Bertie Biscuits

This article is co-written by my cousin, Robin Reaves Cochran

Bertie Biscuits

If you are raised in the south where family gatherings and grandparents are some of your most special memories then I am sure you can relate to the nostalgic stories I share about my grandmother Bertie Mae Cochran.  I hear people say all the time that their mother or grandmother makes the best this or that.  They fill in the blanks with things like chicken-n-dumplings, dressing, chocolate pie, etc.  We all have great memories of things that stand out in our childhood or early years. 

I was at my cousin’s wedding recently and I was listening to several people talk about things they remember from days gone by.  Recipe’s that their parents or grandparents would whip up.  They were simple and it was before the fast food craze and before we all converted to eating out every meal.

In our family having a meal with Granny (Bertie Mae) was more than just about the food that she prepared.  The meal was always nourishing and delicious, but it was also food for the soul.  A visit with Granny warmed your heart.  It always put things in perspective.  Granny loved to share stories of her life and most of the time she found great humor in the things that might be considered trials or tribulation.  She was a pillar of strength for our family.  She set the bar for our faith and obedience to God.  She took on the role of spiritual leader in our family and we all loved and respected her for it.

My cousin Robin remembers getting those cherished invites for supper.  She married into our family at 16 years old and immediately became one of Granny’s girls.  Robin, her husband Carl and daughter Jennifer would visit Granny for supper.  Among the various dishes Granny would cook, she always had a habit of serving canned biscuits.  Granny enjoyed cooking and she certainly was good at it, but she was not fond of cooking homemade biscuits.  She put her effort into her stews, vegetables, dumplings, etc., but was not a fan of rolling a lot of dough.  She always used the small canned biscuits in the red or blue packages.  I am guessing the biscuits were just an afterthought, but while they might not taste as good as Aunt IIadene’s made from scratch batch, when it was at Granny’s house, they were perfect.

When a person projects so much love in everything they do, we just soak it up every chance we get.  We love being with them.  We are in awe of their wisdom.  “Bertie Biscuits” as Robin and her family affectionately call the Superbrand canned biscuits always trigger memories of those late afternoon meals with Granny.  We would have gladly eaten anything to just be in her presence.

My mother Ona is well known for her chicken-n-dumplings.  She makes them for the whole family and whenever we have a gathering they are gone in a flash.  Bertie Mae taught her middle daughter how to make the dish and guess what she uses for the dumpling….canned biscuits…Bertie Biscuits.  Granny always said, “no sense wasting time on the dough.”  Granny could find a good use for even the simplest of things in life.  She had a way of taking every situation and making it into a positive. This is a great approach to life and one that was always backed up with her famous phrase, “The Lord is gonna take care of me.”

Robin says she has always struggled to get her dough to cook just right when she makes dumplings and then she learned the secret about using “Bertie Biscuits.”  Granny used those same canned biscuits to make her blackberry pies.  No sense wasting time on the dough.  The blackberries are the most important ingredient in the recipe.  Don’t sweat the small stuff.  Ten years after our Granny’s death her lessons are still teaching us what is important in life.

When you find yourself missing a loved one or grieving because you are lonely, think about the sweet memories they created.  You can still find them in the smallest details of your life.  God has a way of comforting us with His sweet and tender gift of memory.  Bertie Mae was the greatest woman our family ever knew and as long as we remember her, the legacy lives on.

Love to you all!