Cheese Biscuits from the Rabbit Patch Kitchen-a Recipe | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: Please join me in welcoming Author Michele Rhem, who presents us with her poignant memoirs of the Rabbit Patch, where her diaries weave tales of a simpler, expressive life lost to many, but gathered together in her most familiar environs - the Rabbit Patch.

    Some people call them cheese "straws", sometimes they are called cheese "biscuits" If you pipe them, they are straws, if you make them into little cookies, then they are biscuits. Whatever you call them, they are are a simple concoction and taste delightful.

    Years ago, these biscuits were served at every bridal and baby shower, including my own. What sweet memories I have of small gatherings in church fellowship halls or in the dining rooms of neighbors, celebrating a new baby or the union of young fresh faced couples.

    Neighborhood ladies made bowls of chicken salad and pimento cheese, to be served in little sandwiches. Someone made tiny cake squares. There were always nuts-usually peanuts or pecans, homemade mints, that were so creamy, in pastel colors and a bowl of punch. Often the same lady came to be known for a certain dish and provided that-but the legend in the Old Ford community, that I grew up in was Shirley Cherry. Miss Shirley could do it all and eventually catered the affairs altogether. She also branched out into weddings.

    Keep in mind, that these occasions were a far cry more simple, than the current trends, when I was young. They were very personal gatherings with little variation from one another. Somehow, as grand as these events have become, I think something beautiful has been lost.

    Pleas note, that this recipe for cheese biscuits should not be confused with the large fluffy biscuits, southeners are apt to eat for breakfast or with fried chicken for supper. This recipe yields small "cookie like" wafers.

    1 cup all purpose flour

    1 cup rice krispies cereal (any rice cereal can be used)

    1 stick butter, softened

    1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

    a dash or so of crushed red pepper

    Combine all ingredients, by hand and form into balls, to be flattened, with a moist fork. Bake at 325 degrees for 12-14 minutes.

    Now, Miss Shirley did not put the rice cereal in hers, and they were good anyway. . .also they are always better when shared with a loved one . . .or when it snows.