Not to get all zen on you here but there’s something very meditative about making biscuits.  The whole process is done with your hands and kind of takes you out of whatever’s going on in your life at the moment and makes you focus on forming dough out of some butter and flour and really be in the present as my yoga instructor says.

You start out by using your fingers to rub together cold chunks of butter with some flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and (in this case) parmesan cheese and nutmeg until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

These biscuits are a little extra-special because they involve pumpkin puree.  The pumpkin puree gets whisked together with a little heavy cream.

Then you pour the pumpkin/cream mixture over the flour/butter mixture and you work the dough with your hands until it all holds together.

Next you roll the dough out on a piece of lightly floured wax paper and use biscuit cutters (a round upside-down drinking glass also works in a pinch) to cut the dough.

Place the dough rounds on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet about two inches apart and bake until golden for about 15 to 20 minutes.

The results are light and crumbly and comforting: all the things biscuits should be.

Pumpkin-Parmesan Biscuits (from www.foodnetwork.com)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese
• 1 stick cold unsalted butter, diced, plus melted butter for brushing
• 1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin
• 1/4 cup heavy cream