Birthday Scones

Yesterday was my friend Virginia's birthday.  I learned her favorite flavor combination is chocolate and lavender so my plan was to make her a special birthday treat.   Unfortunately, I could not find the lavender in my spice cabinet.  Struggling with a cold, I didn't feel up to a major lavender hunt so I decided to just be creative with what I had on hand and give her a raincheck on the chocolate lavender dessert.

With the combination of a foggy Benedryl brain and refrigerator scavenging, I came up with these scones for my friend to enjoy for breakfast.  I hope you like them, too.

Goat Cheese Scones with Strawberry Jam
Makes 6 to 8 scones

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp white granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 cup butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
3/4 to 1 cup milk (low-fat is okay)
1/2 cup goat cheese
1/2 to 3/4 cup strawberry jam (I used homemade strawberry-orange jam)
1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.

Add butter and blend with fingers, pastry blender, two knives, or food processor until mixture resembles small peas.

Add milk and crumble in goat cheese.  Stir until mixture comes together into a slightly sticky dough ball.  Add a bit more milk, if it doesn't stick together.

Turn dough out onto floured surface, and roll out into rectangular shape about 1/2-inch thick.  Spread strawberry jam onto one half of the dough rectangle.

Fold dough over onto itself to cover the jam and lightly pinch together ends.  With a sharp knife, cut the rectangle into 6 or 8 triangles.

Transfer to prepared baking sheet, leaving space in between.  Brush tops of triangles with beaten egg and sprinkle lightly with granulated sugar.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until scones are lightly golden on top.

Cool for a few minutes on baking sheet before transferring to wire rack or serving.

Best eaten quickly...

Noodles You Want To Eat With Your Hands

I love this noodle dish.  It is so easy to make, and the toasted sesame seeds and sesame oil smell wonderful.  It pairs well with so many things, it holds up to travel so you can take it to a party or picnic, and you can prepare it in advance.  Plus, it is great to eat straight from the refrigerator in the wee hours of the morning when you come home from an evening of fun.

I love this noodle dish so much that sometimes I even start to eat with my hands when I make it, or in the wee hours of the morning when all that fun has made me hungry.

Sesame Noodles
Serves 2 to 4
Modified from Nigella Lawson

1/3 cup sesame seeds
salt, to taste
8 to 10 oz soba noodles
2 tsp rice vinegar
6 tsp soy sauce
2 1/2 tsp honey
2 tsp sesame oil
3 to 4 scallions, chopped

In a dry pan, toast sesame seeds over high heat until the are golden brown.  Pour them into a bowl and set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to boil and add a bit of salt.  Put in the noodles and cook them for about 6 minutes (or follow the directions on the package) until they are tender, but not mushy.  Have a bowl of ice water waiting to plunge the noodles into after draining.

Using the bowl in which you are going to serve the noodles, mix the vinegar, soy sauce, honey, and sesame oil.

Add the cooled, well-drained noodles to the bowl and the finely chopped scallions.

Toss together and the add the toasted sesame seeds and toss again.

I find this dish tastes best if you let it sit for at least 20 or 30 minutes before serving.

A Cookie for Those Cravings

Sometimes nothing will do but a homemade cookie.  I was having one of those cravings and decided to whip up a batch of chocolate cookies.  Normally I would add chocolate chips or peanut butter chips (or both) to the batter, but this time I added butterscotch chips.  Delicious, and I even made enough to share.

Chocolate Butterscotch Chip Cookies
Makes about 4 dozen

1 cup butter (or margarine, if you're off the dairy)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp chocolate extract
2 eggs
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Beat butter, sugars, and chocolate extract on medium speed until creamy.  Add eggs, beat well.

Gradually add flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt, beating well until blended.

Stir in butterscotch chips

Drop by rounded spoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until set.  The cookies puff up while baking, and then deflate slightly when removed from oven.

Let the cookies cool for a few minutes before removing from baking sheet, then cool completely on wire rack.

The Doggie Ate My Granola

My husband and I have a dog named Charley.  He is likely the sweetest dog you could ever meet.  He's also smart and very protective, which is helpful in our neighborhood.

Charley has a weakness, however.  Food.  He cannot get enough.  His large appetite paired with his large size and intelligence means a constant vigilance on our part to prevent him from getting into food.  I envy friends who have small dogs who can't reach on top of kitchen counters and shelves or into cabinets.  Sigh.

For the most part, I have learned from my mistakes.  It only takes one loss to learn what Charley is capable of reaching or opening, but morning is a bad time for my memory.  If I'm rushing out the door and focused on helping my husband not forget his belongings, I sometimes forget those previous mistakes.

You know where this is going, right?

I was tired.  I stayed up late the night before making granola to enjoy for my breakfast the rest of the week.  It smelled so good, and I really enjoyed the one bowl I had.  But, then, we were in a hurry.  I remembered to put away everything, well, almost everything.  I forgot the container of granola that was still sitting on the back of the kitchen counter...easily in reach of our long and lean dog.

Well, Charley loved the granola.  I think you will agree with him, but I hope your dog does not.


Charley's Granola
Makes about 5 cups
(Modified from Molly Wizenberg's recipe)

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped nuts (I used pecans and almonds)
1/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp agave syrup
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 cup raisins (or other dried fruit)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment.

Mix oats, nuts, coconut, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and salt in a large bowl.

In a small saucepan, combine honey, agave syrup, and oil and stir over medium-low heat until smooth.

Pour honey mixture over oat mixture and toss.

Spread onto prepared baking sheet.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until golden; stirring every 10 minutes.

Stir baked granola and let cool on sheet.  Once cool, mix in raisins.

Store in airtight (and dog-proof) container.  Stays fresh about 1 week, if you keep Charley away.

Start Your Day with PB&J

Regular readers of this blog know that breakfast is important to me.  It is really better for everyone if I have some coffee and a bite to eat....just ask my husband.  But, morning hours don't find me feeling really motivated to work in the kitchen, so I like to have already-made items on hand.  Muffins are perfect for this.

I know, I know, muffins are kinda boring...yeah, I guess, but they are still a fallback plan for me.   I certainly have a number of go-to muffin recipes, but I'm often on the lookout for inspiration.   I thank Annie's Dish for the inspiration for this batch of muffins...

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins
Makes 8 to 10 muffins

1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
peanut butter (creamy or crunchy; natural okay, too)
jelly or jam (any flavor)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In small mixing bowl, blend buttermilk, egg, and oil.

In separate mixing bowl, combine flours, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Make a well in the dry ingredients and add buttermilk mixture.  Stir in oats.

Spray regular-sized (12-cup) muffin tin with cooking spray or use paper liners.  Pour batter into cups about one-third full.  (Remember that it only makes 8 to 10 muffins, so don't fill all 12 cups.)

Add about a teaspoonful of peanut butter on top of the batter.

Then, add about a teaspoonful of jelly or jam.  I used some of our homemade cherry jam.

Finally, pour remaining batter on top of peanut butter and jelly filling so cups are about two-thirds full.

Bake the muffins for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.