Traditional Scones

These are scones in the eastern sense of the word--"a small unsweetened or lightly sweetened biscuitlike cake made from flour, fat, and milk, and sometimes having added fruit."

I have had lots of scones in my life and these are the best. Yep, sorry Mum, but they even beat yours. They are light and flakey and buttery. I got this recipe out of a book I have recently fallen in love with called A Taste of America. Ironically, it was written by some British women, but they did some serious homework. Anyway, here's the recipe for Traditional Sweet Scones.

1 1/2 c. flour

2 T. sugar

1 T. baking powder

pinch of salt

5 T. cold butter

1/2 c. milk

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease and flour a baking sheet. (I baked mine on my stone and didn't grease or flour.)

2. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.

3. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

4. Pour in the milk and stir with a fork to form a soft dough.

5. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick. You can stamp out rounds or (what I did, 'cause this is what my mum does) cut into wedges. Place on the sheet, bake until golden, between 10 and 12 minutes. Serve hot or warm with butter, jam, etc. (I cut mine open, Mike doesn't. It doesn't really matter, just different methods.)

Here's a tip: handle the dough as little as possible to get light, flakey scones. I added raisins to mine, another favorite in my family is chopped dates. You can also try blueberries, raspberries, chocolate chips, or just about anything.

Tuna Salad Boats

This post is more of an idea than an actual recipe. But it made for a healthy and tasty dinner.

All I did was make a simple tuna salad with 2 cans of tuna, and the following to taste: salt and pepper, mayonnaise, and shredded cheese. You could also add onions, chopped hard boiled eggs, pickle relish/chopped pickles, or anything else you want. Then I scooped the seeds out of the middle of cucumbers and stuffed the tuna salad into the cucumber boats. This idea would probably work just as well with chicken and ham- either canned or leftover from a previous meal! :)

Big Beautiful Muffins

I've been looking for a good base muffin recipe that is easy to adapt to any flavor. And I finally found one, this one, in The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book. When I made these earlier this week, I made them into lemon poppy seed muffins that were so yummy that my 21-month old son kept getting more off the cooling rack for him and daddy to share. I will definitely be making these again as the lemon poppy seed, but also with other flavors!

Big Beautiful Muffins

3 cups (15 oz.) all purpose flour
1 cup (7 oz.) sugar
1 Tbl baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 cup whole or low-fat plain yogurt (I used nonfat)
2 large eggs
8 Tbl (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled (if you use salted, decrease the added salt to 1/4 tsp)
mix-ins, optional and as desired (See below for some ideas)

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 375 *F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin. (The cookbook said that the muffins get fluffier tops and better coloring when baked with out muffin liners in a greased muffin tin.)
2. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt in a large bowl. In medium bowl, whisk the yogurt and eggs together until sooth. Gently fod the yogurt mixture into flour mixture with rubber spatula until just combined. Fold in melted butter.
3. Using a greased 1/3-cup measure, portion the batter into each muffin cup. (I was worried about how full the cups were, but they baked fine and were still easy to remove from the tin.) Bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating pan half-way through baking. (I cooked mine for 25 minutes, but I feel like they were a little over-baked. So next time I will check them at 20 minutes.)
4. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack, and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

***Batter can be made ahead of time and stored in either the fridge or the freezer. For the fridge, store it in a covered container up to 24 hours. For the freezer, portion the batter into the muffin tin and place tin in freezer to flash-freeze. Once frozen, remove from tin and store in a freezer container. To bake, return to muffin tin and let sit 30 minutes with preheating the oven. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

Variation Ideas

Lemon-Blueberry
Mix 1 tsp grated lemon zest into yogurt mixture. Gently toss 1-1/2 cups fresh/frozen blueberries in 1 Tbl flour and gently fold into the finished batter.

Banana-Walnut
Substitute an equal amount of brown sugar for the white sugar. Add 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg to the flour mixture. Fold 1-1/2 cups finely chopped banana and 1/2 cup toasted chopped walnuts into finished batter.

Lemon-Poppy Seed
Mix 3 Tbl poppy seeds into flour mixture and 1 Tbl grated lemon zest into yogurt mixture. While muffins are baking, cook 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat until it turns into a light syrup, about 3 minutes. Brush syrup over warm baked muffins and serve.

Cran-Walnut-Orange
Add 1 tsp orange zest to yogurt mixture. Fold in 1-1.2 cups coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries and 3/4 cup toasted chopped walnuts into finished batter.

Swiss Chard

It makes life interesting when we end up with vegetables at our house that we don't normally eat! Swiss Chard is one of those vegetables. In fact, I had never even heard of the leafy greens until they mentioned them in the movie Coraline. While Coraline calls them slime, they weren't that bad. They had a similar taste to spinach. While I can definitely choose many vegetables I'd eat before the chard, I am willing to eat them this way again!

Swiss Chard
from Simply Recipes

• 1 large bunch of fresh Swiss chard
• 1 small clove garlic, sliced
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp water
• Pinch of dried crushed red pepper
• 1 teaspoon butter
• Salt

1. Rinse out the Swiss chard leaves thoroughly. Remove the toughest third of the stalk, discard or save for another recipe. Roughly chop the leaves into inch-wide strips.

2. Heat a saucepan on a medium heat setting, add olive oil, a few small slices of garlic and the crushed red pepper. Sauté for about a minute. Add the chopped Swiss chard leaves. Cover. Check after about 5 minutes. If it looks dry, add a couple tablespoons of water. Flip the leaves over in the pan, so that what was on the bottom, is now on the top. Cover again. Check for doneness after another 5 minutes (remove a piece and taste it). Add salt to taste, and a small amount of butter. Remove the swiss chard to a serving dish.

Chicken Fajitas

I make fajitas every once in a while, but I haven't posted them yet because I never measure anything. Then I found this recipe with measured ingredients that tastes just like the ones I always make, so I thought I would post it since it would be a better guide to those of you who want to try them. This recipe comes from Gluten Free in Hawaii via my mom.

Chicken Fajitas

4-6 Chicken Breasts(depending on how many people you are feeding) cut into strips

1 Tbs. oil

2 cloves garlic minced

1/4 c. lime juice

1/4 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. cumin

salt and pepper

1 onion sliced

1 red bell pepper sliced and 1 yellow pepper sliced (I used 2 green peppers since they were cheaper)

tortillas (taco size work best, but any will do)

In a large skillet, heat oil over high heat. add chicken and garlic. saute' until chicken is browned, add red pepper and onion. add lime juice and spices. cook on medium heat until onion and pepper are tender and chicken is cooked through.

Put into tortillas or lettuce leaves. Top with cheese and sour cream or any favorite toppings.

Snappy Stir-Fry

This was so easy, and so delicious! Plus it is one of those dishes you can adapt to help clean out your fridge of leftover meat and vegetables. While rice noodles are our favorite, this recipe is also good with rice. I mixed my noodles into the stir-fry, but just served the stir-fry over the rice. We've also loved it with shrimp in it. A trick I learned with the shrimp is that if you buy it from the butcher block, they taste less fishy than the kind you buy out of the freezer case. This recipe came from Better Homes and Garden magazine on budget meals and is one that will be on our table frequently!

Snappy Stir-Fry

1 pound peeled and deveined fresh or frozen shrimp or thinly sliced boneless meat (such as beef, pork, chicken or turkey- even leftover meat will work)
2 Tbl vegetable oil
4 cups cut-up vegetables (use whatever you have but the recipe suggests things like zucchini, yellow summer squash, sweet pepper, onion, carrot, celery, mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, garlic, corn, and peas)
Quick stiry fry sauce or 3/4 cup bottled stir-fry sauce (I made the sauce; the recipe is at the end of the post)
2 to 3 cups cooked rice, noodles, or pasta
1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional (like peanuts, cashews or almonds- I left these out)

1. (Skip this step if using precooked meats) If using, thaw frozen shrimp. Rinse shrimp; pat dry with paper towels. In a large skillet or wok, heat 1 tbls of the oil over medium-high heat. Add shrimp or meat; cook and stir for 3 to 5 minutes until shrimp is opaque or meat is cooked through. Using a slotted spoon, remove shrimp or meat from skillet. Discard any cooking liquid from skillet.
2. In the same skillet, heat the remaining oil over medium-high heat. Add vegetables; cook and stir for 3 to 5 minutes or until all vegetables are crisp tender. (I like to add the harder vegetables, such as carrots, first and let them cook for a couple of minutes before I add more delicate veggies, like cabbage. That way all of the vegetables are cooked right and nothing is mushy!)
3. If using, stir Quick Stir-Fry Sauce. Add shrimp or meat and stir-fry sauce to vegetable mixture (this is also where I add the cooked rice noodles). Cook and sitr until sauce is bubbly. Reduce heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Serve over cooked rice. If desired, top with nuts. Makes 4 servings.

Quick Stir-Fry Sauce: In a 1-cup glass measure, whisk together 2/3 cup chicken broth, 2 tbls soy sayce, 2 tsp cornstarch, 1 tsp sugar (white or brown), 1/2 tsp ground ginger, and 1/8 to 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper.

Just Dropping a Line...

I've been thinking about my lack of blogging lately, and I've been feeling somewhat guilty for not being more on the ball with it. I have been super busy with helping my husband finish his semester at school, sewing, and just trying to keep up with the mess my three boys make :) However, life won't slow down for me for at least another week, so I figured I'd just let anyone who cares know that I will be back to blogging starting in May (maybe earlier if I can get to it). In the mean time, I'm going to pose a question:


What type of recipes do you want to see more of?


I've been doing mostly stand-by dishes lately and I'm in need of some inspiration. So share what you are in the mood for and maybe you'll find it here in the not-to-distant future! (And thanks for your patience while I get my life back in order!)