Halloween Pumpkin Fest: Pumpkin Scone Mix Review

Brad's mom sent us some goodies from King Arthur Flour, including a box of Whole Grain Harvest Pumpkin Scone Mix! I want to share this with you, because even though it's not my own recipe, it's something I would highly recommend having in your oven! The spicy smell in our oven this morning, has me in the mood for a spooktacular day!

First, the nuts and bolts: This mix is pretty healthy, it makes 16 mini scones and a serving is about two of those. If you just eat that much you are getting 5 grams of dietary fiber (20 % of your recommended daily amount). No crazy ingredients...just "pumpkin flakes" which I imagine just means dehydrated pumpkin. It is a bit high on the sugar- 22 g for just two mini scones, but it's Halloween, so I'm not really concerned about my sugar intake for today! :o) Not too bad on the fat, 20% of your daily amount, mostly due to the butter that the recipe calls for. I think you could get away with adding half as much butter and substituting apple sauce or sour cream/buttermilk/yogurt if you are really concerned about that. They're REALLY filling, probably because they are so high in fiber, so don't worry about eating too many. You can't.

Now on to the method. The instructions were very easy to follow, simple and clear. The dough came together quickly and baked up in less than 15 minutes. There are also instructions for variations, including stirring crystallized ginger into the dry ingredients before adding the wet ingredients. (Doesn't that sound gorgeous?!)

The dough doesn't really expand very much, (although it might if you add the extra acid in those butter substitutes I listed...) but the scones are still fluffy and moist! They had a delicious flavor, a little sweet for a scone, but I'm not complaining!

My scones weren't as pretty as the ones in the photo on the box (Next time I'll be more careful about smoothing out the dough after I put it in the pan.) but I'm still really happy with this mix and would be proud to serve these scones to my friends and family!

Here are King Arthur's Scones...

...And my scones

A BIG THANK YOU TO BRAD'S MOM, FOR SENDING US THIS LOVELY MIX!


** Oh, in case you are wondering how I got my scones to be so perfectly triangular, Brad's mom also sent us a mini scone pan...it rocks!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been really lazy about photographing my food. I'm sorry for that. On to the post...

I have to be honest, I'm not the hugest fan of chocolate chips. I think they get in the way of the buttery brown sugar goodness of the cookie part of the cookie. But these still have a place in my heart, and Brad likes them, so that was the treat of the weekend.

Just a few notes before we start: You know how the cookies from refrigerated cookie dough are always so beautifully golden, and they have this really great complex toffee flavor that you can never get when you make the cookies yourself? It's because the dough has had time to rest. They leave this out of the recipe on the Nestle Toll House bag, but you are supposed to refrigerate your cookie dough for 3 days for optimal results. I usually don't plan that far ahead, so between advice from my friends--Hey, Tracie!-- and personal experimentation I have learned to compensate for the wait time...and if you do have the time, this recipe is that much better when you refrigerate it!

1-1/4 cup whole wheat flour*
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
3/4 cup semi-sweet or, if you don't like things too sweet, dark chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees (F). In a small bowl combine your flour, baking soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl cream the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until they reach the consistency of fluffy icing. Then add your eggs one at a time, beating the first one in before adding the second. Keep beating the mixture until it returns to it's fluffy icing consistency after adding each egg. Then add in half of your flour mixture. Incorporate that addition completely before you add in the rest of the flour mixture. Then add in your chips, and stir these in by hand. When you put the cookies on the pan, use a 1 tbsp measuring spoon as your scoop and put rounded scoops on the pan. I put them about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake them for 9-11 minutes, or until they're golden. When you take them out they'll still be puffy and not quite done looking, but if they're golden they're done. If they're still beige, they're not done! Let them rest on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. If the cookies are falling apart after the 2 minute cooling time, just pop them back in the oven for 2-3 minutes and let them cool again before putting them on the cooling rack.

This makes about 2-1/2 dozen cookies. (The Nestle Toll House says that this much dough makes 5 dozen cookies...how tiny are those cookies??!)

This post is dedicated to the real star of these cookies...don't worry, there's honorable mention of her spotlight stealing big sister. ;o)



* The whole wheat flour adds to the golden color, along with the dark brown sugar (which is also there to add to that complex toffee flavor we talked about earlier). If you are using white whole wheat flour, then just use 2 -1/4 cups of that rather than the combination of AP and WW flour.

Risotto Bianco

This recipe isn't exactly original, it's an Italian classic.This is a recipe that people are kind of afraid of because chefs are always saying "There's an art to it. It is simple in theory, but very easy to mess up!" I think they say that because they want to continue charging an arm and a leg for glorified cheesy rice. (Granted, it is the most creamy, vibrant, delicious cheesy rice you've ever had.) I used to be afraid of it but one of my co-workers at my last job--Yes, Ashley! I'm looking at you!-- loved to make it and she finally convinced me to give it a try earlier this year. The secret, I've found, is to have all of your ingredients prepared and measured so all you have to do is dump them in the pan when the time comes for them to be added. I started out with a spring greens risotto by Sarah Raven. You can find it in her book, In Season. Now I've sort of amalgamated her recipes into one basic risotto bianco so "when you find yourself in the thick of it, help yourself to to a bit of what is all around you!"

6 cups chicken stock or broth*

4 tbsp butter

1tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 clove of garlic, minced

2-1/2 cups Arborio rice

1 to 1-1/2 cups white wine**

4 ounces grated Parmesan cheese***

Start out by putting your stock (or broth) into a large pan. It'll come to a boil while you are doing the next few things. In another large heavy bottomed and sort of shallow pan, saute half of your butter, the olive oil and the onions for about 5 minutes. Use a wooden spoon for all your stirring. Add the garlic and saute for a minute longer. Add the Rice and stir to coat it with the fat in the pan. Add the wine, letting it bubble up and evaporate. Then you'll begin adding your hot stock, one ladle full at a time. When you do this you want to be constantly stirring the rice. Make sure the previous ladle full of liquid is absorbed by the rice before you add the next. If you want to time it out, it should take about 20-25 minutes for you to integrate all of the liquid, so you'll be stirring for about 3 or 4 minutes for each addition of the liquid. Once you've added all the stock, turn off the heat and quickly stir in the remaining butter and the cheese. The consistancy should be like hot fresh rice pudding, so it'll coat a spoon, but it won't stick to it. When you bite into the rice, it shouldn't be mushy, but it shouldn't be chalky either. Just a nice al dente.

P.S. I didn't put this in the list of ingredients, but I've had this benefit very nicely from a light dusting of lemon zest being stirred in with the cheese and butter.


I'm convinced that Martha My Dear is an encrypted recipe for risotto. Just think of Martha as metaphor for your wooden spoon. Haha! Hey, people have heard crazier things in a Beatles song!

*I don't think it matters so much which you use, but you do need to use one or the other. If you're a little short on whichever of the two you decide to use, I've cut it with water before, and it turned out fine.

** If you don't want to go out of your way to buy wine for this, or you just don't like cooking with wine, I've substituted with water plenty of times with great success!

***Any hard cheese will do. It's a great way to use leftover bits!

Autumn Leaves Cobbler

This cobbler is one I made up after going on a walk around our New England neighborhood, just as the leaves were changing. It's got the colors of the leaves, some seasonal fruit, and some cozy warmth from the spices...and from the fact that it's cobbler! I am baking for just two people so this recipe only makes enough cobbler for 4 servings, but it's easy enough to double...or triple, if you like.



For the Crust and Dumplings
1 cup all purpose flour

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp butter ,chilled and cubed

1 tbsp shortening ,chilled and cubed*

1.5 tbsp cold water


Preheat your oven to 375 degrees(F) and grease a 6x6 glass baking pan...or some equally small vessel suitable for baking. Then in a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Grab your butter and shortening from the freezer and pinch them in until the mixture looks like wet sand. Add the water. It should just be damp enough to hold together when you close it in your fist. Mash the dough into one lump, cover the bowl and put it in the fridge while you prepare your luscious fruit filling.

Luscious Fruit Filling
1 tbsp corn starch**

1/2 c sugar

1/16 tsp cloves***

1/8 tsp cinnamon***

1 small apple

1 medium nectarine or peach

2 small plums (all of the fruit should add up to one pound total...so should you find yourself substituting, keep that amount in mind.)



Combine the sugar, corn starch, cloves and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Peel, core, and slice your apple into 1/2 to 1 inch slices, pit and slice your stone fruit to the same size. (To pit the nectarines and plums I usually just cut them in half starting at the stem and going around, twist one side off then pick the pit out with the tip of the knife.) Mix the fruit with the sugar and set aside while you get back to your dough.

Take about 1/3 of the dough and break them into little marbles (1/2 inch diameter?) and put them in the bottom of your baking vessel. Then put the fruit slurry (it should already be throwing juice) in the pan. Finally, roll out the remainder of your dough until it's big enough to cover the fruit (you don't have to make a seal like a pie, but you know, try to cover as much of the fruit as you can). I don't actually own a rolling pin, so I use one of those aluminum water canteens to roll out my dough. I used to have a really lovely Bordeaux bottle, but it got knocked off it's home on top of the fridge...

Bake for 1 hour, then broil for 3 minutes. Cool for 15-30 minutes before wrapping yourself and your cobbler buddy (mine is my lover) into a cozy blanket with steaming bowls of autumn-y goodness!



*I just throw it in a small bowl with the butter and put the bowl in the freezer while I do all of the rest of my prep.

**Okay, so this isn't really something that people usually keep on hand, but it's cheap, and it goes a really long way. It is what makes your cobbler so luscious!

*** I know these are infinitesimal measurements. The thing is, I want a little interest, but I don't want to loose the flavors of the fruit either. I usually just do one tiny pinch of the cloves and two tiny pinches of cinnamon.
****Nectarines and peaches are actually not in season, but I had some squirreled away in the freezer from the summer time. You can buy them frozen and sliced too, if you want.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

My fiance and I collaborated on this one last weekend, kind of out of necessity since we wanted pancakes but only had 1 egg, and it turned out great! We will be having sweet potato pancakes for breakfast again this weekend.



1 cup of cooked cooled mashed sweet potato*
1 egg
1-1/4 to 1 -1/2 milk (This depends on how moist your sweet potato is.)
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice**
2 cups Bisquick

Put your pan or griddle on the heat (or if you are a more serious pancake artist, heat your electric griddle to 350 degrees Fahrenheit). We'll talk more about judging how hot it should be by the time you put on your cakes later.

In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly combine your sweet potato, egg, milk, and brown sugar. In a smaller bowl (or in the measuring cup if you have one that holds more than two cups at a time) combine the Bisquick and pumpkin pie spice. Add your dry mixture to the wet one. Stir this together by hand, and really only do it JUST until it's combined. It's okay if there are a few lumps. (Brad usually gets a little crazy with the stirring, and I still think his pancakes are tasty...so don't freak out if you realize there aren't any more lumps in your batter. It'll be fine. Pinky swear!)

Time to check your cooking surface. You'll know your surface is hot enough when you put a couple of drops of water on it, and they dance. They shouldn't evaporate immediately, you should get about 15 seconds of entertainment out of them. Make adjustments as necessary. Then pour your batter for however big you want your pancakes to be. We like our flapjacks to be as big as the plate, so this recipe usually yields 10- 8 inch pancakes for us. You'll know they're ready to flip when the edges get dry and the bubbles close a little more slowly, after they pop. Check golden deliciousness if you must (I usually must.), but try not to disturb the cakes too much and only flip them once. Also, flip them gently and as close to the surface as possible. They're flapjacks, not slapjacks. --comedic flam tap--

That's it! Easy right? They're not very much sweeter than normal pancakes on their own, so if you are like Brad and Me go ahead and drown those babies in syrup! I've also had sweet potato pancakes at a restaurant specializing in southern cuisine that put a big ole' scoop of whipped cinnamon-sugar butter on top, in place of the syrup. I'm not saying I'm proud, but I sure don't regret eating that! I should also note, that like a good chili, these are infinitely better the next day. We just put them in an airtight storage container and popped them in the fridge. I'm sure you'll find all sorts of creative ways to reheat them, but the microwave suits me just fine. Also, we're not able to leave well enough alone, so we are probably going to experiment with orange zest and buttermilk in this recipe tomorrow...

*You can really use ANY method to get the potatoes cooked and mashed. I just wash mine, stab it with a fork a few times, and put it in a microwave safe container with a lid for two 4 minute rounds in the microwave, and I flip it over in between. PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU DO THIS! THE CONTAINER AND THE POTATO GET VERY HOT!! I then scoop the flesh out with that fork I used to stab it, and it's pretty mushy on it's own that way. I usually give it a stir in the measuring cup to break it up a little more and to help it cool down faster. I don't think it matters if you used pureed, boiled or baked sweet potatoes either, I just think that's more work and time than is necessary. Although I've never used canned sweet potatoes, I don't see why they wouldn't work. If you do used canned ones that come in syrup, I would recommend skipping the brown sugar.

**if you have 1/8 tsp ginger, 1/8 tsp of nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp of cinnamon you can use that too.

***If you make your pancakes from scratch I don't see a problem with using the dry ingredients from that recipe...as a matter of fact I think with a smidge of extra moisture (maybe with an extra egg, or 1/4 cup of milk or sweet potato) this recipe could stand up to a whole wheat flour very nicely!

Welcome!

I'm making this blog instead of studying for my Health Law mid-term exam. How responsible, right? Anyway, if you happen to stumble upon this blog in the next 48 hours, I'm sorry there's nothing to see yet, but please be sure to come back! I'll have recipes and music to go with them!