When we were going through my grandmother’s house in Nocona after it sold, I found a few neat keepsakes, but the biggest treasure I thought I had found was her biscuit cutter. I was so excited to show my mother (her daughter) and just knew she would be happy it was found and would still be used after all this time.
My mother, however, had a different thought about my precious biscuit cutter. She said, “Suzanne, you know that biscuit cutter is just an old tomato paste can that has both ends cut out.”
I was still no less delighted with my cutter. I continue to use it today. My husband has bought me vintage, new and fancier cutters, but this cutter is something I go back to time and again.
My Memaw was recruited to be a lunch lady from 1952 to 1958 at Nocona Elementary, back when lunches were cooked, not “fixed.” Lenora Brown Burnett was an excellent cook and everyone knew it. She went on to work at the Nocona Major Clinic kitchen from 1958 to 1969.
You could only use shortcuts if you knew how to do it the long way. That is how I still approach cooking. You can only use a cake mix if you know how to make a cake with lots of ingredients, time and effort.

Read Suzanne’s Love & Luck column in the Thursday Bowie News on the On the Table page.

Top photo – Grandmother’s biscuit cutter and hand written recipes. (Photo by Suzanne Storey)

By BARBARA GREEN
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It’s a bitter cold January week, so it must be time for the Montague County Youth Fair, which opens Wednesday running through Saturday.
More than 330 students from across the county will compete in everything from golf ball art work to top dairy goat in this annual event where there are 1,160 entries. Almost every contest saw an increase in entries from the prior year.
Scheduling was still in flux at presstime due to pending weather. Watch the fair’s Facebook page for any late changes.
The All Together Show was moved to 5 p.m. on Jan. 8 in the show barn. It had been set for Thursday.
There were no changes for leadership day on Wednesday at presstime.

Read the full story on the fair in the Thursday Bowie News.

By Norman Winter
This time of the year I always look forward to the announcement of the Pantone Color of the Year. Last year it was Peach Fuzz and the year before Viva Magenta.
I’ve always liked to try to join in and pick out flowers, you know to show that we are part of the team, a Pantone Partner if you will. Drum roll please, for 2025 the Pantone Color of Year is Mocha Mousse.
This ‘Garden Guy’ doesn’t do mousse. It’s not on my dessert menu and I don’t put it in or on my hair. There aren’t any brown flowers either, other than those that have passed on.
Before I could jump, Kate Spirgen Marketing Communications Specialist with Proven Winners got me off the proverbial ledge with a press release. That’s what communications gurus do, and as a garden guru I will hopefully get you back in the garden with Mocha Mousse, too.

Read the new Garden Guy column in your Thursday Bowie News.