I had never heard of cold biscuit pudding.  We mostly gave our cold biscuits to
the dog, who managed to bury them in every corner of the yard.  My momma, proper
southern baby girl, and I journeyed to Tennessee last week to visit with friends
who are much like family.  Our host decided that I needed to learn to make cold
biscuit pudding as a part of my quest to become a Proper Southern Woman.  Being as she was not forcing me to sew, I felt comfortable that I could succeed with this.  She
can basically make anything, whether it be food or clothing or raisins.  Yes,
she made her own raisins.  I believe it was about $40 an ounce.  We are not certain how raisin companies make money.  So, I figured it was a good opportunity to learn.  I crumbled up 6 biscuits into a baking dish and then covered it in milk.  In a separate bowl, I beat many eggs (I believe it was 6).  I put in a cup of sugar, vanilla,cinnamon, nutmeg, and a little milk.  I apologize for not having a great deal of detail, but it was all a blur.  I then mixed the egg concoction with the soggy biscuits.  We baked it at 350 degrees until it was set and brownish on top.  We then served it chocolate syrup.  You really can't go wrong with that.  I think it would be good with some pecans.  You could even put a little maple syrup on top and call it breakfast.  Yes, maple syrup is justification for eating pudding for breakfast.    

Congratulations to Octavia Spencer on her Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress!  She thanked the entire state of Alabama.  We are all proud of you.  She seems like such a sweet person and so deserving for her performance. 

One of my favorite photos of myself as a baby/toddler has me sitting in a rocking chair, drinking out of a bottle, and wearing only a diaper and cowboy boots.  It speaks to me.  It says "Your Daddy must have dressed you today."  In Alabama, you must take your child to a blooming cotton field in only overalls and take a photo.  It is a requirement.  If you do not, you will be kicked out of the state.  We put our kids on tractors and hay bales to reflect our southerness.  My most southern and most treasured photos is one of my sister and I after we had spent the night with my grandmother.  We apparently had not packed a brush, and she apparently did not own one.  I was in one of her Elvis shirts (yes, she had more than one).  It's a great photo that captured a wonderful day of hot dogs, yoo hoos, and Little Debbie cakes.  Get out and capture some southerness along with some great memories.   

I can't seem to do anything but throw things in the crockpot lately.  My momma was talking about a neighbor of hers making white beans with ham and potatoes.  I thought that sounded pretty good, but we are trying to eat a little better.  It is the first of the year after all, and I have set a goal of running the Disney half marathon this coming January.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am not currently in what I would refer to as running shape.  I asked several friends to join me, and the most popular answer has been "I only run if something is chasing me."  So, this particular dish has chicken sausage in hopes that it will somehow get us both in a little better shape...a shape that is less round.  I put the sausage, white beans, carrots, potatoes, hot sauce, pepper, and garlic in the crockpot with a little chicken broth and water to cover.  About an hour before I served it, I added spinach.  This was actually pretty good, if I do say so myself.  It was more of a soup than I was aiming for, but it works.  If you are not in training and can stand the splurge, I would probably use regular sausage.  I think I will use just regular chicken next time. 

I feel like I have been making a lot of soups lately.  It's hard to get motivated to cook a lot of meals these days, so I rely a lot on soup.  Now, I did make this from scratch.  It was pretty easy.  I wasn't completely satisfied with it.  It tasted a little too much like the water from our sink.  I even altered the recipe a little and cheated with a can of cream of chicken soup.  My husband and momma both loved it.  I found it mediocre, and I'm really not that tough of a critic.  I tried cooking the rice in the chicken broth made from boiling a couple of bone-in chicken breasts.  For some reason, that didn't work as well as I would have liked.  It was in the recipe however.  I think it needed more hot sauce.  I'm not one of these hot sauce addicts, but sometimes you need a little spice.  The proper Southern baby girl took a tiny taste of one of the carrots.  She was not impressed.  Overall, I would make this again although I think chicken and dumplings are the best.