When I was a young man in my early twenties, my roommate and I would bake scones (from a box) and set ourselves up in the living room on Saturday mornings with some jams and jellies and tea and watch Bugs Bunny. It was a simpler time. As a child I loved everything Bugs, but as an adult I really grew to appreciate the genius of Wile E. Coyote and Pepe Le Pew. Still not a big fan of the Duck though. My favorite line of all time happens in “Bunny Hugged” where Bugs is part of wrestler Ravishing Ronald’s entourage. Ravishing Ronald is squaring off against The Crusher and has cinched up in his own hairnet and is being punched like a speedbag. Bugs, seeing that his Meal Ticket is being pulverized, exclaims “Oh bruddah there goes me bread and buddah.” I could watch this one cartoon another hundred times and not get tired of it.

I also love biscuits for breakfast. They’re really quick and easy to make. They’re good by themselves or as part of a bigger breakfast. You can also make your own variations. Cheese, chives, bacon or all of the above like the recipe I’m including here. Lately I’ve been doing these for my me&lewis family. I love working with these people. The office is in a beautiful heritage home in Kitsilano and everyone takes turns cooking lunch. I do the biscuits for a breakfast snack and they always disappear. This recipe makes 12 very large biscuits and there are usually only 8 people in the house at any one time, so clearly some of the team are having seconds. I love cooking for people who love to eat and really appreciate home-cooked food. Me and me&lewis are a match made in heaven.

I should also mention that the roommate that I devoured scones with while we watched Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies many years ago is still one of my best friends and coincidentally works at me&lewis. Food and friends.

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

5 teaspoons double acting baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 cup softened butter

1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 cup chopped chives

1/2 cup cooked chopped bacon

2 cups buttermilk

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a 17 1/2 x 12 1/2 inch, heavy duty baking pan with parchment paper.

1. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, sugar and baking soda into a large bowl. This helps mix all of your dry ingredients.

2. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter. A wire whisk will work as well.

3. Mix in Cheese, Chives and Bacon.

4. Pour buttermilk in and gently mix with a fork until just incorperated. Do not overmix. The dough should be quite wet and sticky so don’t worry.

5. Portion out 12 biscuits onto the parchment-lined baking pan with your fork. I do 3 rows of 4. If you have dough left in the bowl, just add it to the smaller biscuits.

6. Push the biscuits down with a fork so that they are no thicker than an 2 inches.

7. Place pan in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 11 minutes, then spin the pan and cook for another 11 minutes.

8. Check biscuits with a toothpick. If not quite done, give them just one or two more minutes, then pull them out and let them cool on a rack for 10 minutes.

This recipe is also perfect if you have house guests and want to impress them without too much effort. Countless times I’ve thrown this recipe together with a pound of bacon and a dozen scrambled egg the morning after a marathon of food and wine. You can mix the dry ingredients the night before to cut down on the morning thinking while your brain is trying to reboot. Your guests will enjoy the healing properties of biscuits, bacon, coffee and if you really want to ease everyone’s pain, have a couple of bottles of bubbly and some OJ in the fridge. It’s always easier just to get back on the train.

Finally, just two more of my favourite Bugs Bunny lines: “Shut up shuttin’ up.” and “You might, Rabbit, you might.” If I had a time machine I would go back and hang out with the geniuses that wrote these cartoons… and then I’d go back to the executive who green-lit the Sex in the City movies and hit him on the head with a frying pan.