Lemon Blueberry Scones

I found this recipe on bakingbites.com. I didn't have real lemons, so I used lemon juice and omitted the zest. They turned out so good. I would rate them an 8.


Lemon Blueberry Scones
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbsp butter, chilled
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 cup frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut butter into 6-8 chunks and add to flour mixture, tossing to coat. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until mixture is sandy and butter is well distributed, with no pieces larger than a big pea.
Add in milk, lemon juice and lemon zest and stir until dough comes together. If dough is too wet, add an additional tablespoon of flour to the dough.
Either keeping the dough in your mixing bowl, or turning it out onto a lightly floured surface, knead dough for about 1 minute. Flatten dough and add blueberries. Knead gently for 30-60 seconds to distribute them. Divide dough into two balls and press each into a disc about 3/4-inch thick. Use a knife to divide each disc into quarters and place scones on prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 17-22 minutes, until scones are golden brown.

Lemon Glaze (optional)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

Whisk glaze ingredients together until smooth, then drizzle over still-warm scones before serving

Beet Bread

I was going to make beet pancakes with the beet puree from the day before but realized that I had bought bread flour and not all purpose flour at the store the other day, so I wanted to try beet bread. I found this recipe while searching on line on mysisterskitchen.wordpress.com.

I boiled my beets for a while until soft and then I let them cool, pulled the skin off (it will come off really easy if soft) and then puree them together.

This recipe calls for 1 2/3 cup beet puree. Combine it with 1/2 cup warm milk.

In a kitchenaid, or bowl ( I had a bowl), combine together:

puree,
1/3 cup warm water
an egg
1/4 cup melted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon yeast
1 teaspoon pepper

let bubble together for about 20 minutes.

Add about 4 cups more flour until it turns into a big ball. I do it by feel.
Let rise for about an hour, until it doubles.
Shape into 2 round loaves and cover and let rise again, about an hour.
Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or so.
Let cool, or slice right away if you like your bread right out of the oven.

Even though the bread is pink, you cannot taste the beets. It was really tasty. I would rate this an 8.

Haunting Hot Chocolate

When planning meals for my family I was looking through my halloween cookbooks and found this hot chocolate. It sounded so good.

In a saucepan put 1/4 cup whole milk, dash of nutmeg, 3/4 cup white chocolate pieces ( I used white chocolate chips) and orange peel from a whole orange. On low heat, whisk until the chocolate is melted ( I kept it on a little longer to let the orange flavor set in a little more. Remove the orange peel and add 2 3/4 cup more milk. Heat through. Once warmed through, remove from heat, add 1 tablespoon vanilla. Pour in cups. Top with whipped cream and sprinkle with more nutmeg.

This recipe made enough for only the two of us. It was so good we had it two nights in a row. It is a new family favorite.

I would rate this a 10.

Ranch Chicken Pizza

I found this recipe on "Our Family Treat" blog (on the side of our family blog). It looked so good and easy.

Take your favorite pizza dough recipe, or buy one at the store. If you have a pizza stone heat it in the oven for a few minutes and then place your dough on the heated stone. Spread ranch dressing (I used bacon ranch because that is what I had in the fridge). Top with cooked chicken (seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic salt), crumbled up bacon, arugula and mozzarella cheese ( I used colby and jack mix). Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes.

This was so good and I would do it again. Don't be so hesitant about the arugula. I had never used it before and really liked it. I would rate this a 9.