Certain recipes have a way of creeping into our minds and imprinting us with a nostalgia that lasts forever. I’m never sure quite what it is but when a food touches your soul, you know it.
All families have certain dishes that will always be served, always be talked about, and always be loved. It may not make any sense to anyone else, but to YOUR family, those recipes mean so much. They bring you a sense of love, a sense of tradition, and belonging with every bite. They bring happiness, don’t they?
For our family, it is Mama’s cathead biscuits.When Mom talks about her childhood, those cathead biscuits always make an appearance. She said her mom made them every single day! Can you imagine? I know people that have never made a biscuit in their life, and my grandmother made them every single day.
“I have seen her make biscuits twice in one day because every kid in the neighborhood loved her biscuits. We never had chips, cokes, or junk food in our house back then. We did have lots of sweet tea, fresh milk right from the cow and plenty of biscuits slathered with real butter and homemade blackberry jam. Honey from my Daddy’s Bee Hives was always on the breakfast table to go along with our biscuits. The neighborhood kids called my mother, “Parker”. We would hear a knock at the front door and one of our little friends would be there. The first thing they always asked was, “Does Parker have any cold biscuits and jam?” Memories of Mama in her “house dress” and apron always flood my mind whenever I make these biscuits. Oh, how I would love to have one of her cold biscuits with blackberry jam!”-Judy Yeager, AKA Mom
Today, Mom makes the cathead biscuits in the family. She has continued the tradition, and I’m sure at some point Anne and I will take over that role, too. Mom still uses her mother’s crock to make them. It’s incredible how a recipe can travel through a family line bringing all the emotion with it. I introduced these biscuits to my husband, and he is the first at the table when Mom announces she is making biscuits. Tradition…it really is something. No, we don’t have a beehive for fresh honey, and we aren’t milking cows every day for the buttermilk, but we’re still making those biscuits! Yes, times have changed but what we hold on to will remain.
Cathead biscuits have touched SO many families. It’s astonishing to hear all the stories from our readers that have memories wrapped up in this recipe.
“What dear memories this brings back of my own Mama’s cat head biscuits. She had a crock bowl, too. She was so adept she could make a pan of biscuits without measurin* anything. She had a Hoosier cabinet where the flour was sifted into the dough bowl. She would hollow out a spot where she worked in the lard and buttermilk, and always pinched off each biscuit. If there was extra flour left in the bowl, it didn’t matter. The bowl would be placed back in the cabinet to await the next batch.” Julie Poteat”
“Good recipe, even I can cook them. Remember 50-53 years ago as a grandson at grannies house waking up to her cathead biscuits. Lived in a shotgun house, put leftover biscuits on dinner table. Us kids would run in the house thru the front door, grab a biscuit, fill with good homemade jam and run out the back door. Super great memories. Thanks again.”-Tony”
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“My mom grew up on a farm in Florida with 8 brothers and sisters. They lived off the farm and ate what they grew, made butter, gathered eggs, and etc. On Saturday, they would ride the wagon pulled by the mule to “peddle” their buttermilk and eggs to buy sugar and other items that could not grown on the family farm. I love to hear my mama tell me stories growing up. They lived on 320 acres of land and helped out on the farm daily from dawn to dusk. Her Mom taught her how to make “cathead” biscuits. When I was growing up, Mama always made homemade biscuits at least once a day. My favorite meal for breakfast (and still is) is biscuits and tomato gravy. When I lived in San Francisco, CA for 8 years no one knew what cathead biscuits or grits were. I live in Alabama now and when I go to visit my Mom (3 hours away) at least once a month, she always makes her “cathead biscuits and tomato gravy for me.”-Cheryl
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Leigh Walkup is one of the founders of Front Porch Life magazine and one of the ladies behind The Southern Lady Cooks. An old soul who loves vintage finds and classic Southern recipes, she shares stories and traditions to help others create lasting memories at home.
