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Scones

 I found this easy one in the New York Times:

Ingredients: 2 cups of flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon sugar (increase to 1/4 cup if you want a sweet scone), 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, 1 1/4 cups of heavy whipping cream

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and position a rack in the top third of the oven. Thoroughly combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of this mixture, add 1 1/4 cups of cream and stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a fork. Work quickly, stirring as little as possible, until a soft, shaggy dough forms. Add more cream, a tablespoon at a time, if the dough seems too dry.
  2. Use a large serving spoon or cup measure to drop the batter onto an ungreased baking sheet, allowing at least 2 inches between each scone. Brush the top of each with heavy cream and bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

And from NPR, a note to be sure to eat your scones properly:

“The grocery store Sainsbury’s showed a photo with a fruit scone smothered in cream and jam. The problem: the photo showed jam on top of the cream. Customers in Cornwall argued the jam must go first…Some Brits take their afternoon tea very seriously. That’s landed the grocery store Sainsbury’s in trouble. They put up a picture with a fruit scone smothered in cream and jam. That is normal. The problem is the photo showed the jam on top of the cream. In the county of Cornwall where the picture went up, customers were outraged. They argued that jam must go first. Sainsbury’s admitted its mistake, saying it has all scone wrong.”

Blueberry Muffins with a Song

Perhaps you watched the Disney channel offering of Hamilton released for July 4th, as I did.  I did enjoy it, but was happy not to have spent hundreds of dollars for a ticket.  I also watched an old seventies favorite, 1776, with a young Ken Howard as the tall red-haired Jefferson and Blythe Danner as his wife Martha. Although it may be sacrilegious to admit, I liked the latter better.

My favorite part of the movie is Blythe Danner singing “He plays the violin,” as she dances with John Adams and Benjamin Franklin.  I replayed it several times.

I have a recipe from Blythe Danner, published in one her daughter ‘s (Gwyeth Paltrow) cookbooks.  Since I had all the ingredients, I made the blueberry muffins for dinner.  So delicious – I could have danced all night (but that’s another movie).

Here’s the recipe if you’d like to try it.  All you need to enjoy them is some butter and a fiddle.

INGREDIENTS
  • 1/2cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
  • 2eggs (preferably organic)
  • 1/2cup whole milk
  • 2cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 3/4cup plus 1 tsp sugar, divided
  • 2teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/2cups fresh blueberries
DIRECTIONS
  1. Heat oven to 375°. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
  2. Whisk butter, eggs and milk in a bowl. Combine flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt in another bowl. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients; fold in blueberries.
  3. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups; sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp sugar.
  4. Bake until muffins are golden brown and a knife comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm.

 

 

The Sidecar

Ever since I read Zachary’s favorite drink in The Starless Sea is the sidecar, I’ve wanted to try one. Not complicated to make, the drink has only three ingredients. Zach liked it without the sugar rimming the glass, so I decided I could do without too.

I finally made one and loved it. The sidecar may be my new go to drink. Have you had one?

Have you read the book? Here’s my review:

The Starless Sea

And here’s the recipe I used:

  • 2 ounces Cognac
  • 1 ounce Cointreau
  • 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice (the squeeze of a quarter lemon)

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Nov

Pat Prager’s Private Recipe Dessert from Kitchens of the Great Midwest

In J. Ryan Stradel’s Kitchens of the Great Midwest, a hometown cook successfully beats out more sophisticated chefs in a prestigious cooking contest with her simple five ingredient recipe.

Here’s the recipe if you’d like to try it.

Pat Prager’s Award Winning Bars

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs
  • 1 cup melted Grade A butter
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 cup milk chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon Grade A butter

Mix together the graham cracker crumbs. melted butter, peanut butter, and sugar. Put into a greased 9×12 inch pan. Melt the chips and butter and spread them on top of the bars. Set into the refrigerator until firm. Cut into bars.