Cranberry Almond Scones

The Recipe: From a friend who I met when I studied abroad. She handwrote her recipe for me, and it's still the one I use. It's for plain scones, but she has some suggestions listed for variations. This variation is actually not one she suggested, but I was inspired by some cranberry almond scones I saw on Pinterest, so I made the adaptation myself. I made a few other changes to her recipe: I halved everything, and I baked it in wedges. Her original is double of this, but instructs you to bake them in individual balls. That works too, but I loved doing it this way!

What You Need:
2 C flour
6 T sugar
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 C butter
3/4 C milk or buttermilk
1 tsp almond extract
about 1/2 C dried cranberries
about 1/2 C sliced almonds

Your Turn:
Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl.

Heat the butter and milk in a saucepan until the butter melts.

Mix wet and dry ingredients together.

Mix in almond extract, almonds, and cranberries. I eyeballed the amounts for the nuts and berries. Exact amounts are not crucial.

Using your hands, form the dough into a round, about 9 - 10 inches across. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Using a sharp knife, cut into eight wedges.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven. Using metal spatula, or something similar, separate the wedges from one another and put a little space between them.

Bake another 4 - 5 minutes until edges are golden.

Enjoy with coffee! 

Lemon Poppy-Seed Muffins

The Date: 8 April 2012

The Occasion: Easter Lunch

The Recipe: Food Network’s website. Original recipe here.

How it went:

I really loved these! They would have been best warm, but I had to bake them Saturday and take them to Easter lunch Sunday afternoon. I still thought they were great, especially zapped in the microwave.

I had poppy seeds in the pantry already, but after reading online that they go bad unless frozen or refrigerated, I went out and bought new ones just to be safe. I put the new bottle in the freezer, so next time I should be OK to use them.

What You Need:
2 C flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 C butter, at room temperature

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest (about one whole lemon, zested)

2/3 C sugar, plus extra for sprinkling on top

2 eggs, at room temperature

4 tsp poppy seeds

1/2 C milk

Your Turn:
Preheat oven to 375. Line 12-cup muffin tin with papers, or butter insides of cups. Zest one whole lemon with a fine grater. 

Sift together into a medium bowl

· 2 C flour

· 2 tsp baking powder

· 1/4 tsp salt

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together

· 1/2 C butter (1 stick)

· 1 tsp lemon zest

· 2/3 C sugar

until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. 

Scrape sides of the bowl, then add the 2 eggs, one at a time, beating well after adding each one.

Stir in 4 tsp of poppy seeds with a spoon.

Now, this is the important part. This will determine whether your muffins rise properly or not. You really have to just barely blend the ingredients; don't overmix it.  Mine didn’t do so well this first time. Using a spoon, gently fold in about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture. Don’t over-stir it! Then fold in about half of your 1/2 C milk. Fold in another 1/3 of the flour mixture. Don’t overmix! Fold the rest of the milk, then the last 1/3 of the flour mixture.

Divide the batter evenly among your 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle tops with sugar. 

Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Serve warm, if possible. 

Happy (belated) Easter!

Steel Cut Oats with Berries and Pecans

The Occasion: Breakfast

The Recipe: From the steel cut oats package, with tips from my friend Nina about adding frozen fruit!

How it went: This is my favorite breakfast now. I sit right next to the stove while it’s cooking and read while I wait for it to finish, lifting the lid every so often so it doesn’t boil over. It’s a wonderful morning routine.

What You Need:

Country Choice Organic, Irish Style Quick-Cooking Steel Cut Oats (using different oats will mean different quantities and cooking times, but feel free to experiment!)

Chopped pecans

Brown sugar

Frozen berries

Your Turn:
Bring 3/4 C of water to a boil.

Add 1/4 C steel cut oats.

Reduce heat and cover. Simmer about 5-8 minutes, until all water is absorbed. Don’t go too far away! They will boil over if you don’t lift the lid every 30 seconds or so to let the steam out.

In the meantime, prepare your bowl with

· Brown sugar

· Frozen berries

· Chopped pecans (toasted, if you’d like)

(Quantities are up to you)

When the oats are done, stir them into the bowl with your nuts, sugar and fruit. 

Savor alone or with coffee to start your day off right!

Crustless Quiche

The Date: 29 December 2011

The Occasion: Dinner, Thursday night.

The Recipe: From a food.com recipe, which is easily modifiable.

How it Went:
I love making this quiche for dinner. It's so easy, bakes in 40 minutes while you cozy up on the couch and read, and then leaves you with leftovers for breakfast.

What You Need:
eggs
broccoli (fresh is best)
bacon or ham
shredded cheese
milk
salt
pepper

Your Turn:
Chop up a smallish crown of broccoli and steam it in boiling water for about 3 minutes.

In the meantime, chop up about 1/2 lb lunchmeat ham or cooked bacon.

Put the meat, the cooked broccoli, and about 4 oz of shredded cheese (cheddar, pepper jack, and/or colby jack - or any other kind you prefer) into the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate.

Now, whisk together

• 8 eggs
• 1/2 C milk
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Pour this over the ingredients already in the pie plate.

Bake in a 375 oven for 40 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center of the quiche should come out clean when it's done. Cut into wedges and serve!