Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The Magic Scone Recipe

I love making scones. I've been making scones for years, and the recipe I use is really just a starting point to whatever flavors or ideas I've been wanting to try out. On New Year's Day I baked almond-apricot scones. I figure if I wanted to set a good start to the year to take it in a positive direction, I couldn't do much better than baking scones.



Apricot-Almond Scones

3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
5 tsp baking baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 cup butter, cold
1 egg
1/4 to 1/2 cup milk
1 tsp almond extract
about 1/4 cup slivered or sliced almonds
about 1/4 cup chopped dried apricots

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a baking sheet (I use the wax paper that I take off the stick of butter I am using)

In a large bowl combine dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, spice). Feel free to use brown sugar, or other spices. I found that 1/2 tsp of cardamom was not enough, and I would use more next time.

Cut in butter, either with one of those handy pastry cutter widgets, or two knives.

Beat the egg and 1/4 cup milk in a small bowl with the almond extract. Stir this into flour mixture until moistened. Add more milk a little at a time until the dough holds together well, but is not too wet. Add the almonds and apricots and knead into the dough while in the bowl.

Now you'll want to knead the dough just a bit on a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough in half, and press or roll each half into a circle that is about 1/2 inch thick. Cut each circle into 6 wedges. Put the wedges on your prepped baking sheet, and sprinkle with turbinado sugar (you may have to press the sugar a bit into the top to get it to stick).

Bake about 15 minutes, until they are golden brown and the smell is driving you mad. Enjoy with butter, jam, clotted cream or just a glass of milk.


Monday, January 11, 2010

A Pampered Evening

I've been meaning to post again. In fact, I've been meaning to post two or three more recipes that I've made recently. But for one reason or another I haven't. Tonight was another opportunity, and yet today was not a great day, and by the time I got home I was raging hungry, which meant I was grumpy, which meant that my plans to make a delicious gourmet vegan meal went out the window. J went to get us Chipotle instead, our stand-by take-out meal.

Food definitely helped, but the combination of work disappointment, grumpy-brain and PMS did not succumb to the tasty guacamole. So I felt it only right that a little pampering was in order.

The ingredients: a hot bath with yummy smelling LUSH products, several cookies and a cup of milk, and an oft-read book. Steep one hour, then put on PJs and relax in bed.

What's your recipe for a pampered evening?

Monday, January 4, 2010

2009 Year in Review - Books

According to Goodreads (which is a great site that you should join, by the by) I read 42 books in 2009.

Of those 42 books, 23 of them were a first time read for me. 5 were graphic novels/comic volumes. I read several complete series last year: Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Earthsea Cycle, and yes, Twilight. I also read two of the three Millennium books (the third hasn't come out yet).

It seems like less reading than I thought I did, but I don't count how many Manga series I devoured like so many delicious candy cane jo-jo's. Let's just say that it was a lot.

That being said, I do want to read more books this year that I haven't actually read before. The problem with that plan is... which books? I want to read books that are good, so I'm not going to pick up a book and read it if it hasn't been recommended to me. So, know any good ones?

Sunday, January 3, 2010

A Delightful Salad for Dinner

One of my goals this year is to try to make one new recipe each week, in the hopes of not only finding some new favorites for our household, but also to really expand my tastes and skills, learn new techniques and combinations, and get introduced to food stuffs that I don't normally use.

My mother gave me a few issues of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food, and I have been looking through them and earmarking several recipes I'd like to try. Her Arugula Salad with Sweet Potatoes and Feta from the November 2009 issue caught my eye. And when we went to the farmer's market on Sunday we found the most beautiful arugula bunches, so of course we got one. I already had some sweet potatoes in the pantry, and instead of feta I decided to use the creamy blue cheese that we had leftover from our cheese-filled New Year's Eve celebration. I added the walnuts because we just bought a half pound of lovely local walnuts from the farmer's market, and I thought they would be a great addition. The dressing originally called for fresh orange juice and orange zest, but with no oranges in the house I just made do with what we had already, and it turned out to be a delightful combination.




Adapted from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food, November 2009

Arugula Salad with Sweet Potatoes

Peel and cut about 1 pound sweet potatoes into 1 1/2 inch chunks. I used about 3 medium potatoes for two of us. Toss them with some olive oil, put onto a rimmed baking sheet. Season with fresh ground pepper and salt to taste. Bake at 450 for about 20 minutes until tenter and browned a bit. Let cool while prepping the rest of the salad.

Prep two plates with washed and trimmed arugula. Chop up about 1/4 cup walnuts, and less than 1/4 cup creamy blue cheese. Of course, use as much or as little of either as you like.

In a medium bowl whisk together 2 tbps olive oil, 1tbsp lemon juice, and 1 tbsp apple juice (I recommend organic unfiltered). Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the potatoes to the dressing and mix to coat. Spoon onto each salad, spoon remaining dressing from bowl onto salad, and top with nuts and cheese.

Friday, January 1, 2010

White Rabbit!

For the past few years I have picked up the habit of saying White Rabbit to my friends on the first of the month. I'm not consistent about it (what *am* I consistent about?) but it's something that I like to do. It's my way of wishing my loved ones a good and lucky month.

Reading the wikipedia article on the superstition is quite interesting, as there are many many variations and origins of this habit. Check it out if you're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_rabbit

And White Rabbit to you, on this first day of this first month of 2010!