We interrupt this day of sedition to bring you a little comfort food

I would love to write something clever about the unprecedented national events currently unfolding, but I’m at a loss for words. I will go forward with my regularly scheduled Ben’s Day Wednesday post.

Since breakfast is the most important meal of the day, why not have it twice? This week’s Ben’s Day Wednesday dinner was biscuits with sausage gravy, scrambled eggs, and sunrise smoothies. This was a great meal to make with Ben because only the biscuits required a recipe, but everything came together really quickly, and was delicious. After the excess of the holiday season, it was kind of nice to just have a simple meal.

Biscuits

1 3/4 cups flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup shortening

3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450º. Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening with pastry knife. Stir in just enough milk so that dough forms into a big ball. Using a 2-inch cookie scooper, form even sized pieces and drop onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown on top and baked through. Serve immediately.

Gravy

1 pound Bob Evans Original Recipe ground sausage

1 tablespoon butter

2-3 tablespoons flour

2 cups milk

2-3 tablespoons cream (optional)

Freshly ground black pepper

Over medium-high heat, brown sausage. When brown, remove sausage to paper towel lined plate, reserving grease. Add butter to grease in pan, reduce heat to medium, and melt butter. Add flour to butter to form paste. Cook and stir a minute or two. Add milk, half a cup at a time, heating to near simmer between each addition. Continue stirring to form smooth gravy. Add cream, if desired, and lots of pepper. Add sausage back to pan, stirring it into gravy. Serve over hot biscuits.

Sunrise Smoothies

Frozen bananas

Frozen mango chunks

Frozen strawberries

Milk

Pineapple juice

In a blender, mix all ingredients in whatever proportion you like for a smooth creamy mixture. If you want a layered effect, blend and pour one fruit with liquid at a time. That didn’t really work out for us, but it still tasted good!

We spent the last few days of break de-Christmasifying the house. We love Christmas decor, and Ben counts on certain things in certain places every year. I don’t actually want to know what happens if the gingerbread man garland doesn’t hang between the living room and parlor throughout December. What I have come to realize in the last few years is that Ben counts on January just as much as he counts on Christmas. We don’t have anything special like birthdays or annual family events in January, but Ben has figured out that it can’t be Christmas all year long. January is what should happen after December.