Good Fences Make Good Neighbours.

You know it's true. Don't deny it. Ok, yes there is the odd neighbour here and there that's not so bad. Maybe you make small talk with them across the street or exchange passing comments about the weather. Maybe they made too many peanut butter cookies one afternoon and delivered some extra to you. Maybe they agreed to pick up your mail while you were gone on vacation and even sorted the bills apart from the flyers.

And maybe, just maybe they really suck. I mean rake their leaves onto your lawn kind of suck. Or park in your reserved space kind of suck. Or even keep their irregular garbage piling up in the back alley that no trash collector will ever touch with a ten foot pole kind of suck. Those neighbours are the kind we build fences for.

Really though, is it so hard to dispose of your old broken mattresses at the dump? Is it too much to ask for people not to pour broken pieces of cement directly onto the road where you have no other option than to drive over it hoping all the while that your tires don't pop? Is it so difficult to refrain from revving your tired and obviously sick Mustang engine for all the neighbourhood to hear right before you peel out of your driveway? That's not very neighbourly.

Since when did common courtesy stop being so common? It's so frustrating because I go out of my way not to offend a perfect stranger even going so far as to inconvenience myself. I'm the person at the grocery store that will wait patiently and without complaint while the person ahead of me takes forever to bag their groceries all the while not moving their cart two inches so that I can get through to bag my own. I'm the person grinding her teeth in her backyard while my neighbours laugh and carry on in their yard with their inebriated friends until 6am. I'm the person that would glare through the peephole at my neighbours while they repeatedly slam the outside door that only needs to be pushed and clicked in place.

Some people really need to consider the piece of mind of others more often before they do something that would disrupt just that. It's selfish. It's mean. It's just plain ignorant. Let's all try and be a little more enlightened, shall we?

And on that note here are some Cheddar Biscuits that could mend fences.







Cheddar Biscuits

Makes 12 biscuits.

Source: My own imagination.

2 cup flour

2 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup salted butter, cold and cubed

2 cup medium cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 cup green onion, chopped

1 cup milk

2 tbsp salted butter, melted

1/4 tsp garlic powder






Note: I serve these with spaghetti and other pastas, but they would pair nicely with just about any meal that included either garlic or cheese.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and position a rack in the center. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper then set it aside.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, sugar and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Mix in the cheese and green onion. Add half of the milk at first then, after that's mixed in, add a little bit more milk at a time making sure not to make the dough too wet and sticky since you may or may not need all the milk. The consistency should be that of a soft dough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it 10 ? 12 times until it's smooth and not crumbly. Divide the dough in half and form each half into a rectangular log 9 inches long. With a sharp knife cut 6 squares out of each log of dough and place them evenly spaced on the prepared baking sheet making sure to leave enough room for them to double in size. Bake them for 10 minutes then, just before they're done baking, mix the melted butter and garlic powder and brush it on top of each biscuit. Bake them for 1 ? 2 minutes more until they're golden brown. Serve them hot or cooled. Enjoy!