Foodie Friday

Well, we learned today that, in this house, we do not indeed cry over spilt milk... we do cry over broken eggs. My morning started off with a half-full carton of backyard-fresh eggs hitting the kitchen floor. It was very traumatic; I can only imagine what poor Lavender will think when we tell her what I've done. The damn chicken survives a hawk attack (yes, you read that right - a few weeks ago, Peep set off the chicken war-cry and when I got out back, a Cooper's Hawk had Lavender pinned to the ground... never fear - with the help of my trusty dear dog, and a bit of shrieking and arm-flapping, the hawk left and Lavender's bloody wounds healed)... and all I can do to repay her hard work is splatter 6 of her eggs on the floor... ho-hum...

So, to satisfy your need for recipes on this blustery Friday, here are some breakfast staples that do not include eggs. *whimper, whimper*. You can see how our indoor animals are satisfying their needs on these cold, winter days:

Apple Ginger Scones
adapted from Cook's Illustrated, March/April 1994

• 2 C stone ground organic whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 T organic unsalted butter
• 2 T local honey
• 1/4 C fresh-squeezed organic orange juice
• 1/2 C local whole milk
• 2 small organic apples; peeled and chopped
• 1/4 C organic candied ginger pieces
• Combine dry ingredients; cut in cold butter with pastry cutter
• In a separate bowl, combine honey, milk, and OJ
• Stir apples and ginger into dry ingredients then mix in wet ingredients
• Drop on parchment paper lined baking sheet (makes  8-9 fist-sized scones)
• Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes

Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink Smoothie

• Frozen organic banana
• Frozen organic mango
• 2 organic navel oranges, peeled
• 2 C fresh organic kale
• 1/2 C organic plain whole milk yogurt
• Local elderberry juice
• Vitamin D3 drops (the girls take these; John and I take our extra D in pill form)

Carrot Fruit Smoothie

• 1 large organic carrot; peeled
• Frozen organic banana
• Frozen organic mango
• 2 organic navel oranges; peeled
• 1 C homemade almond milk
• 1 T organic unrefined coconut oil; melted

Thank you CHERRY much!

Dear Abby and Elise,

Thank you for playing dress up today. I loved seeing you, Abby, in your jammies, apron, and knee-high black boots. I loved seeing you, Elise, in your flowing, flowered dress, hair in a bun, bonnet on as you pretended to be Marian (madam librarian). Thank you for dressing up your babies for a tea party - Abby, you are so strong to clear the entire work table off and drag it halfway from the workroom to the living room. Elise - it was a great idea to tie your baby into her hair chair. Falling out of a chair at a tea party is zero fun. Thank you both for covering every visible surface of our house with: books, CandyLand, building blocks, books, dress up clothes, doll clothes, books, pillows, paper, pens, markers, books, pretend food items (including pretend homemade apple crisp), and books. It was a great day and all of the above happened because you got to stay home and play ALL DAY LONG! 

Love,

Mom

And as long as I'm throwing the "thanks" around, let's give a shout out to Kay and Dylan for sharing their awesome cherry tree with us!

The girls helped pick these delicious tart cherries on Saturday, so naturally for breakfast Sunday morning something had to be baked! We settled on cherry scones and they were fabulous. 

Cherry Scones

adapted from For The Love of Scones

• 5 T organic unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 C local, organic tart cherries (pitted and halved)
• 1/2 C local whole milk
• 1/2 C organic sour cream
• 2 C organic whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 C organic coconut sugar
• 2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
• 1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• Combine dry ingredients
• In separate bowl, whisk sour cream and milk
• Using pastry cutter, mix cold chunks of butter into dry ingredients
• Combine wet and dry until dough forms
• See here for steps on shaping and chilling dough, as well as adding cherries
• Once scones are cut and ready for the oven, brush the tops with a bit of butter and sprinkle with coconut sugar
• Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes

Guest post: Erika's Banana Pecan Scones

Ingredients:

1-3/4C. AP flour

1/4C. whole wheat flour

3T. brown sugar or Demerara* or Turbinado*

1T. baking soda

1/2t. kosher salt

9T. cold unsalted butter cut into pats (easier to blend in the food processor)

1t. ground cinnamon

1/4t. ground nutmeg

2/3C. chopped pecans

3/4C. mashed ripe/overripe banana

1/4C. greek yogurt (I like Fage 0%)

Demerara* or Turbinado* sugar

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 F.

• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

• In a food processor, pulse flours, sugar, baking power, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and butter till the mixture looks like rough sand. Pour into a large mixing bowl.

• With a fork, blend flour mixutre with pecans till evenly distributed. Add yogurt and banana puree, blend well with a fork until most of the flour is combined. Pour dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently til smooth or 3 turns. DO NOT-over knead, the scones will be tough and the warmth of your hands will melt the butter!!

• Form into a 9" circle that is about 3/4" high. With a bench scraper or knife cut the circle into 8 wedges and place on the parchment paper 2" apart. Sprinkle Demerara sugar on tops. Bake in middle of oven for 20-25 minutes til slightly brown. Let cool on rack for 10 minutes. Eat warm or at room temp with a cold glass of moo juice! Good for breakfast or a snack.

*Natural brown sugar is brown sugar made by partially refining sugar cane extract, whereas most brown sugar is made by addingmolasses to fully refined sugar.

Golden coloured natural brown sugar is produced by extracting the juice from sugar cane, heating it to evaporate water and crystallise the sugar, then spinning in a centrifuge to remove some impurities and further dry the sugar. It is commonly used in baking and to sweeten beverages such as coffee and tea.

In the US, a similar sugar is commonly called turbinado sugar, after the centrifuges or turbines in which it is spun. In the United States, most turbinado sugar is produced in Hawaii and is often sold as an organic product. The popular Hawaiian product sold in the U.S. is produced on Maui and marketed under the name brand "Sugar in the Raw". There are slight differences in taste between turbinado and demerara sugar.

These types of natural brown sugar are typically paler and drier than what is normally sold as brown sugar, and have larger crystals. In general, they can be freely exchanged with brown sugar in recipes, although it may affect the flavor of a recipe calling for a lot of brown sugar, such as a blondie, and the moisture content will be slightly lower.

**Thanks, Erika! Scones are well-known in our house - our local health food store, The Merc, is Abby and Elise's favorite shopping spot. They recently each received $2.00 from their Great Grammy for their 2nd birthday and, when asked "What do you want to go buy?", Elise eagerly replied "the Merc... SCONE!", so I'd better be a good Momma and get baking! We always have turbinado and cane sugar in our kitchen - I prefer the taste and I think cane sugar is sweeter so I can often use a bit less when baking. -Erin**