Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

Biscuits and Gravy is one of my favorite meals ever.  I will eat sausage gravy with bread, but my family likes biscuits.  My hubby grew up in Iowa, and didn't know what biscuits and gravy was until he went to a Hardee's in Missouri.

My kids are biscuit snobs now.  I grew up with biscuits out of a package (I'm sure Mom made them from scratch sometime, but I always remember popping open a package).  When I started reading labels, I stopped by package biscuits so often and started making them from scratch. Now my kids only like package biscuits for Monkey Bread and Empty Tomb Biscuits.

The biscuit recipe I like to use is from my Better Homes and Garden's cookbook.  That is the cookbook that I think every new wife needs... it has everything in it.  I bought my sister one when she got married, and I don't think she uses any other cookbook.

The sausage gravy is made just like my grandma or great-grandma probably made it... without a recipe, but I can put the basic instruction on here.

Sausage Gravy

Ingredients:

1 lb sausage (our is mild, I believe... we usually get a half or whole hog processed each year from someone we know who raises them.)

Milk (probably 1 to 2 cups)

Flour (1/4 to 1/2 cup)

Pepper to taste... or see (I sprinkle until I can see it all over, even when I stir everything up)

Directions:

Cook sausage into crumbles until fully cooked.

Our local sausage is usually pretty lean, so I don't have to pour any fat off... you will want just a little bity bit to make the gravy.  If it is swimming in fat (like hamburger is many times), then do drain the fat off.

Next, sprinkle flour over the sausage, start with about 1/4 of a cup, but usually not more than 1/2 a cup.  You can go ahead and stir the flour in with the sausage.  It will kind of coat the sausage like when you bread chicken.  Then add milk to cover the sausage and keep heating on med to high while stirring until thick and bubbly.  While heating the milk and flour, add pepper.  The more the better in my book.  I just keep adding pepper and stirring till it looks like a picture of country gravy.  Move off the burner and serve over biscuits.