Recipes can be family heirlooms - especially wonderful recipes that are culinary treasures passing from generation to generation.  Today's recipe "Holladay Family Biscuits" is an heirloom that has been passed down through generations of the Holladay family to three innkeepers and almost 20 years of inn keeping as the official biscuits of the Holladay House Bed and Breakfast (Orange, VA).  The recipe originally came from the Holladay family who bought the 1830's federal home in 1899!  This hundred year old recipe is a timeless tradition and family heirloom just screaming for you to try and adopt to share with your family…

Holladay Family Biscuits

Makes about a dozen biscuits

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus some for dusting work station
• 1 T baking powder
• 2 t sugar
• 1/2 t cream of tartar
• 1/4 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 stick of butter, chilled, plus 1/2 stick butter, melted
• 3/4 buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.  Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt into a bowl.  Cut in the 1 stick of chilled butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Make a well in center of flour mixture; add buttermilk all at once and stir just until dough clings together.

Gently knead dough about 10-12 times on a floured surface. Pat dough out to 1/2-inch thick.  Cut dough straight down with a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter.  Dredge biscuits in the 1/2 stick of melted butter. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden.

About Holladay House Bed and Breakfast

In the heart of historic downtown Orange, this stately Federal-style home (c.a. 1830) is within walking distance of art galleries, antique shops and restaurants. The Holladay House still boasts much of its original woodwork, including floors, mantels, doors and period antiques from the Holladay Family. Six guest rooms offer a range of luxury options, including fireplaces, double-sized whirlpool tubs, private porches, and full suites. Enjoy fresh, made-from-scratch cookies on our screened side porch, or curl up in front of the original marble fireplace in our parlor. A full breakfast is served every morning, which might include cinnamon French toast, crustless quiche wrapped in Virginia ham with the Holladay Family biscuits.