You’ve said goodbye to people that you love before right? There are all kinds of circumstances where this happens. This summer I’ve had emotional airport sendoffs for Sarah and Elora, sisters and two of my dearest friends. We were blessed to be able to say a long goodbye, since they moved with their families and that’s not the kind of thing you typically jump up one morning and do, but we’ve entered a dramatic new phase of our friendship all the same.
I’ve known them as long as I’ve known myself, which is to say, I can’t remember not knowing them. As children our families lived right next door to each other in condos that shared a wall, and it wasn’t long before we were all at the same school, so we spent lots of time together. I remember when my family moved to a house on the opposite side of the island it felt like I was going to another universe. Though we’ve all gone away for college, and I’ve worked abroad, Nassau was always the place we knew we could count on seeing one another periodically through the year, and when we in turn moved back home.
I am incredibly thankful for our friendship, and I know that although we won’t be physically as close, our parting is more of a see-you-less-often than a never-again.
Sarah and her family moved last month, and a few days before they left I had her and Elora over for a tea party. It was very low key since all of us were running around too much to think about making it dollhouse-dainty or buffet-table full.
I made a batch of caramelised mushroom and onion biscuits that I pinned years ago from Joy the Baker. Somehow I totally forgot about the balsamic vinegar and fresh thyme she used in hers – despite being excited to learn my mum had fresh thyme on hand – so they were less fancy, but still tasty. I caramelised the mushrooms and onions the night before at Elora’s place, which made assembly the next day that much easier.
Bubble tea is perfect for summertime, and I made a pitcher of that too, flavoured with Earl Grey tea. There was also regular tea and coffee, but it was way too hot for us to want any. Elora brought bacon and we fried some local eggs – fresh from BAMSI! – to make brunch sandwiches. Dessert was watermelon that Sarah brought. Altogether I’d say we did pretty well. Everything was simple, yummy and we gobbled up these biscuits. ^_^
Caramelised Mushroom and Onion Biscuits
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb mushrooms I used white button, sliced
- 1 small yellow onion sliced
- 4 tbsps olive oil
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup butter cold and cut into cubes
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup buttermilk I made mine with almond milk and a little less than a tbsp of white vinegar
- 1 egg beaten for egg wash
Instructions
- Heat two tablespoons of oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook them until they’re tender and shiny brown, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle them with salt.
- Remove the mushrooms and pour another two tablespoons of olive oil into the pan. Add the onions and cook them until they’re tender and golden, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle them with salt. You may want to lower the heat so they don’t burn too quickly before they become golden.
- At this point you can combine the mushrooms and onions in a container to refrigerate them overnight, or put them on the side to cool and move forward with your biscuits. If you’re going to make the biscuits right away, preheat your oven to 425 degrees. If you’re in a hot kitchen consider putting the veggies in the fridge, because hot mushrooms and onions will melt the butter in the biscuit dough.
- To make the biscuits, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Cut in the butter (with a knife, fork or your fingers) until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
- Crack the egg into the measuring cup with your buttermilk, and beat the two lightly together. Add the mushroom and onion mixture to the dough and combine them together.
- Pour the mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir to make a soft dough.
- Turn the dough onto a floured countertop and knead gently. At this point, I actually had to put mine back into the fridge because the butter was melting in my 90 degree kitchen, so if that’s what you need to do then don’t be afraid! Anyway, once your dough is firm enough to handle, knead it about 15 times.
- Roll or pat it out to about 1-inch thickness, and cut it into two-inch rounds using a biscuit cutter. Alternatively you could do what I did and cut around the lid of a mason jar. You could also cut them into squares.
- Place the rounds onto an ungreased baking sheet and brush them with the egg wash. Joy suggests sprinkling them with coarse sea salt, which I wanted to do but I didn’t have any. I’m sure it would make the flavour really pop.
- Bake them for 12 – 15 minutes. Serve warm.
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