Fresh Buttery Biscuits with Homemade Strawberry Jam for the Shelter

I got up early and baked 10 recipes of biscuits for the shelter to go with the strawberry jam which I made yesterday.

 I made the biscuits square so I would not waste any of the dough. For about 15 biscuits place 2-1/2 C. self-rising flour in the bowl of your food processor.  Add 1 stick (1/2 cup) of cubed butter and 2 T. of sugar.  Pulse until grainy.  Dump this mixture in a bowl and add 1 C. of full fat buttermilk.  Mix with a spoon until you have a shaggy dough.  Turn it onto the counter and need just until it comes together.  Roll it to 1/2 inch thickness and use biscuit cutters to cut circles or cut them with a knife into squares like I did.  Place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake them at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.  They should be golden on the bottom and just starting to turn golden on top.  Brush them with melted butter after removing them from the oven.

 Mmmm...flaky and buttery.  I had to get them to the shelter fast because my husband and The Blog Tech were gobbling them.

 I made 8 quarts of strawberry jam.  My jam is very simple.  For a normal amount of jam. cut up 2 quarts of strawberries and throw them on a heavy pot.  Add some sugar.  I tend to put less sugar than most people because I like my jam on the tart side.  Add sugar according to your taste.  I would use about 3/4 C. for 2 quarts of berries.  Zest 1 lemon and add the lemon juice.  Bring this to a boil over medium heat.   Stir often so it does not burn.  As soon as it starts to boil turn it down to a simmer.   Cook it stirring often for about 30 minutes.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool.  Pour it into a covered container and store it in the fridge.  It will thicken as it cools.

 I made 200 biscuits.

This is the downside of cooking for the shelter.  Lots of dirty dishes.  When I arrived at the shelter this morning, there was a local sports announcer in the office.  I'm not sure why he was there but I'm sure it had something to do with fluffing his resume. The moment he heard everyone talking about fresh biscuits and jam he made a bee line to the kitchen.  When I was on my way out, he had a big bowl filled with biscuits and jam and was shoveling them in.