to get better at everything I do, like dancing, gardening, drawing, and writing. I will never settle for “good enough.”