Blueberry Lemon Oat Scone Success!

Last weekend, my hubby found blueberries for a great price, and he grabbed up a bunch.  We freeze them, and they typically end up in my husband's lunchbox as an extra thing to munch on mid-afternoon.  He's the only one who's really in love with them around here.

This time, though, he suggested baking scones, and so I did a search on Pinterest.  I ended up finding a recipe originally pinned from Chassie's blog that sounded delicious.  On Tuesday, I ran out to get lemons and buttermilk (supposedly the secret ingredient to scones).  When I got home and started gathering my ingredients, I realized that we had used the last of the butter.  Great.  Well, the baking needed to wait until another day.

On Wednesday, I remembered the butter -- but it was hot, hot, hot.  Not exactly a baking kind of day.

On Thursday, it was the perfect day.  Air conditioning off.  Windows open.  Cool breeze.  A different day, completely!

According to Chassie, this recipe originally comes from The Affinity Guest House
in Cowichan Bay outside of Victoria, British Columbia. 

I will tell you that while I was putting this recipe together, I was already craving a taste of the finished product. Remember, I'm not a huge blueberry lover?  The aroma was pretty amazing.

I know... the lemon zest is a little on the large size via my cheese grater.  Apparently I purged our home of the maybe-used-once-annually lemon zester.  I cannot find it anywhere.  No worries.  Does the size of the zest matter?  I think not.

Am I the only one who thought of scones as dry and heavy?  Well, I was pleasantly surprised by these.  They are moist and light.  You'll want to go to Chassie's blog for the complete recipe.  Run.  Don't walk. They're that good... (said the non-blueberry lover).  Also?  The recipe has few ingredients and goes together really quickly.

Oh, and the glaze?  Just confectioner's sugar and lemon juice.  That's all.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Go forth and bake scones.

Really Random

One.

I am a huge Mary Engelbreit fan.  I especially was a fan of her magazine "Home Companion!"  Well, Mary just released an on-line Christmas mini magazine for all of her fans.  It's eleven pages of her current home decorated for Christmas.  That's enough to make a ME fan swoon!  Check it out HERE.  Plus, if you want a heapin' helpin' of Mary's amazing style, check out THIS BOOK -- which is a beautiful pictorial visit to Mary's former "Cotswold" style home in St. Louis.

Two.

Truth or dare?  TRUTH?  Okay, here it is.
Sometimes I type something out for a post (like...maybe a strong opinion),
and then when I read it I think,

"Wow, that sounds totally negative"

and I delete it.

True story.

I don't ever want to come across as Negative Nellie.

Who wants to read anything she's written?

Do you ever do that?  C'mon... TRUTH!

Three.
Gingerbread Muffins!
Awesomeness.
Even more awesome as pop-in-your-mouth mini-muffins.
Not that I would do that.
Just sayin'.

Four.
I totally just recommended a pop-up kids' tent
to a friend for her 4 year old son for Christmas.
Because, I remember that age at our house.
It went something like this:

I'm pretty sure this is the only shot we have of the kids on Christmas Morning.

They spent the rest of the morning inside "The Share Club."

(awwww, totally forgot they named it that

until I looked it up in the scrapbook!)

Christmas memories are the best!

Merry Christmas!

Pumpkin Muffins

On page 199 of  my Betty Crocker Cookbook (c.1980) there's a plain muffin recipe with lots of variations listed.  I follow the Pumpkin Muffin variation.  Betty recommends adding raisins, but in our family we make that chocolate chips -- in this case, semi-sweet.  The muffins themselves aren't very sweet, so the chips are the perfect touch.

One more way to use pumpkin at this time of year!  (YAY!)

I hope you'll enjoy the recipe as much as our family does!

Pumpkin Muffins
1 egg
3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. canned pumpkin
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 c. flour (the book recommends NOT using wheat flour!)
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice**
1/3 c. sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips


**The first time I made the recipe, I didn't have pumpkin pie spice in the house, so I used equal parts cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves - which in this case would translate to 1/2 tsp. each.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease bottoms of muffin cups, or use paper liners.  Beat egg; stir in milk, pumpkin, and oil.  Stir in remaining ingredients all at once just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy).  Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full.  Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Immediately remove from pan.  Makes about 1 dozen muffins.

Thoughts of Thankfulness:

27.  warm feet on a chilly day

28.  a jack-o-lantern full of stars glowing in the yard

29.  the thought (from "One Thousand Gifts") that "Thanksgiving CREATES abundance"

30.  today, mission-minded...  a reminder not just to "live at 30,000 feet"  thinking globally, but also right here on the ground level at home

31.  the way my hubby grabs my hand as I walk by

32.  the beauty of a stained glass window

33.  the sound of little voices

Pumpkin Bread

This recipe is from my friend Tammy.  She shared it with me ump-teen years ago, and we've been making it at our house ever since.  The original recipe suggested adding 1/2 c. walnuts and/or 1/2 c. raisins - but those don't really "fly" at our house.  Typically, I make it without the chocolate chips (our addition), but when I feel like dressing it up a bit, I add the chips.  We love it that way as well.  Enjoy!

2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking POWDER

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. baking SODA

1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 c. brown sugar

1/3 c. margarine

2 eggs

1 c. canned pumpkin

1/4 c. milk

1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (if desired)

In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, baking soda, and cloves.  Set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, beat together brown sugar and shortening until well combined; beat in eggs.  Add pumpkin and milk; mix well.  Add flour mixture to sugar-pumpkin mixture, mixing well.  (Stir in chocolate chips.)

Turn batter into a greased loaf pan.  Bake at 350° for 55-60 minutes or till a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool in pan 10 minutes.  Remove from pan; cool thoroughly on a wire rack.

<UPDATE/TIP:  If you want to finish up your can of pumpkin, but don't have the 1 cup needed for this recipe, fill the remainder of the "1 cup" with applesauce!  I've done this a couple times, and it always turns out great! >

I made some Pumpkin Bread this week for my daughter's birthday breakfast!

-AND-

I'm linking up with Mique @ Thirty Handmade Days for her weekly Pity Party,
and with Lori @ Paisley Passions for "Fun with Food Friday."

Check this out. (Love it!)

As I was "touring around" over at Paisley Passions (a new find for me), I found this AMAZING Linky Library with lots and lots of Linky Party Information.  It's a Linky Party Linky Party!  What a concept.  The Linky Parties are organized by day of the week.  There are ALL KINDS of links: crafts, food, photography.  Check it out!

A Sweet Treat... Just the thing!

I suppose that today may have been a big disappointment in the birthday department -- although our sweet daughter never said as much.

The original plan for our day (pre-storm) was to do schooling at home, and go to a dinner meeting and youth group, etc. at church tonight.  There was no birthday-dinner-plan for at home.  {A family party is planned for the weekend.}

Well, the storm changed everything.  Church was canceled, and I made a big pot of beef-vegetable soup at the last minute.  The soup was great on this cold, cold day -- but was not the meatloaf and mashed potatoes that my girl usually requests for her birthday dinner.  I told her I'd make it up to her.

Dinner seemed anti-climatic.  We ate soup.  We gave her her gifts.  But there was no cake.  No snow-plan, really.

So, I got this bright idea.  (Uh-huh, I had a NAP today!)  I remembered a discussion we had the other day about some Bisquick Cinnamon Biscuits that we really liked.  The mix comes in a pouch, but we can no longer find it in our area (if they even make it anymore).  If you know me, you know what I did next.  I Googled it... found the Bisquick website... did a recipe search, and found THIS.  Hurray!  [Love the internet!]

So tonight, while my dear daughter is oblivious, I am making these little biscuits as an evening birthday surprise!  I think it will be a nice little snow-day surprise for everyone.

Recipe notes:  As you can see from the photo, we did not add the raisins.  Also, there is a glaze that goes with this recipe.  I didn't make the glaze.  The biscuits were so yummy, but next time, I might sprinkle just the littlest amount of cinnamon sugar on top of each little button-biscuit before baking!

~To those of you effected by the storm~

I hope that you are safe and sound at home,

keeping cozy with the ones you love.

Ooh La La ~ A Cinnamon Roll Testimonial

Yesterday, I saw this on Twitter:

"@thepioneerwoman: Honey, I shrunk your cinnamon rolls! Small batch recipe for cinnamon rolls. via @kitchenmage"

I filed this away in my mind because I know that the (only) thing holding my husband (the baker) back from baking the The Pioneer Woman's recipe was the fact that the recipe makes 40-50 rolls.  Since we don't ride around the ranch all day burning calories or have any cowhands to share with, we decided we had better steer clear, just to be on the safe side.  (I'm sure Ree would understand, right?  How DOES she keep her girlish figure?)

Well, wouldn't you know it... the hubby came home in a baking mood.  Cha-ching!  I mentioned the shrunken recipe - you know, just in passing.  And wouldn't you know it... THAT's what he chose to bake.  Lucky me... I mean, lucky US.

The Pioneer Woman can hold onto her bragging rights, because these are quite possibly THE BEST cinnamon rolls EVER - and hubby even made them without the icing, since we didn't have powdered sugar on hand.  I can attest to the fact that they need no icing (I know, I know -- but just in CASE you find yourself without powdered sugar, like we did.)

If you want the shrunken recipe, you can find it HERE.  Thank you kitchenMage.

If you want The Pioneer Woman's original recipe for 40-50 rolls, you can go HERE.  Thank you Ree! 

A salute to Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman!

I love her sense of humor, and I love her cookbook.

You can find it HERE.

Cranberry-Orange Bread

I love this bread recipe from my Mom.  It's dangerous to have it at our house though, because I am (usually) the only one who enjoys it.  (Imagine.)  Yes, dangerous indeed.  It is a pretty and fragrant bread to give as a gift, too! -- just sayin.  I love to make it at the holidays because it looks so festive.  Yesterday, I realized that I still had cranberries left -- so one more loaf for us (me)!

A couple of years ago I made several attempts at the bread, and most of them failed.  Something was just not right.  Perhaps a key ingredient got skipped?  This year, I decided to head failure off at the pass.  I really wanted this potentially yummy bread to turn out this time.  So, I rearranged the instructions to be more similar to the way I prepare a banana bread recipe (which always turns out).

Mom's Cranberry-Orange Bread

1/4 c. margarine

1 c. sugar

1 well-beaten egg

3/4 c. orange juice

1 T. grated orange peel (fresh, or dried)

2 c. flour

1.5 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 c. fresh cranberries*, halved

1/2 c. chopped nuts, optional

*  I buy my cranberries as soon as they go on sale for the season.

I rinse them, halve them, and put them in the freezer.

As I make loaves of this bread, I just pull out the frozen berries, and add them to the batter.

In a mixer, cream the margarine and sugar.
Add the egg, orange juice, and orange peel.

Add all dry ingredients, and mix well.

Add cranberries, and fold into batter.  Turn into a greased loaf pan.

Bake at 350° for 55-65 minutes or until center is firm.

ENJOY!  (or share!)

 A little honesty?  It's quite possible that I was
not paying attention to the fact that this recipe 

calls for baking SODA and baking POWDER.  Don't make my mistake!

I'm linking up with Mique over at 30 days - thirty handmade days 

for her first "Pity Party" of 2011!

Done something creative lately?  Come join the fun!

December 24th ~ Christmas Coffee Cake

Merry Christmas -- it's almost here.  I've been baking up a storm.  I don't know how many batches of cut-outs I've done.  Funny, but they keep disappearing...

I'm gearing up for Christmas morning, and making one of our family favorites: Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake.  The recipe originally came from a cookbook compiled by a "Mom's Club" that my mom attended when my sister and I were little tikes.  Our entire family loves it.  It can be made ahead, and frozen, and the recipe can also be doubled for a 9 x 13 pan.  Now, let's get to it!

Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

1-1/2 c. flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. margarine

1 egg

1/2 c. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 375F.  Grease 8" square pan (or round cake pan).

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.  Using pastry blender or knives, cut in margarine until mixture is like coarse cornmeal.  Blend in well-beaten egg, milk, and vanilla.  Stir just enough to mix well.  "Sprinkle" streusel topping mixture (below) evenly on top.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, until middle is set.

Topping

1/2 c. brown sugar, packed

2 T. flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 T. melted margarine, slightly cooled

Mix dry ingredients.  Add melted margarine.  Mix well.  {I use a fork to flake off small pieces of this gooey mixture.}

Wish I had a picture to show you, but it's never around long enough at our house for picture-taking!  Enjoy, and Merry Christmas to you!

What's for Dinner?

That's a common question around here at about 4:00 in the afternoon.  Today the answer was "Pumpkin Pancakes", and the kids both said "oooooh," instead of "ewwwwww."  You gotta love that.  I should interject here that "ewwwww" is not a typical response at out house.  But you know what they say about silence... wait, that doesn't apply here.  Anyways - you know how the kids don't respond, and you think they are "secretly" not liking your choices for a dinner menu?  {Or is that only at my house?}

Anyway, I digress.  A few weeks ago, a friend on facebook "said" that she was making Pumpkin Pancakes for dinner.  That sounded so yummy and "fall-ish" that I kept it on the back burner of my mind -- for some time in the future when I didn't have a plan.  That was today.  So, I Googled "Bisquick Pumpkin Pancakes", and this is what Google gave me.  I'm using up the Bisquick before we dig into the Hungry Jack (a recent Twitter winning - which I just received today).  We did however use the Hungry Jack syrup.  The no-drip spout comes in the form of a smiley face.  So, in reality, while you are pouring syrup, it looks as though the eyes are crying.  And just about the time that you realize the little spout is smiling and crying at the same time, syrup comes out of the "mouth."  I'm not even gonna go there.

Here's the recipe.  There were a few omissions on their part and mine.  Please see my added notes.

PUMPKIN PUFF PANCAKES
[Full credit goes to Cooks.com]

---

2 eggs
1 c. milk
1/2 c. cooked pumpkin
1 3/4 c. Bisquick baking mix
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. each cinnamon, nutmeg & ginger
 1/4 c. canola oil

In small mixer bowl, beat eggs on high speed 5 minutes or until thick and lemon colored. {My note: Add other ingredients, and mix well.  They forgot this part.}  Pour batter by tablespoons onto medium hot ungreased griddle. Bake until puffed and bubbles begin to break. Turn; bake other side until golden brown. About 15 dozen 2" pancakes.  {My note: I used a small ladle, and got about 18 small-ish pancakes.  And OOPS, I "Pam-ed" the pan.  Someday I'll learn to read all of the directions! ...or not.}

They were a success.  We voted that we {read: I} would make them again.  I confess that I was rather proud of myself.  Typically, I am impatient, turn the heat up, and end up burning some of the pancakes.  Not tonight.  It was an all-around yummy dinner-time.

I hope you will try this recipe.  Again, I claim no credit {well, maybe for the notes in brackets, and the no-burning part?}  If you try the recipe, let me know how your family likes the pancakes!