WFMW: Fluffier Biscuits & Entertaining Made Easy

Works for me Wednesday is hosted by Shannon over at Rocks in my Dryer! Head on over for other valuable tips! (For some reason, the graphic isn't showing up right -- sorry!)

I have a few tips for you today that I think will make entertaining easier on you, AND give you better biscuits -- because everyone needs better biscuits!

1) When I entertain, I try to prepare everything in advance so that when my guests arrive, I can enjoy time with them. I pre-cut veggies, pre-cook as much as possible, prepare my salad by washing, and then cutting my lettuce and putting it in a colander and pre-cutting the veggies that go in the salad and putting them in a separate bowl and putting both of them in the fridge, I prepare my desert well ahead of time, etc. Then I time all my cooking to be done shortly after they arrive, and keep things warm so I have time to sit down and enjoy an appetizer with my friends. Pre-prepping and pre-cooking things saves a lot of last-minute time and allows you to enjoy your company without rushing around and working up a sweat! That totally works for me!

2) I also try to have an empty dishwasher and NO pots or pans in the sink or strainer. I find it easier to wash as I cook, dry things and put them away immediately. The empty strainer makes it easier for me to wash last-minute cooking utensils and set them aside as I'm cooking so I have less clutter in the kitchen, the empty sink makes it easier for me to set the dirty dishes in the sink and clean up quickly right after dinner, and the empty dishwasher gives me a spot to put all those empty dishes after my guests have left, making cleanup a snap. That totally works for me!

3) Having said that, Saturday evening, I made biscuits for dinner, and one of the things I didn't want to be doing when my guests arrived was rolling out biscuit dough, because that can be such a mess to clean up (imagine flour on counter, on floor, on me). So, I prepared my biscuit dough ahead of time (about 40 minutes before my guests arrived), kneaded it, rolled it out and cut the biscuits out. I placed them on my prepared baking stone, covered them with saran wrap, and set them aside on the counter. To my amazement, they ROSE! Instead of being about 1/2" thick, they rose to about 3/4" thick, and they turned out to be very moist and very fluffy! In fact, some of the best biscuits I've ever made!! So, I think that from now on, I will let my biscuits rise for about 30 minutes before baking. Also, I used the Heart-Smart Bisquick mix, and it is very good! I don't know about you, but big fluffy biscuits and Heart-smart Bisquick TOTALLY work for me!

Head on over to Shannon's for more excellent tips!