Scones with Lisa T.

A couple of weeks ago my friend Lisa (maker of the most delicious scones) graciously invited me to come over and see how she made them. I had been the happy consumer of her scones on a few occasions and jumped at the opportunity. (To be honest, I was just plain excited - she really makes incredible scones. And I like scones.) Lisa modestly claims that she has no special ability and just follows an Ina Garten recipe. I think she has a magic touch and hope that she shared not only the recipe but that magic with me. At any rate it was fun, as easy as she promised and best of all we got to eat scones at the end! With tea.*

Cranberry Orange Scones

4 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp baking powder

2 tsp kosher salt

1 Tbsp grated orange zest

3/4 lb cold unsalted butter, diced

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup cold heavy cream

1 cup dried cranberries

1 egg beaten with 2 Tbsp milk (for egg wash)

1/2 cup icing sugar

4 tsp freshly squeezed orange juice

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and orange zest. Add the cold butter and mix at lowest speed until butter is the size of peas. Combine the eggs and cream and with the mixer on low speed, slowly pour into the flour and butter mixture. Mix until just blended. The dough will look lumpy. Combine the dried cranberries and 1/4 cup flour, then add to the dough and mix on low speed until blended.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead it into a ball. Roll the dough 3/4" thick. You should see small bits of butter in the dough. Flour a plain round cutter and cut circles of dough. Place the scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash, sprinkle with sugar and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the insides fully baked. allow the scones to cool for 15 minutes. Whisk together the orange juice and icing sugar (adding up to 2 Tbsp more sugar if needed to make a good consistency) and drizzle over the scones.

All that's left to do is give a bunch away because otherwise some people may eat more than they aught.

Thanks soooo much Lisa!

* herbal of course! in good LDS tradition. ha!

Just Plain Old Chocolate Pate

Last night we had a few friends over for a casual meal and some good conversation. It was fun and easy. We had gyoza (as a main course - which the Japanese would consider odd for sure but then we are not Japanese and we love gyoza so...) and rice and one of the couples brought a broccoli salad (which is also not very Japanese but like I said before....). Also not very Japanese is the dessert concept - at least it isn't traditionally Japanese but you should see the line-ups at the high-end chocolate shops in Roppongi Hills. Anyway, I decided to try a new recipe that I had seen in the November Chatelaine magazine that had arrived the day before. It promised to be easy and reading the ingredients it didn't look like it could possibly be anything but very, very good. It was more than that - it was incredible! And as easy as promised.

I have no pictures to seduce you with - by the time I decided that this should be shared there was nothing left but the 'remains of the day' and although that would have been a testament to the yumminess it would have been less than seductive as a visual image. Without any more fanfare here is the recipe.

Chocolate Pate

168 g dark chocolate, preferably good quality*

2/3 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1 Tbsp sugar

Line bottom and sides of a small (6x3.5") loaf pan with plastic wrap, letting wrap hang over sides of pan.

Microwave chocolate, cream, butter and sugar in a bowl. Heat for 3 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. Pour into prepared pan. Refrigerate until firm, at least 6 hours.

To serve, turn out of pan and remove the plastic wrap. Slice into pieces and serve with cocoa powder. (Or do like I did and put it on a pretty serving platter unsliced, with a knife, and let your guests serve themselves.)

* I used my very most favourite bar - a Lindt Excellence Sea Salt Dark Chocolate. In my opinion the bit of salt really does something amazing to the chocolate.

Just so you know - it was a definitive hit with all. And again, so you know, you really, really want to make this. Soon. And often.

I served it with some softly whipped cream and bowls of raspberries, blueberries and some wonderful ripe red pears that we sliced at the table. It was (again) pretty casual presentation but it looked impressive and tasted better.

A Little Bit Giddy

About a month ago my old and very valued iMac developed symptoms of a terminal illness. So very sad. And I was very sad because this is not a good time for our family to be buying things like new computers and other such luxuries. But my very wonderful husband agreed that I should have my own computer still and ta da!!!! today the Purolator man brought me this super-cool,amazing, fantastic (I know - way too many superlatives but I mean it!) and much anticipated new iMac. I am so excited. I can't tell you. But I am feeling a bit giddy.

Reflections

At the end of my life who do I want to be? What would I like to be remembered as and for? Since Merin's death I have spent a fair amount of time trying to figure this out. Not in a self-indulgent or self-important sort of way but more because she inspires me. Her life was brief but she touched so many people in beautiful and significant ways. The other day I was speaking with a friend and she referred to Merin as "special" and then said "but you have heard that before." I have, but like being told "I love you", it never gets old and is always welcome - a comfort.

Merin was generous with herself - she gave and received love openly and joyously. She was generous in giving approval and encouragement. She tried, in a conscious manner, to do her best - whether it was in dance, in homemaking, in being a sister, a mother, a friend, a daughter, a child of God. She glowed. Really she did - I always thought of her as a pearl. So precious. And she was happy. Of course, she had her moments and days like all of us do but overall, that was/is Merin. One of her good friends described her as "pure joy and grace", a description that is exactly perfect. I knew her so very well and I couldn't think of better words. These are things that over and over again people say about her.

So, again, I think - who do I want to be? What do I want to share? How do I want to be remembered? I think of these questions not because I want acclaim or honor but for myself. It doesn't matter really what others say or think because they can be misled by appearances. It matters to me though that I am a genuine, caring person. Talents and achievements are only self-serving unless offered unselfishly to others. To make a beautiful home for the comfort of loved ones is a credit but to create a showpiece for praise seems somehow shallow and meaningless.

To be honest I don't know that I want to know what others say about me now or when I eventually die - for sure there is some good and some bad as well. What I am trying to know is for myself. I know that when I am focused on the goal I am so much more content than when I am concerned about my performance and how it is being perceived by others.

I read the quote from Erma Bombeck the other day and was immediately struck with a feeling of agreement and recognition. I too, want to be able to say that I have used every little bit that I have been blessed with. It is a matter of love and gratitude - of sharing.

Banana, Chocolate, and Pecan Muffins

Mmmmmmmm. These muffins are good. Maybe it's the dark chocolate (that certainly can't hurt, and it is good for you right?) maybe it's the yummy mellowness of the ripe banana combined with the crunch of the nuts.... but whatever, they are GOOD. Everyone agrees and the muffins perform an amazing vanishing act! I try to keep a few in the freezer for dessert (yes, they are that good) but it is a trick to have any left to freeze. I am pretty pleased with these.

Banana, Chocolate, and Pecan Muffins

1 1/4 cups oatmeal

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup ground flaxseed

3 tbsp salba (sometimes called chia seed)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1/4 cup plain yogurt

3 medium ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup agave syrup (you can sub honey)

1/3 cup canola oil

1/2 cup chopped pecans

2 cups good quality dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 F. Whisk together oatmeal, flour, flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda, and pecans. Combine eggs, yogurt, bananas, oil, and syrup. Fold into dry ingredients and add chocolate chips. Bake in greased muffin tin at 375 F for 22 minutes. Makes 12 large muffins.

The best way to have any to freeze is just to make them when nobody is home and freeze the whole batch! Sneaky I know but it works. Might be the only way. Anyhow, try them and let me know!

Oh! and these are pretty good for you too. Check out the good stuff - flaxseed, salba (both excellent sources of protein and omega3's), bananas, nuts, low in fat and of course, the chocolate! Not joking - it is good for you if it's dark. Serve them with grapefruit and some kind of eggs....mmmmmmm, yummy!

Spiced Sweet Potatoes

Once upon a time, when we lived away from family and long-distance calls were prohibitively expensive and e-mail was not for the masses, I was planning a holiday dinner and wanted to serve sweet potatoes. I couldn't find a recipe that appealed to me and so I decided to just try something original. Happily, it was a success and is the one item on the menu that is not negotiable for our family (other than the turkey of course!) In fact, Eden says it is the base of the meal as well as the cap. I have never written it down but have been asked to and so here it is.

Spiced Sweet Potatoes

2 large yams (or 4 medium)

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves

1 cup brown sugar (I use a mix of dark and light brown sugars)

juice of 1 lemon

juice of 1 orange

Bake the yams at 350 F for about an hour or until they are soft. (Smells soooo good!) Remove from oven and peel - the skin pretty much just slips off. Mash the flesh with a potato masher and add the butter, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, sugar and juices. Mix well. Taste and adjust the spices if you want. Put the mixture into a 9x9 baking pan. Cover with large marshmallows and bake at 350 F until marshmallows are puffed and brown - about 15 minutes if the mixture is hot or if you have done the prep in advance of roasting the turkey (or whatever) it will take about 30 minutes so that it is heated through.

This year Jonathon and I had the same thought at the same time - to chop some pecans and sprinkle them over the sweet potato mixture before putting the marshmallows on. It was definitely a good thing.

Giving Thanks

I would have to say that I think the pilgrims had hold of the right end of the stick when they had that first thanksgiving feast. Although the challenges I face in life are dramatically different than theirs were, experience has taught me (repeatedly) that when I am discouraged one of the best tools to fight with is counting my blessings. I can never count my blessings without feeling grateful, which leads of course, to giving thanks. And when that is all done I feel so much encouraged because I have been blessed in the past - why not in the future? I wonder if that was pilgrim psychology as well... At any rate, I have many blessings to count and I am so thankful for them. At the top of the list, of course, is my family - my wonderful husband, our very dear children and precious grand-babies. Love for them is what makes my world turn. This past weekend our Thanksgiving gathering was smaller than I would have chosen (we missed Mark, Thomas and Hannah and their two littles, and of course Merin and Mike) but it was still warm, still happy, still full. And I still got to cook for them all! No seriously. I love to. It is what I love to do! I am most happy when our home is full, the kids are playing and we are cooking, eating and laughing together.

I had fun deciding how to set and decorate the table and planning the meal. David and Jonathon were fantastic sou chefs, (David should never undervalue his abilities as turkey carver and master dishwasher!), Eden brought her camera and skills, along with Daylan and the kids. Grandma Jan and Don joined us and the day was a success. We were together.

Back to the pilgrims and me - perhaps missing something of great value enhances the value of what one still has. I cherish my loved ones, my friends, my faith. I enjoy opportunities to explore talents and ideas, to experience the talent of others, to see the beauty of the world and feel the sun on my face, to be embraced by love. My life is full. I give thanks.

To see some of the beautiful pictures Eden took of our Thanksgiving go to her blog from her website www.edenlangpictures.com . I'm so lucky she shares her talent to document our gatherings and moments. Thanks Eden!