Josie @ Yum Yucky‘s glowing review of Pillsbury’s Simply Buttermilk Biscuits the other day. It’s all your fault, because my mind was instantly all “oh yeah!! Biscuits and Gravy!!” Which aren’t good for me, but they taste so darn good!
I resisted a whole five days before giving in to those greedy thoughts and finally made Biscuits and Gravy for lunch today. We did not have the Simply Buttermilk Biscuits in our store, but did that stop me?? NO! I went for the usual Grands because by then, I was on a mission!
Here is my basic sausage gravy “recipe” (I don’t use a recipe, I just make…and eat!!):
Dragonfly’s Sausage Gravy
1 12 ounce package of your favorite “hot” bulk breakfast sausage. I generally use Jimmy Dean or Owens (whichever I have a coupon for!)
3 tablespoons butter (the basic idea is to have about the same amount of fat and flour)
4 tablespoons flour
2 to 3 cups or so of milk. Don’t use skim! I prefer to use some heavy cream…the more fat the better, this is not diet food. (Maybe 1 cup cream, and the balance 2% milk?)
Fresh cracked pepper to taste…I use quite a bit.
Salt to taste.
Cayenne pepper for extra heat.
Optional: maple syrup
Brown sausage in saucepan, breaking apart with spoon as it browns. After sausage is completely cooked, add butter and flour. Stir and cook for a few minutes, or just until flour starts to brown…just slightly. Slowly stir in milk (cream!) and as the sauce begins to thicken, add pepper and salt.
If gravy is too thick add more milk, or if after 5 to 10 minutes it is still too thin, add a tablespoon of butter mixed well with a tablespoon of flour, repeat or adjust until it is perfect for you. We like ours on the thicker side.
At this point I add a sprinkle of ground cayenne pepper and a tablespoon or two of maple syrup. Yum. If you don’t add too much, this adds a great additional layer of flavor and does not make the gravy sweet. Add a little, and taste it.
Serve hot with your favorite biscuits.
Serves 4ish
Ugh, I think I gained two pounds just looking at the recipe. Not to mention the damage I did at lunch actually eating it!!
I don’t talk about it much because is it not the focus of my life, but I am not Christian. As I am talking a bit about religion here, I thought it best to clear the air first. I do consider myself spiritual and embrace the teachings of Jesus along with those of Buddha, the Dalai Lama and other great teachers. I believe that there is some truth to all (okay, most) World religions, but I don’t think that any one has all the answers for me.
That said, I know that there are many many wonderful Christians out there who bear the brunt of the fewer vocal haters who spew hate instead of love. All of that hate never made sense to me. If they are truly working towards the ideals that Jesus set down for them, why hate? Jesus didn’t.
The other morning, I woke up with the phrase “What Would Jesus Do?” stuck in my head. I was feeling frustrated with some of the so-called Christians and their anti-gay (anti-equal rights) stance. The anti-GLBT Westboro Baptist Church were recently planning a visit to my town, not for the first time, to protest at several locations. And I probably still had Dan Savage’s marriage video on my mind.
My thoughts were clear. If Jesus were living today, would he carry a “God Hates Fags”sign? Would he protest at a fallen soldiers funeral? Would he hate just to hate? Would he despise the differences in people? Color, sexual identity, height, weight, hair color…even religion?
Or would he celebrate and embrace those differences? Would he love everyone equally? Would he try to spread the love? Spread the tolerance? Encourage togetherness and empathy? Every fiber of my being says that he would do just that. That he did. That this was a major component of his message.
I kept these thoughts to myself, because I don’t think they are special or truly unique. Plus who am I to say…non-religious but spiritual person that I am?
I almost cried. Heck, I’m still a little misty. : ) Read it if you have time, I think it’s worth it.
From the article (actually from this blog and included in the article: It Seems to Me….):
My favorite though was a gentleman who was dancing on a float. He was dressed solely in white underwear and had a pack of abs like no one else. As he was dancing on the float, he noticed us and jokingly yelled, “What are you sorry for? It’s pride!” I pointed to our signs and watched him read them.
Then it clicked.
Then he got it.
He stopped dancing. He looked at all of us standing there. A look of utter seriousness came across his face. And as the float passed us he jumped off of it and ran towards us. He hugged me and whispered, “thank you.”
And:
However, I think Jesus would have hugged him too. It’s exactly what I read throughout scripture: Jesus hanging out with people that religious people would flee from. Correlation between then and now? I think so.
This is what people of all religions (or non-religions)—make that “people of the world”—should be working towards. Peace, love, understanding. Just look at the positive energy in this photo…it’s beautiful.
I went with friends again this summer on a “girl’s weekend” get away. A few of my favorite faces from previous years weren’t able to make it this year and I missed them…a lot. However, there were a couple new faces and I really enjoyed meeting and getting to know them.
I took these pictures with my cell phone in a rare private moment on the patio.
I am still recovering a bit from all the food, wine, chocolate and late nights. I am so glad that I went!!
Starr stayed home with Sammy (the cat). She did manage to feed and water him, but refused to touch the litter box. Not that I blame her. Though it’s just one more reason that he is and will always be MY cat!!
I am sorry for being a big whiner yesterday! I try not to give in to those feelings, but some days I just get so flippin’ frustrated!!
Moving on:
Music has always been a big part of my life and I have been sharing some of my finds here for a while. I finally decided to open a blog dedicated to my musical finds and spent a great deal of time this weekend futzing with it. I tried several templates that Starr rejected “that’s nice, but…” and she makes a face. The only one that she would approve is the same one I’m using here…so they are like twins!!
Since I just started it, there isn’t much content yet, but I thought I would go ahead and share the link today:
Now, to groceries, laundry, cooking and cleaning…the fun never stops!!
And just for fun, I thought I would share this picture that Skye took of Starr recently. Starr is showing off her “perfect” umbrella and her fun rain boots!
A part of her looks forward to rainy days so that she can use and wear them!!
I guess you could say the same thing about some moms, but I don’t have a deadbeat mom to deal with. I have Starr’s dad.
This year Starr and her dad are in the same place they were last year. He hasn’t tried to reconcile with her, he hasn’t caught up on child support–we haven’t received a payment in nearly 3 years, he hasn’t helped with any of the tens of thousands of dollars in expenses from her car accident (most of which were incurred because he failed to keep her medical insurance up to date, which he was legally required to do)…or even help with college for that matter. She needs braces again, because of the accident, to the tune of $3500, but we can’t afford it.
Nope, we didn’t celebrate him as a father yesterday. He is lucky I didn’t send him a hate letter. Hmm. Maybe tomorrow.
He has a new girlfriend. I don’t know about you, but who hooks up with someone who isn’t doing all that he can to do right for his children?? Oh well. Not my problem.
Thank you and much love to all those dads out there who do. Who support. Who love. Who care.
Starr bought the first two seasons of Dawson’s Creek the other day. I guess she would have been about 8 years old when it started. Being the mom that I am, permissive but connected, I let her watch it and watched with her. She was so attached to Pacey, Dawson, Joey and the rest. I think it was the first TV show that she really cared about and wanted to keep watching.
We watched every episode.
It was cute, she was so excited about her purchase and now she has been spending her free time in her room or on the back patio re-watching Dawson’s Creek from the beginning. She said the moment the opening credits started it made her heart swell as all the memories and love that she had for this show came flooding back.
“I have to watch it all. It’s like crack! I’m addicted and can’t stop!”
Dawson’s Creek Opening Credits- Season One
“I Don’t Want to Wait” – Paula Cole
Thankfully this is the kind of addiction that I can just laugh at!
Name? Kelly. Mysterious? Not really. Passionate? Yes. Lazy? Sometimes. Outgoing? Not a bit. Trusting? Mmhmm. Artistic? On good days. Crazy? Could be. Trustworthy? Absolutely. Graceful? I wish. Sarcastic? Often. Deserving? You bet. Forgiving? Yes. Religious? No. Spiritual? Yes. Uncertain? At times. Confused? Sure. Distracted? Daily. Silly? Yeah. Talkative? Not. Punctual? To a fault. Breakable? Quite.
This is not a music blog. While it is my desire to share free and legal music here (music is a part of me), it is not my goal to critique this music.
If I have posted music, it is because I like it, and it moves me at the moment. It might match my mood, it could be on repeat, or mirror the sentiment of my post. It might be quite random, and just what I wish to share.
*Older links may not always work, as promotional MP3s, in particular, are known to disappear without warning.
Artists and labels: if I have erred and posted a song inappropriately, let me know, and I will remove it.
To download a song: on a PC, right click the link and choose "save link as"
Kelly on 
