Blueberry Scones

Scones are such a treat! But if you only knew how easy they can be, they'd be a real breakfast standard for you, I think. These ones are blueberry but you can make them with raisins, dried apricots, chocolate chips and candied orange peel or just plain old cinnamon and brown sugar. Anyway you slice it these are delicious, easy, fast and most importantly, a crowd pleaser! Instead of those cinnamon rolls you usually make for Christmas morning, why not try these?

The following recipe make four big scones to feed four regular people.

Blueberry Scones-

Ingredients:

1.5 Cups Bisquick

1/2 Cup frozen blueberries

1/2 Cup sugar

Milk (roughly 3/4 Cup but no real measurement)

Directions:

Put Bisquick, blueberries and sugar in a bowl. Mix gently.

Add milk until the consistency of dough is sort of crumbly as oatmeal would be but so it sticks together.

I know this sounds sort of wishy washy but as you may know I love to eyeball stuff.

Drop the scones by a 1/4 measuring cup onto a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Sprinkle with sanding sugar

Bake at 400 until your kitchen is filled with a delightfully yummy aroma and the tops are golden brown about 10 minutes.

This recipe is SO easy and people will think you worked your butt off to achieve this yumminess.

If you make them, let me know what you think!

 

It's Fall Y'all

Up here on the hill we are into fall, full swing. As we head closer to winter it is getting colder by the second. But the fall color up here never disappoints even as the days get shorter. I have been so inspired by this season that I think my photos have gotten better, my cooking seems to have better aromas, my creativity has been sparked and my physical fitness has been charged. I am, by body, a summer girl. But, by soul, an Autumn girl, no question. I am an October baby, born on the last day of Libra. It is said, that as a "cusper," I have a touch of Scorpio in me which makes me a full fledged Fall Baby!

These mood boards are the best visual way I can show you how I feel. Most of them below are from my Pinterest board called Mood Boards: 

What I Love About Christmas

Sometimes, during the Christmas season, we get lost in the "GET."

But what really "FEELS" good are these things...

Whats the stuff that evokes your favorite Christmas feelings?

source

John S. Goodall

It's the whole ENTIRE film, guys! The whole thing!!! (Thanks You Tube!!!!)

And....THIS! UNCLE!

Crustless Goat Cheese Vegetable Tatin

Before going in to the oven.

This one is not just a pretty face. She packs a wallop of health and tops it with a cherry of exceptional taste.

There are certain vegetables my husband does not like. Summer squash, like Zephyr, Zucchini and Crook Neck are on the "I won't eat them, so do not cook them," list. Unless I fancy them up like in this amazing and super easy crustless "tarte."

NOLA - Partie Deux

So here it is! The second installment of our trip to New Orleans! If you've never been, GO!

Day 3, Thursday: It was a big day for us! We woke up and immediately ventured to Cafe du Monde. I can't actually believe that we had been in New Orleans for a day and half and had not had a Beignet! Once many years ago, Amy sent me a photo of Beignets at Cafe du Monde with a caption that said, "Where am I?" I had no idea! I had never been. Honestly my life is complete now; Bulent and I got a dozen Beignets. They were magnificent and a perfect start to the day. A beignet is a sort of donut, literally swimming in powdered sugar -SWIMMING! (They're also reminiscent of a Turkish treat called 'Pisi.')

After filling our bellies with some of the world's greatest creations, we headed back to the French Market Inn to ready ourselves for our swamp tour. One of the big things on our lost was to see gators. We booked our tour through Swamp Adventures at the suggestion of Randy Orzalli - a seasoned outdoorsman.

It was, quite literally an amazing adventure. The television will tell us that the folks who live amongst the marshes of the Mississippi River are something that they are not. These folks are actually hard core conservationists who are very knowledgable about wildlife, marsh safety and requisite hospitality. We saw snapping turtles, myriad water fowl, beautiful scenery that is found nowhere else on earth and of course alligators. And the fan boat? Oh my word! The fan boat! It was fast and fun and loud and so powerful that it can go on dry land.

Beautiful. We saw tiny baby alligators here. They were about 4 inches long and if they survive they can get up to 10 feet long and weight about 1000 pounds.

The great Southern Live Oak with plenty of Spanish Moss.

We got back to our hotel. The Swamp Adventures people picked us up and dropped us off. It was a nice treat since we had no car of our own. You really don't need one when you visit New Orleans. The door to door service was great but the hunger in our tummies was not great. We were edging again dangerously close to hangry. Thats no good for anyone. I told you one of the great things about The French Market Inn was their helpful staff. So we asked them where we should go for real Cajun Seafood. And...they sent us to a place in a borough called Treme. Know what it was called? "New Orleans Original Cajun Cooking" It was one of my favorite meals in New Orleans but it's hard not to have excellent food there.

All the fixin's 

This guy was in food heaven!

Treme: Mother in Law Lounge

We took an Uber to Marigny and walked the rest of the way to the hotel. I love the weather in Louisiana. Some people hate the humidity but I like it. And walking in that weather was nice! By the time we made it back to the hotel, we had to rest. NOLA is a busy place. The energy is all a buzz and some napping was in order.

We woke up again, hungry! We had been told to go to a place called Bacchanal by a local woman we had met at an art gallery. We dressed up a little and headed to the Bywater district.

The most commonly visited neighborhoods. Bywater is right on the Mississippi.

This little place was a gem. Here's the jam: You walk in, you grab a bottle of wine. You go to the cheese fridge and choose a couple cheeses. You go to the meat fridge and you choose a couple meats. Then you pay for the whole shebang but they cart off your food selections while you try your darnedest to get a decent table or any table for that matter. We were lucky! We got a table right away and listened to Gypsy Jazz - a great band - The Courtyard Kings. And bam! They set down a magnificent plate of meats and cheeses and a tower of bread with house made remoulade and pickled veg. It was a feast. It's the one thing I didn't take a picture of - hangry. It was a magical evening.

We were also told to go to Vaughan's in the same neighborhood, but we were knackered and simply couldn't. It's on the list for our next visit.

A Henna Party

Hi.
I've been out.
No excuses. Just doing other stuff and looking for some inspiration.
I think I found it.

My friend Kendra is having a birthday at the end of this month and to celebrate I invited several ladies over to my house for a luncheon. To supplement the luncheon I also asked a traditional Henna Artist named Tara to join us for the festivities and create some temporary body art for us. It was beyond my wildest imagination and went off so amazingly that I'm going to do it again for my birthday! here is the invitation which I emailed to the ladies. (Some of you may scoff at an emailed invitation - but the cost effectiveness cannot be beat).

Original artwork by Amylee Paris.

All the elements of this little bash were extraordinary. I had big vases of white tea roses that I spirited away from SMUD and supplemented with my own colored roses from the garden. The arrangements were beautiful. The menu of ladies tea sandwiches (recipes included below) and lavender lemonade. I made a hummingbird cake and a fantastic veggie platter with a feta, garlic dip and a fruit platter with a peanut butter yogurt dip.

The favors were mismatched china plates all with a different floral patterns on them but the "piece de resistance" were the lemon, sugar cookies by my friend Leah at "I Hella Heart Sugar" complete with beautiful Mehndi designs on them.

Lemon Sugar Cookies by Leah at I Hella Heart Sugar.

The spread.

Charlene.

Kendra.

Ki'inani.

Me.

I've thrown a party before, natch. But this had just a little more magic. Kendra is all girl and, like me really enjoys these girly things. I wish her nothing but great blessings for a wonderful birthday.

Here is an excellent menu if you fancy throwing a "Ladies Who Lunch" event for a special friend of yours.

Tea Sandwiches:

1. Roasted Chicken and Cream Cheese with Fig Compote on Raisin Brown Bread.

• Mix 4 oz. cream cheese with fig jam
• Spread cheese mixture on thinly sliced "Boston Brown Bread" (recipe)
• Neatly lay chicken so that the sliced chicken is not over the edge of the sandwich.
• Cut in half resembling a half moon.
• Fan out on a serving plate. (see above in my "spread" photo - they are the sandwiches on the top tier of the three level serving platter).

2. Radish, Mint and Lemon on Westphalian Rye.

• In a food processor, add 1 bunch radishes, and pulse until small but not mushy. Take the container off the blade and base and drain excess water.
• Add 4 oz. cream cheese (the other half that you used for the chicken sando's).
• Add 1 bunch mint (leaves and stems are fine).
• Add juice and rind of half a lemon.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Spread entire mixture on the rye and cut in half to create small triangles. Cut in half again for even smaller triangles.

3. Cucumber Pesto on Fitness Bread.

• Thinly slice cucumber.
• Make your pesto.
• In a food processor, add one bunch basil leaves, 1 whole kale leaf, 2 tbs pine nuts and a 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1 Tbs olive oil and the juice of the other half of the lemon you used for the radish sandwiches. Add salt and pepper and pulse until it resembles a paste.
• Spread pesto on bread.
• Top with cucumber slices and close sandwich with another piece of bread that you've spread with the pesto as well.
• Slice into strips and slice again into small squares.
• This bread can be tricky to work with so be ginger when cutting.

Hummingbird Cake:

This cake recipe was given to me by my friend Patty. I altered it so that it has a very moist consistency. It makes 1 8x8 inch pan cake.

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup packed, brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 large ripe banana, smashed with a fork
• 1/2 cup soybean oil (or similarly light salad oil)
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 large, entire can of crushed pineapple, with syrup
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2/3 cup pecans, chopped

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Grease and flour an 8x8 square, metal baking pan
• Combine eggs, sugar, salt, banana, vanilla extract and oil in a medium sized mixing bowl.
• Mix in pineapple (plus syrup)
• Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and pecans and mix until just combined. 
• Do not over mix or your cake will be a brick you could kill someone with at 20 paces.
• Pour batter into prepared baking pan.
• Bake at 350 for between 40-45 minutes.
• To check for doneness, insert a toothpick into center of cake. If it comes out with nothing sticking to it, your cake is done.
• Let cool in pan for about 15 minutes.
• Turn onto cooling rack to cool completely.
• Frost with cream cheese frosting.
• 1 package cream cheese frosting (Don't skimp - use Philly)
• 1 stick butter 
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 Tbs Frangelico for a little kick).
• Mix with a hand mixer.
• When cake is cool, frost with this delight.

Feta Garlic Dip with Lemon:

• 1 8 oz pkg. cream cheese 
• 1 8 oz block feta cheese (I like the French variety).
• 1 clove garlic (more if it's just you - but you don't want the ladies blaming you for their offensive breath)
• Rind and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 Tbs olive oil and pinch chili flakes (for garnish)
• Mix all ingredients (except garnish) together in a food processor
• Serve with Pita Chips and crudites - I used the requisite veg, but I cut the jicama into tiny stars and flowers and hearts with tiny cookie cutters.

Peanut Butter Yogurt Fruit Dip:

• 1 6 oz. tub vanilla yogurt (I use Chobani).
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 Tbs. honey
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• Mix all ingredients together, pour into serving bowl.
• Serve with cut up kiwis, apples, blueberries, strawberries, bananas and grapes or whatever fruit you fancy.

Sweet Winter Pie - A Pear Cranberry Treat

If you like pears and you like cranberries, you will really, really like this wintertime dessert.

Those succulent pears, the tart cranberries, the hint of Cardamom and the Streusel topping was like Christmas in my mouth!

It is a sweet I served after Christmas dinner but it is so easy you can serve it any old time you want. It's especially good with a dollop of whipped cream but my dad loved it with some vanilla ice cream. It's excellent warm or at room temp and keeps very well in the fridge.
I say, make a rich beef stew and follow it up with tea and this Sweet Winter Pie!

Sweet Winter Pie
(Pear and Cranberry Pie with Streusel Topping)

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

Streusel Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled oats (I use quick cook)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark - doesn't matter)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter melted

Assembly:
In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients together until crumbly, set aside.

Pie Ingredients:

At grocery stores in the colder months there are typically bagged Anjou or Bartlett or Bosc Pears. Any of these varieties will work for this pie. I love the Bartletts and they were $2.69 at Trader Joe's, so there you have it. (If you cannot find the bagged pears, use about 7-8 medium sized ripe pears; not mushy but ripe).

Peel, core and chop all pears.
Rind and juice of 1 orange
1/4 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 - 1 cup dried cranberries chopped
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Pinch salt
And...Trader Joe's Pie Crust 

Directions:

Unroll 1 pie crust and lay it in the pie dish.
After mixing pears and the next 8 ingredients gently, add them to the pie crust.
With your fingers evenly crumble on the Streusel as if you were making a drip castle in the sand.
Place the assembled Winter Pie on a baking sheet.
Bake at 350 for one hour.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My friend Meaghan shared with me this extraordinary Thanksgiving feast.

It must've been a great party!

I wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving.

What are you thankful for?

Source