Baking Powder Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons shortening
2/3 cup milk

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and shortening. With a fork or pastry blender, thoroughly work in shortening. Add milk and stir in quickly. Add a little more milk as needed to make a soft, light dough. Turn onto a floured board and knead a few times until dough is smooth.

Roll or pat out dough to 3/4 inch thickness. Cut dough into circle or diamond shapes with biscuit cutter or sharp knife. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, close together for soft biscuits, or farther apart for crusty biscuits. Bake at 400° for 12 to 15 minutes or until bottoms of biscuits are golden brown. Makes about a dozen biscuits.

Notes:
For buttermilk biscuits, use 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, and 2/3 cup buttermilk.

Rose Miles of O'Neill, NE, my friend Sammie's mother, always adds 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar with the dry ingredients. I remember eating hot homemade biscuits with honey for breakfast at her house, and they were very good.