Recipe of the Week #6 and #7

Because I didn't post last week, today I whipped up two recipes on the fly. I had a craving for biscuits for some reason, so I decided to make some. Luckily, I had attempted to make Johnny Cakes some time ago so I had all the ingredients necessary. I found an initial recipe online but realized it dated back to 1933. I usually don't discriminate but I like to think that we have made some advancements in baking since that time -- and I had a craving for buttermilk biscuits, specifically, which I don't think were popular back then.

After a little more searching online, I finally found a recipe that sounded good and didn't require shortening. Overall they came out tasting nice and buttery, although I couldn't quite get the shape right. It might be because I didn't use a cookie cutter as recommended but not sure. If you have any idea please let me know.

For the second meal I didn't have a recipe but just sort of threw it together. I'm trying to get better at cooking beans and peas because I believe they have a lot of potential. This meal just sort of came together as Split Pea Soup. I started out by soaking a cup of split peas overnight. Then I boiled them down until they were soft and added in some vegetables I had leftover from an omelet I made two days ago (1/2 tomato, 1/2 green pepper, 1 carrot, 4 mushrooms and some thyme). Finally I added in some more water, and the triad of spices (sea salt, black pepper and garlic powder). It came out tasting pretty good; good enough to make them again. Although I think it works better if you have a food processor or blender to get it to more of a soup consistency prior to adding the veggies. Next time I'm also going to add some minced garlic and onion to the mix.