Next week is my 60th birthday. I want to go on record that I hate surprises. So, no surprise parties please. That happened when I turned 30 and I still have nightmares about it.
My sister-in-law thought it was a clever idea to invite me to meet them for my birthday dinner at my favorite restaurant and when I showed up no one was there. This was before cell phones were owned by everyone. I didn’t have one until 1996 and it only made calls and sent texts. Using the restaurants phone, I tried to call her and my parents a couple of times, but all I got was their answering machines. By this time, I was in tears. I hate being late to events and I thought I had gotten the time or place wrong. I was so confused. After waiting 30 minutes, I went home. Now, it is at least an hour past the meeting time for dinner. My dad calls me and wants to know where I am. I told him I went to the restaurant, and he told me everyone was at my brother’s house for a surprise party, and I was supposed to be there. My sister-in-law forgot to find a way to get me to her house for the party. So, while I was distressed about being late and not going to the right place, I got to be “surprised” by friends who had no idea what was going on. So yes, I was surprised but not in good way.
What’s the point of this story? I don’t like surprises and jump scares are the worst. Jack in the box? Just no! I am reminded of this every time I need to use canned biscuits in a recipe. You’ve probably also met one of life’s most perplexing forms of packaging: the paper pop can.
For as long as I can remember the thought of having to open those tubes leaves me in a ball of suspense and anxiety from the moment, I buy them. Why do I buy them you may ask? I don’t know, apparently, I’m into self-torture. I feel ridiculous about it, but I literally have to talk myself into opening them. Every time I’m standing there, spoon in hand giving myself a pre tube opening pep talk I wonder if anybody else loathes the task as much as I do. And literally EVERY time I’m like “oh that wasn’t so bad”, but I’m still terrified the next time I have to open one!
I can thank Lively B. Willoughby from Bowling Green, KY, for this trauma. He was an inventor of the pop canned biscuits. During the 1920s, he owned a wholesale bakery looking to perfect the concept of a ready-to-bake biscuit recipe. After losing his company during the Depression, he moved to Louisvillto perfect his idea.
Willoughby finally got it right with Fleishmann’s baking powder and an Epsom salt-lined cardboard tube, earning a patent for the process in 1931. He sold the popular “Ye Olde Kentuckie Buttermilk Biscuits” until joining forces with Ballard & Ballard Flour in the 1940s.
Pillsbury bought Ballard Flour shortly after that, which ushered in a new era for refrigerated dough. Pillsbury rolls, particularly their biscuit and crescent roll varieties, are packaged in a tube-like container because it provides a sturdy, airtight seal that protects the dough during transportation and storage, allowing for long shelf life while ensuring the dough remains fresh and ready to bake when opened; the cylindrical shape also makes it easy to stack and ship efficiently.
Whether you open them with a spoon to the seam, smack them on the corner of a counter or twisting the tube with your fingers to open, it makes me jump every time they pop open. What about when you peel off the paper and it pops open on its own? Scrape me off the ceiling.
This week’s recipe is one of my favorites that uses these evil cans. Cheesecake bars. Happy Birthday to me!
Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
2cans (8 oz) refrigerated Pillsbury™ Original Crescent Rolls (8 Count)
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 1/2cups sugar
1teaspoon vanilla
1/2cup butter, melted
1tablespoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
Heat oven to 350°F. Unroll 1 can dough. Place in bottom of ungreased 13×9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish. Stretch to cover bottom of dish, firmly pressing perforations to seal. In medium bowl, beat cream cheese and 1 cup of the sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Spread over dough in baking dish. Unroll second can of dough. Firmly press perforations to seal. Carefully place on top of cream cheese layer. Pinch seams together. Pour melted butter evenly over top. Mix remaining 1/2 cup sugar with the cinnamon, and sprinkle evenly over butter. Bake 30-35 minutes or until bars appear set when gently shaken. Cool slightly, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate for easy cutting. Cut into 4 rows by 3 rows. Cover and refrigerate any remaining bars.
