~ Curry peanut lime chicken ~ 

 
It finally happened!  Truly, it did!  I am amazed......and shocked.  I finally got a good grill on!  Whoohooo!  In the past I’ve burnt this and that, dried out that and the other.  Charcoal grilling has not been something I could do, which was mildly and shortly frustrating.  I try a couple times a summer. This year - being oh*so*much more centered, I gave it another go, sans expectations.  Funny how that all plays out well when letting go of such things….like self-controlled outcome.  Oh, give me a keyboard and the soapbox philosophical thoughts come whizzing from fingertips.  :)  Anywhoo.  Moving on.

Yay, charcoal…good ol’ mesquite charcoal to be exact.  That and a decent marinade.  Yellow chicken.  Meh.  Yellow chicken with a peanut sauce.  Yum.

Marinade found here, only double the amount of gingerroot.  I adjusted the peanut sauce, also found on the same link.  I ran out of limes.  I added more soy sauce by another teaspoon or two, a few dashes of toasted sesame oil, three garlic and a touch of dried lemongrass.  Chunky peanut butter, natural.  Smooth peanut butter on Norton Avenue?  Not often.  

 
The bok choy - so happy -- FLD liked it and ate two.  Score!  Miss Little One More ate one without complaint.  Middle child was spending the night at a friends, so not feedback on her opinion of grilled bok choy.  A nice little sprinkling mix of sesame seeds, sliced garlic, diced lemon grass and olive oil was all that was done to the halved bok choy before grilling.  I normally saute it this way and prefer it that way - it gets some steam on it with that method.  Grilled was less rich in olive oil, but just as fresh and crunchy as it gets, with char…num, num.  

Let summer grilling season begin.  I have a huge (!) bag of real charcoal.  Huge.  Big chunks.  

Wishing all a happy and loving summer, full of laughter....and SPF 45.  Remember, any more is a waste.  :)

Toodles!
xoxo

Whole wheat cinnamon rolls ~

Best warm from the oven ~

Shared and linked with the wonderful Wild Yeast blog.  :)

Whole wheat cinnamon rolls ~

“These is the best sweet I’ve had all year!“, exclaimed my auburn haired girl after eating part of her cinnamon roll.  Note the date, people.  Then I reminded her of what I made the other day -- homemade puff pastry with a baked half pear with streusel, almonds and caramel sauce.  “Oh!!  The top two sweets I’ve had all year.“  “Annie?  Better than the pretzel-butterscotch-chocolate-walnut cookies??  Blank stare.  “You make us too much stuff in a year!  We’re spoiled!“  Laughter from us both.  I have so much fun with my kids.  “Better than the cocoa-nut brownies I made the other day?“  “Yes, they were better than those.  I don’t care for coconut.“  I have baked a few new things this year already.   I’m restless.  I‘m not baking for a living anymore.  I’m restless.  I‘m working on calming that restless nature.  Ooops.  Not a diary, not an emotional blog, just a place for my kidlets to find my recipes.  Moving on.

Not often, but sometimes - I get precedence without much (any) input from others before I get to that decision.  Between three children in this home, I teach sharing and taking turns, we‘re a unit.  Every once in a while I am screaming inside that I am tired of sharing.  Call it a quiet hissy fit, a rarity, ungrounded and yes, immature.  How did it show up this time?  I want raisins in my cinnamon rolls, darnit!!  I’m grateful that my internal hissy fits look so small….and that my selfishness does not hurt anyone I love - whether they find out or not.  *ahhh*

Raisins.  First whole wheat.  I could be doing a run around myself and my whole wheat or whole grain eating style by making whole wheat cinnamon rolls.  Afterall, I hardly need cinnamon rolls despite their starch content.  It felt odd to sprinkle sugar over the butter schmear that sat atop whole wheat yeast dough.  I’ll indulge in one with far less craving for a second helping after eating a warm sweet roll because of the whole wheat.  The children -- by far would prefer white flour - it does taste better - but they will be so happy anywhoo ~ it’s how they appreciate the unexpected and how they love me.  Lucky me.  Lucky me ~ even when I looked at their plates after they had eaten their cinnamon rolls…leaving behind *all* the raisins they picked out.  Kids are a blast!

Snowy day cinnamon rolls ~

4 ½ tsp. yeast
Pinch sugar
½ c. warm water - 105-115 degrees
3 eggs
1/3 c. honey
½ c. melted butter
14 oz. can evaporated milk
1 ½ tsp. salt

8 T. butter, softened
¾ c. sugar
¾ c. brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
½ - 1 tsp. nutmeg, freshly grated
1+ c. raisins, your choice for the amount
½ - 1 c. finely chopped nuts

2 T. butter

• Proof yeast in water and pinch of sugar.  Let sit 5-10 minutes. 
• Add eggs, honey, butter, milk, salt, mix thoroughly.
• Add four cups of flour, mix well.  Let rest 10-15 minutes.
• Add the remaining cup of flour, mix.  This dough is rather sticky, resist the urge to add more flour.   This might be easier to knead via a dough hook rather than by hand as by hand it will be sticky…and as mentioned…resist the urge to add more flour. Knead until cohesive.  Let rest 15 minutes.  Knead again for five minutes.Transfer to an oiled bowl and let rise until double.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Remove from bowl to a floured surface.  (Here I used white flour on the board for rolling.)  Roll out to approximately 24x15.  Schmear 2 T. of the butter in a 9x13 pan.  If the remaining 6 T. is not soft enough to spread, melt it to warm.
• Mix sugars, spices. Brush or spread out the butter over the dough.  Sprinkle with all but ½ c. of the sugar mixture.  Sprinkle on the raisins and nuts.  
• Roll up on the long side.  Cut into 12 pieces, they will be approximately 2” high before rising.
• Place in the pan and let rise until almost double.  This took a while on a cold wintery day, plus it’s whole wheat despite the larger amount of yeast - almost an hour and a half.  Start checking at an hour.
• Melt the 2 T. butter, brush the tops of the raised rolls with the melted butter.  Sprinkle on the remaining ½ c. sugar mixture.
• Bake for 30-45 minutes.  Doneness is up to you.  Take a temp if you like - at least 200 and up to 220 degrees.  Or take a toothpick to a center to test that it’s clean upon removal.
• No glaze ~ how nice is that?  Nice, I think.

These are not too sweet compared to a regular cinnamon roll, that I do believe is due to the whole wheat flour.  Annie said that was the reason she liked them…because they aren’t too sweet.  I’ll make these again someday.  To me that says enough.

A rather bland and ill-defined photo

Winter Cinnamon Rolls ~

Num, num.  :)  It might be more accurate to say that I make this in joyful anticipation of an upcoming Winter season. 

For Miss Annie

I make cinnamon rolls about once a year.  They are up there in the top five Hard-to-Resist list for me.  Monday I made a batch of cinnamon rolls.  This being Wednesday evening I still feel like I ate too many.  *oy*  Tuesday morning I woke with a sugar headache, that doesn't happen often...but considering much I've not been eating white flour/sugar combos since the first of the year, I'm not surprised.  

Aside from that, I made cinnamon rolls while Annabelle was on a three day school camp trip.  Oops.  Big oops in a child's mind.  I might have been a baker at one time, but my children did not get a steady treat of baked goods.  Last night, I fully realized that Annie finding out we had cinnamon rolls while she was gone was not going to go over well.  I made a different recipe today, a better one.  This time I didn't eat a single one.  I did try a piece....for testing sake...to see if I want to keep this recipe.  (I do, but it's not the favorite one.)  Annie indeed was not happy when I said I made rolls, she interrupted me mid-story asking, "Did you save one for me?!!!"  I said no...she pouted...I said I made a fresh batch.  Quick smile and satisfaction in her eyes.  Yay.  She's home, she's sleeping, she liked her cinnamon rolls, she said she missed us, loves us and repeated several times tonight that she is so happy to be home.  Not because camping wasn't fun, it was.  Because she loves who live in this little cozy run down old house.  I feel loved and centered.


I didn't realize until this post how close to a year it has been.  Happy cinnamon rolls to you!

This recipe, using yeast ~ is sharing company with other yeast recipes at The Wild Yeast blog.


 1/2 c. butter melted
1 c. milk - I used 2%
4 tsp. yeast
1/4 water, 105-ish degrees
2 eggs, room temp.
1/2 c. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
5 c. flour -  bread flour or unbleached all-purpose is fine


Interior ~

1/2 c. butter, either softened or melted and cooled, but not set.
1 c. brown sugar, packed
5 T. cinnamon
Optional nuts and cinnamon

• Melt butter in a saucepan, remove from heat.  Add milk to warm. 
• Proof yeast with the water, in a mixer bowl if using a stand mixer.  Let stand 10 minutes.
• Add eggs, sugar, salt to the yeast, mix.  If using a stand mixer, use a paddle attachment.
• Add three cups flour, mix thoroughly.
• Add the fourth cup and continue to mix to shaggy.  Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook if using a stand mixer.
• Add the fifth cup of flour, knead a few minutes or three to five minutes with a mixer.
• Let sit for 5-10 minutes, then resume kneading for another 3-5 minutes until smooth.

Note here -- I'm in a dry part of the states, so five cups flour gives me a nice smooth dough....if in the South, you might need a little more - but remember...a little tacky is better than a little tough when it comes to possibly adding more flour. 

• Put dough in a greased bowl and let rise until double.
• Roll out dough on a floured surface to approx. 15" deep x 24" wide.
• Schmear butter over dough except for the front one inch.  Sprinkle on sugar mixture.
• Roll from the 24" side.  Seal seam.
• Cut in half and each half in half in eighths.
• Place in a buttered 10" round or whatever you have where they fit and none are touching.  
• Cover loosely and let rise until double.
• Preheat oven to 350-375, your choice.  Bake 25-35 minutes until nicely golden and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into a doughy area. 
• Let loved ones enjoy warm.  If they are children, let them have two when they ask if they can have another.  Okay - it's only Former Little Dude that asks and he's trim...so he can.  :) 

We didn't feel like adding icing, we tend to like not-to-sugary treats and these are sugary enough....but FLD and I being the critic team came to the conclusion they would be very good with cream cheese icing...yes, they would!

Before the oven

Rhubarb, straight rhubarb

A tart made for Annabelle Elizabeth

No rhubarb-strawberry, no rhubarb-raspberry...rhubarb sans fruit.  Rhubarb as the sugared up vegetable that it is, this is my favorite way to have a rhubarb in tart or pie form.  My Annie loves this tart.  Though two years ago she would have passed it over completely.  I am thrilled her taste buds took a turn to a wider spectrum in all food areas...I have my own personal issues to climb over with having had to cook for people that sustain themselves on mostly protein, starch and sugar.  I am not far from a good or bad diet, but variety is what I like since I dislike so few foods in general.  Cooking and baking for someone with very limited tastes doesn't sit well with me.  I am fortunate to have veggie loving, ethnic food loving, whole grain eating children.  :)

This was the last of the Redmond rhubarb from a dear friend's plant....a simple joy to use something fresh from the garden of someone I love.  *ahhh*  Love truly feels good.

This is a smaller tart pan, adjust recipe as needed.  A pie pan will take double this amount.

Single crust recipe of your choice...you have a favorite, I'm sure.  :)

12 oz. rhubarb, cut into 1/2 slices
2/3 c. sugar plus 1 T.
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Freshly grated nutmeg, as much as you like, I used 1/2+ tsp. for this amount of rhubarb
The barest pinch of salt
2 tsp. tapioca flour

• Mix sugar, salt, spices, tapioca flour.
• Add in rhubarb, mix and let sit for 20 minutes.
• Roll out tart dough for pan, use as single tart or single with scraps rolled for lattice.
• Add rhubarb into tart, top with lattice, egg wash the top and sprinkle with sugar.

 Bake at 375-400 degrees - your choice.  Bake for 35-50 minutes, depending on your oven temp and just how toasty brown you like it.  Not very accurate am I?  These things are subject to me ~ I'm a happily moody baker.

That's pretty toasty brown...right there up front...bubbly luscious ~ ~

Peach-nectarine-almond tart

I had the best nectarines and peaches this past summer that I've ever had in my life.  The flavor topped any organic I've had, and that says a lot considering the delicious quality stone fruit we get here in Oregon.  This past summer....as today marks fall equinox, a lovely and welcome transition.

A recipe for short crust, not quite a double amount - plus the best fruit you can find.  One cannot make up for so-so peaches with sugar.  I only had two good peaches on hand, not enough for a pie so I added nectarines. 

Peach-nectarine-almond tart

This makes a tart smaller than a pie, so if you adjust for a pie pan, you'll need more fruit.  I used an 8" tart pan with 2" sides. 

Peach-nectarine-almond tart ~

2 peaches, largish and peeled
3 medium nectarines, peel left on
1/4 c. sugar
2 T. brown sugar
Freshly grated nutmeg
The barest pinch of salt
1 T. tapioca powder

Optional streusel, approx. 3 T.
Crushed sliced almonds, approx. 2 T.


Egg wash and extra sugar, coarse grain - optional


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

• Mix the sugars, salt, nutmeg, tapioca flour.   
• Peel the peaches, slice into halves, then each half into four slices.  Slice nectarines in the same manner. 
• Mix dry ingredients with the sliced fruit.

• Roll out the crust, line the pan.  
• Sprinkle the streusel and almonds over the interior.
• Roll out the remaining dough and cut into 3/4" strips.  
• Add the fruit to the pan, top with lattice weaving.
• Press edges together and pinch off.
• Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 30 minutes.  Reduce to 350 degree and bake approximately another 20-30 minutes, until the crust is golden as you like it.

Happy Fall.    

Tablespoon Pork Dumplings ~

Seeing color, happiness came to my eyes, seeping to my heart

It happened again, last night.  I fell in love with myself.  There was silence from children intently eating.  This went over well.  Better than a previous experiment with dumpling recipes.  This is a keeper.  

It seems whenever I find an Asian recipe for almost anything I want to try, I am missing much of the list.  I don't keep fish sauce in the house, I've learned I don't care for it.  I may or may not have soy sauce in the house - it's awfully high in sodium.  Coconut aminos is good, but it's shelf life, even in the fridge, is not long.  I certainly don't have napa cabbage on hand.  I do, however, almost always have a purple cabbage in the recesses of my fridge stock.  Curious.  Anywhoo....what I didn't have made me substitute what I did for these pork dumplings.  As I was adding various bits...I noticed I was adding items in tablespoons...it did take a tablespoon of this...a tablespoon of that.  While mixing pork dumplings,  I started humming and singing and swaying ~~

Tablespoon Pork Dumplings ~

1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 tsp. tapioca flour
1 T. minced fresh ginger
1 T. minced garlic
1 T. hoisin sauce
1 T. Vermouth 
2 T. minced shallot
3/4 lb. ground pork
1 c. thinly sliced and finely chopped cabbage
Wanton wrappers

• In a small bowl, mix salt, pepper, tapioca flour, ginger, hoisin sauce, Vermouth, and shallot.
• In a larger bowl, add pork and cabbage.  Add the flavorings.  Mix thoroughly.
• Using a tablespoon scoop, place the pretty colored pork mixture in the middle of a wanton wrapper.
• Wet half the edges with a wet finger.  Press out the air and seal.
• Ready a pot of boiling water.
• Slowly add dumplings.  Do not crowd.  Depending on the heat of your water, cook on a low simmer 6-10 minutes.  Test one.  They will still be pink when done (the salt does this, I believe). 

Sad picture, delicious dumplings

Eskimo kisses ~ real ones
xoxo

Grilled skirt steak ~ Taco Tuesday ~

I forgot the shallots and garlic in the picture...but not the marinade. 

Because Sofia Mae heard someone on TV say Taco Tuesday and she said that sounded fun, that we should do that sometime.   Okie dokie. The pure happy enthusiasm at the simplest thing is so beautiful.  How is it not contagious?  Taco Tuesday it is.

Marinade for skirt steak ~

3 T. lime juice ***Note added after - less if you don't care for lime taste on your meat, 1-2 T.

3 T. olive oil

1 1/2 T. Worcestershire sauce

3 garlic cloves, rough chop

Shallot, sliced - very scant 1/4 c.
2 T. rough chop cilantro 
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
Salt and pepper - 1/2 tsp. each
1 tsp. chipotle in adobo puree


1 lb. skirt steak (we tend to use a 3/4 lb. package for the four of us)

• Mix the marinade ingredients, pour into a freezer baggie.
• Add skirt steak.  Let marinade in the fridge at least four hours, but not more than 8.
• Grill as desired.  I like a little past medium.
• Cut on the grain in thin strips.
• Num, num.  :)  I hope.

Eskimo kisses ~
xoxo

A little whole wheat sweet ~

For the four in the hood

I wanted something less sweet, a little less big, a little less fat, and completely whole wheat.  I wanted something this was not...boy how I do love that recipe, though.  *sugar love*   I also wanted to use the two leftover bananas I had sitting around, though I  prefer berries in my quickbreads.  Today I was merely practical, also working the whole grain momentum I have going and I had extra time to make the kidlets their after school snack.


The texture ~ this will be on the light spongy side as it's low in fat.  It has the hint of banana to it in taste and scent.  I truly like my baked goods less sweet and this first time experiment with ratios and ingredients hit the spot in satisfying that little sumthin'-sumthin'.   


Whole wheat banana cakelettes ~
(is that a word?)


1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg, freshly grated


4 T. butter, softened
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
2 T. white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. maple extract
2 overly ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 c. buttermilk

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Line six 4" pans with parchment.
• Mix dry ingredients, set aside.
• Cream butter and sugars, add extract.
• Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  This will be a loose egg/sugar mixture.
• Add the bananas at this point or wait to fold them in last.
• Add half the flour mixture, mix well.
• Add the buttermilk, mix well.
• Add the remaining flour.
• Fold in almonds.
• Divide the batter into the six pans, top with extra almonds.
• Bake for approximately 30 minutes...make sure they spring back to the touch.

Banana almond cakelette

Crumb peek

Apple scones ~

Flour, a KitchenAid and Thee.


My children love these scones.  I believe these have replaced cinnamon chip or marionberry as their Most Favored Scone.  For me, they are a little soft, muffiny.  Not bad in any way, just not as dry or shortbreadish or less sweet as I care for in a scone.  But I didn't get up from the settee to make them for myself this snowy Saturday morning.  I felt that tug of therapy through baking and blurting out love for them in the form time spent baking for them. 


Apple walnut scones, on the sweet side.

2 c. flour
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
6 T. butter

1 egg
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 apple, cored, peeled, in chunk sizes of your desire
1/2 walnuts

• Mix dry ingredients in mixing bowl, using the paddle attachment.
• Add butter, mix to pea size crumbs.
• Combine egg, cream, vanilla.  Add to butter mixture and stop short of fully combined.
• Add apples, walnut.  A few turns and it's ready.
• Move the mixture to a floured surface, patting out to an inch high.
• Cut as desired, I choose eight for this recipe.  You can also half the dough and make two discs of six.
• Brush with cream, add sugar or streusel.
• Bake at 425 - start checking after 15 minutes.  You're on your own after that.  They will spring back to the touch when done.

Flour, a KitchenAid and Thee.  The ability to make items with that paddle attachment is worth the cost of a KitchenAid.  At the very least, the 5qt. size.

I was tired of rounds and wedges

Sour cherry scones ~ pretty in pink

Clapping my hands like a little kid!!  I love myself!  Sour cherry scones.  The only way I would be happier is if someone made them for me, still using this recipe.  No.  No, no, no, no.   I want to make them.  That makes me happiest.  Yep, yep, yep.  I wanna bake for the world, feed my spirit.

This is one of those things that ups my challenge of resisting more than one...I like eating these quite a bit.  


Sour cherry scones ~

2 c. flour
1 T. baking powder

1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
6 T. butter, diced
2/3 c. heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 c. whole frozen sour cherries, not thawed.  After measuring, slice them.  

• In a separate small bowl, beat egg until nicely loose, add vanilla, add cream.  Set aside.
• Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, salt in a mixing bowl.
• Cut in butter.  Either by hand or mixer with a paddle attachment.
• Add wet ingredients, mix until almost combined.
• Add the frozen cherries, mix just until incorporated.
• Remove to a floured surface.  Pat to a height of an inch or more.  Cut in six wedges.
• Brush tops with cream, sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake at 400 degrees for 18-25 minutes, depending on the cold status of the frozen berries, how dark you like your scones.  Touch them in the middle, they will spring back when done.

Toodles ~
xoxo

Basa, baby!!

Glancing at the time stamp from my last post.  (oy)  Moving on......

Oh, hello.

I miss having seafood, darned expensive stuff on a budget minded life-style.  So much imported seafood from sources I have not researched and wonder (question, really) about.  I have been craving fish lately and gave into it yesterday...ignoring the lack of knowledge regarding sources while still keeping in mind the frugality of protein costs that runs through me.  I adjust my mind to the compartmentalize setting....which carries a degree of aware ignorance - I made that up mahveryownself...I'm sure that's obvious.  :)  I call this place my Lala-Land....it runs on senses first and chooses to ignore practicalities.  


Basa in Lala-Land, baby!!!  *happy-happy* clapping with child-like glee.  


Lord, this was good.  I've not had Basa - a fish renamed to appease American catfish farmers, to detract consumers and...oops...I'm slipping out of Lala-Land.  Basa is a white fish.  Mild.  No distinct fishy flavor, a neutral protein that will take on what flavors it is given.   It was cheap, on sale for $3.99/lb.  In went two fillets in my Lala-cart.

We had this last night, a Monday.  It coincides nicely with Meatless Monday. 

Poor lighting, poor camera skills, I know.  Good recipe.



This is a rough recipe - salt as you go along, as you add new ingredients.


A pound of fish fillets
A couple shallots, sliced thin
2-4 garlic cloves, minced
Butter
Thai spice blend
Tomato, seeds removed and chopped
1/4 c. coconut milk
Cilantro, chopped
Kosher salt

• Salt the fish, sprinkle with as much Thai blend as you like.  Taste the dry spice to get a gauge on how spicy you like it.   Set aside. 
• Heat saute pan to med-high.  Add 2 T. butter, then shallots and garlic and a sprinkle of kosher salt.  Let brown.   
• Add fillets, let one side cook to half way done.
• Turn fillets.  Add coconut milk, chopped tomatoes, and cilantro.  A sprinkle of salt if you desire.
• Cover pan with a lid for remaining cook time, which is only 3-5 minutes.  This will add moisture and loosen the coconut milk.
• Check the middle of a fillet to see if it's cooked all the way through.  
• Serve it up and enjoy.

My children loved this!  My children ~ they love many kinds of seafood.  I think that counts me as lucky, as it makes cooking that much more of a joy when I don't have to restrain desires in the kitchen.


Signing out of Lala-Land ~


Toodles ~
xoxo

Boysenberry whole wheat muffins ~

Cultus Lake muffins ~

Easing the guilt of sweets, whole wheat muffins. Boysenberry muffins. Pretty muffins. Tasty muffins.

I never cared for whole wheat muffins until I tried one at a lovely place in Redmond, One Street Down Cafe. Inside are gorgeous Venetian plaster walls that I could not stop touching, even though my friend told me to stop stroking the walls. I didn’t listen. It was such a warm place, that doesn’t come from decoration, but from the owner of a place. I’m kicking myself at the moment, because I’m horrible at remembering names, but I do remember how someone makes me feels. The owner is genuine friendly.

I don’t often order baked goods or buy them. When I’m in the mood and do not want to bake one thing, I order them as a treat. Sometimes it’s purely out of sheer curiosity to see the consistency of an item that has been baked by another. From a bakers point of view, the muffins were gorgeous at One Street Down. After I heard they were whole wheat, I just had to find out what they tasted like, what was the interior. I took a muffin back to my table and proceeded to take it apart, see the crumb, the softness. It’s a curious exam, never a judgment. It was a plain muffin, no add-ins. The taste was wonderful, the moistness was there in a whole grain product. I was enamored with the muffin as much as their walls. You see, whole wheat could ease some guilt of feeding muffins to my kidlets.

I complimented the owner, as deserved, for a light, moist, whole wheat muffin that wasn’t too sweet. She said she would share the recipe. !! Turns out, I have the very same cookbook. I’ve had it for over 20 years.

Now my muffins have never turned out as gorgeous as hers, I get a lip and height, but not a perfect dome as found in her restaurant. I add berries because they are the family favorite. I’ve done slight adjusting to the original recipe, as I add frozen berries to the mix, making them bake longer, berries also holding moisture.


Makes 9-12, depending on your add-ins and how you scoop.

1 stick butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar, packed
1 egg
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ - 1 c. buttermilk - play with this
½ tsp. vanilla

1 c. chopped frozen boysenberries
Zest of one lemon

• Cream butter and sugar.

• Add egg.

• Add flour and buttermilk alternatively.

• Fold in any additions you might have.

Bake at 375 degrees, 25-35 minutes. This depends on what your additions are, if using frozen berries, it increases the bake time.

Toodles ~
xoxo

Cinnamon chip scones ~ the kid friendly scone

Scones for my kidlets….their favorite….not mine…theirs. Cinnamon chip scones filled with these little bits. Artificial. Odd. They have pulled me in on several occasions. I tried them in a coffeecake, no, thank you - not again. I put them in cookies once, no, thank you - not again. Where they are fun to use is challah bread and scones. Great Harvest in Salem used to make a cinnamon chip bread, it was an egg based bread that was fun as a snack bread or toasted. So…if you have a good challah recipe (I do…someday it will show up here.) toss some in - - for fun.

I love the bounce on these things, the height is not lacking. See the fuzzy picture for proof. *ha*

Cinnamon chip scones ~

3 c. flour
3 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ c. sugar

12 T. butter, cut into small pieces

1 egg
1 c. whipping cream

1 c. add in of choice


The usual scone drill.

• Mix the egg with the cream.
  
• Mix dry ingredients.
  
• Cut the butter in until it’s small bits.
  
• Add the egg/cream mixture and mix.
  
• Fold in cinnamon chips.
  
• Divide the dough in two, flatten out until ½”-¾” thick.
  
• Cut each disk into six or eight wedges.
  
• Baste each wedge with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar if desired.
  
• Bake off at 425 degrees for approximately 20 minutes. Start checking early at 15 minutes.

The kidlets #2 favorite on the scone list? Marionberry. They rate things, they’re fun.

Toodles ~ xoxo