Grandma's Biscuits

Around the time my wife Katie and I moved to Richmond, Virginia in 1997, I began working on a documentary film project about the Benson Sing, an annual Southern gospel singing in convention in my hometown of Benson, NC that began in 1921. This project grew out of my longtime interests in oral history, music, film, performance, and community. Visits home to work on the project gave me additional opportunities to visit my family. On one visit home, at Sunday dinner at Grandma Peedins house, I casually asked Grandma Do you remember the first time you made biscuits? (Growing up, we went to Grandma Peedins house almost every Sunday after church, driving 30 minutes up I-95 from Benson to Micro, North Carolina, to visit and eat a huge Sunday dinner with two or three meat dishes, all kind of vegetables harvested from her garden, sweet tea, a couple of desserts and biscuits, always hot, homemade biscuits. From Sunday to Sunday, no matter what was on the table, the one constant was her biscuits.) A natural storyteller, Grandma smiled big and launched into a wonderful story about being 11 years old, the oldest of nine siblings, and being told by her father, a farmer, that she would have to learn how to make the biscuits because her mother was pregnant and soon wouldnt be able to make them. After she finished I immediately asked her if I could come back one weekend to film her making biscuits and make an audio recording of her story. This is the result of two visits with Grandma to learn how to make those biscuits. (I still can't make 'em the way she did, but hey, she'd been making them for 66 years when I filmed her!) For those who want to know: I filmed her making biscuits on Super 8 film (yes, the old home movie format) without sound and recorded the story at a different time using a Tascam DA-P1 digital audiotape recorder and Shure SM57 microphone (she sat with her shoes off and legs curled up in a nice, comfy chair -- I positioned the mic on a stand right in front of her).

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Grandma's Biscuits
• James Parrish
• Southern
• food
• family
• storytelling
• South
• farm
• biscuits
• grandma
• cooking
• film
• oral history
• sweet tea
• lard
• buttermilk
• North Carolina
• Micro
• Benson
• Super 8

[Fokker1915]

Great video and story by your grandmother. My dad had an old saying, "What do you call someone who can't make biscuits?" Hungry

[cocobrownallaround]

I love her southern accent, it's kind of thick.

[cocobrownallaround]

This is a great video. I wish I was close to my grandmother growing up. I love the way that old school women cook their food. Nothing fancy, no complicated ingredients, but good food.

[MrJlo87]

Sweet Jesus those look good. Thanks for sharing your sweet grandma with us.

[beeroosterm]

This is a fine tribute to your grandmother. Isn't it wonderful you have a nice little memento of her and are able to show it to others? More people should do this before the people they love and this way of living are gone...

[ChaChaDave]

Hi. Wonderful story & memories.

[emoneyblue]

Wow

[lynncrum]

I LOVE this video. It reminds me so much of my sweet little Mamaw. We are from TN and she made biscuits every morning for over 70 years. Shes now 86 years old, and has had several strokes and can no longer cook, but I continue to make her biscuits and many other things she taught me as I was growing up. Thank you so much for bringing back such happy memories.

[POOPOOSOLDIER]

wonderful. she is a great story teller. I love that old style filming too

[brentwalker500]

great video... those biscuits look great...