Kelly Dill calls herself a "biscuit maker" and she made 47 dozen biscuits on a weekend in November. Submitted photos

Judging from the number of biscuits given by Kelly Deere every Christmas, it seems that she has been baking for several weeks, but this is not the case.

Well-organized and dedicated women make baking and decorating a variety of biscuits much faster than people expected. All the biscuits for this year were made during the weekend of November 13th and 14th, and they were safely stuffed into her refrigerator until they needed a gift.

"I usually bake 8-12 kinds of biscuits and 45-50 dozen each year," Ms. Bemus Point said. "Most of them are gifts for others, and we will reserve a small portion for our family Christmas celebrations. This year I made nine kinds of cookies, a total of 47 dozen."

Although she calls herself a biscuit maker, she knows that teamwork allows her to complete the work in record time. She owes the credit to her husband, Ben Dier, who was responsible for cleaning up during the baking process.

"I am very lucky that my husband will clean up so that I can move on," she said.

A sample of Kelly Dill’s 2021 Christmas biscuits: frosted cherry on the top, chopped chocolate, cream cheese cup in the middle, apple crisp cup, cranberry cheesecake cart on the bottom, and frosted almond biscuits.

Her goal is not only to bake soft biscuits, she also pursues delicious and eye-catching. She didn't just put piles of dough on cookie sheets, threw them into the oven and called the final product "good." Some of her biscuits require extra steps, but she figured out the most effective way to produce them, and prepared useful tools including pie mashers, pastry bags, and spoons of various sizes.

She has individually scrubbed and decorated each piece of clothing, which makes the final result attractive and attractive.

So, what would the 564 biscuits in Deere’s refrigerator become?

When she decided to send biscuits to his former work place with her husband, a lot of holiday baking began. The following year, the managers bought lunch for the other employees, and Mrs. Deere provided biscuits. Over time, her children started asking their colleagues for biscuits. Mr. Dier has a new job this year, and his wife plans to send cookies to all 100 employees.

"Baked food makes people happy, that's why I like to do it," she said. "When I make desserts, people will be happy, and I want to make more. This is how I show someone I care about."

As a young wife, she started cooking out of necessity, and now prefers baking to cooking, but she likes both.

"Before everything went online, Taste of Home became my best friend, and now it's very easy to find anything (recipes)," she said.

As the years passed, she began to write personal recipes of her favorite recipes, adding new family-approved recipes from time to time. Her tradition is to give the bride a copy of the ring binding book with moisture-proof and stain-proof sheets and classifications.

"I used their photos, some scriptures and a special note to personalize it," she said. "Every bride or couple who received a gift said it was definitely one of the best gifts."

My grandmother likes to be hospitable, she said she got it from her mother, Jeanne Humble, she was very considerate and figured out ways to do good for others. A special memory came to my daughter's mind. Her mother had been collecting whipped topping containers for months in order to leave a floating azalea for each teacher in the faculty lounge.

"My husband will tell you that I plan to hold a party so that he can complete a project," she said with a smile.

Like most families, the Deere family has had to adjust their Christmas traditions since the children grew up. Their "most solid tradition" began on their son's first Christmas, when they presented Christmas decorations on Christmas Eve. This tradition continues to this day, but now every family gets an ornament to hang on their tree.

"We always make stockings for our children until they move out. Since my daughter got married, we have joined my son-in-law's family at a big, big, and big family gathering on Christmas Eve."

They have a small close family dinner and exchange gifts on Christmas Day.

"After your child got married, it changed a lot. Now, only the two of us go to church for Christmas Eve service."

This avid baker works in human resources at Southern Tier Brewing and Distilling. She received her degree at the age of 50 and now has dual certification in human resources. She likes to play golf, boating and alpine skiing. They are members of Bemus Point United Methodist Church, where they are marriage mentors and have led several groups over the years. She is currently engaged in children's ministry and has taught cooking and baking courses for young people for several years. Mr. Dill has worked in the technical team of the soundboard for about 20 years. He is a quality engineer at Snap-Tite in Union City, Pennsylvania. In a few days, they will celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary.

The couple have a daughter Alicia Snow and a son Alex Dill.

"We are very, very concerned about our grandchildren," said the grandmother of four children. "Family is the highlight of our lives."

Mrs. Dier shared some of her annual repeat recipes and some new cookies.

"My family likes to eat certain biscuits every year.

She adjusted a recipe from Betty Crocker's paperback recipes, using almond extract instead of maple syrup for flavoring, and then decorating the top with almond flakes to make frosted almond cookies. She made the same recipe with coconut extract and put coconut flakes on the frosting. This year, because her family loves cherries, she used cherry extract and chopped black cherries.

When Mr. Dill mentioned that chocolate chips sounded delicious with cream cheese, she thought of cream cheese biscuit cups. A few years ago, she adapted a summer recipe she worked at Bemus Point Bakery, swapping the seasonings with Southern Tier Distillery's Creme Brule (a whiskey cream liqueur) to create the Taste of Cheer.

When she wanted a cut that didn't require tinting the frosting in many different colors, the chocolate-cut biscuits entered her Christmas biscuit list. To keep the original flavor and texture of the biscuits, she sprinkled powdered sugar on the counter and rolling pin instead of flour. When she tried to find a way to make soft, consistent thick biscuits, she thought about how her husband would deal with the same challenge, and then bought two square pins to roll the rolling pin. This method works well and enables her to produce biscuits with uniform thickness.

I wish you a Merry Christmas from Dill's house.

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 ton Southern Tier Distilling Creme Brule

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, and liqueur. Unfold the crescent roll, pinch the perforations together and unfold to form a uniform rectangle. Spread a lot of cream cheese mixture on the half-moon rolls.

To roll up, clamp the end of the roll into the rest of the roll. Cover and refrigerate or freeze for at least 30 minutes. Cut the roll evenly into four pieces. Place the cut side up on the baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 13-14 minutes. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before glazing.

4 tons Southern Distilled Caramel Pudding

Mix sugar and liqueur to make a glaze. Swirl the glaze from the middle outwards in a circular motion to cover the top appropriately and allow some to flow down the sides. A little bit goes a long way. Serve hot.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar cream until soft, 5-7 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; gradually beat into a creamy mixture. Divide the dough in half. Shape each into a disc; cover. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm enough to roll. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface (use powdered sugar), roll each part of the dough to 1/4 inch. thickness. Cut with a cookie cutter. Use parchment paper to space the baking sheet 1 inch apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until set. Move from the baking pan to a metal rack to cool completely.

In a large bowl, combine the confectionery sugar, water, meringue powder, and tartar powder; beat on low speed until combined. Hit high until a hard peak is formed, 1-2 minutes. Use pastry bags and small round heads to decorate biscuits as needed. Let stand at room temperature until the frost dries and hardens.

1 c butter, softened (plus more for cooking apples)

4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 mini muffin tins with cooking spray. In a large bowl using a hand mixer, add butter, 1 cup of brown sugar, and 1/2 cup of granulated sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, and mix well. Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop the dough into the muffin tin and flatten it. Bake until the biscuit cups are golden brown and set, 18 to 20 minutes. When the biscuits are still hot, use a tart press to make cups. If you don't have a pie masher, spray the bottom of the shot glass with cooking spray, and then press the shot glass into the center of each cookie to make a cup. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. At the same time, melt about 2 tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add the apples and cook until they start to soften. Add the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 c granulated sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg and cinnamon and cook until soft and caramelized. Spoon the apple into the cup. Top with caramel and serve while hot or at room temperature.

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