4.27.2009
The week ahead~~
4.26.2009
A Sunday Trifecta a.k.a. ~~Recipe for Cherry Ginger Scones
I got the base for the scones I made the other day from this book --A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg (also known as Orangette). There are wonderful stories and recipes in this book and I highly recommend it.
I made a few changes, because I had lots of dried cherries and I wanted to use them. Here's the recipe, with my changes:
Cherry Ginger Scones
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
1/2 cup dried cherries, plumped in hot water and drained
1/2 cup heavy cream (or half-and-half)
1 large egg
Preheat the oven to 425F. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using your hands, rub the butter into the flour mixture, squeezing and pinching until the mixture resembles a coarse meal and there are no large butter lumps left. Add the sugar, lemon zest, and crystallized ginger. Mix together. Pour the cream into a small bowl; add the egg to the cream and blend. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture. Drain the cherries, add to the mix. Stir gently to just combine. Press the dough into a ball, working in excess flour. Pat into a circle about an inch thick. Cut into eight wedges. Place the wedges onto a baking sheet and brush the tops only with a little cream or half-and-half. Sprinkle with raw sugar (turbinado sugar) or pearl sugar. Bake for 15 minutes or until pale golden. Cool slightly, and serve warm with butter or mock Devonshire Cream.
Mock Devonshire Cream
Equal parts Sour Cream and Cool Whip blended together. Sounds nasty, tastes great!
Sunday Stuff
With proceeds from yesterday's sale, I purchased some annuals for my two iron flower boxes for the front porch. Small white Wave petunias, and coral tuberous begonias (ii?). I bought the boxes at the Ferdinand yard sale a few weeks ago...two iron boxes with a dragonfly on the front. I did't have any coco mat around to line them, so I cut a few layers of burlap, lined the bottom of the planter with a large zip-lock bag and filled it with soil. It seems to work.
I feel like I'm so late in planting things this year, but it's been such an odd Spring. I still need to work on a raised bed in the back courtyard. That little area has been so neglected. The first year I lived here, I put in a pond (in a whiskey barrell), and had a really pretty container garden. It's been downhill since then. I walked out there yesterday to get the umbrella from the basement and lamnia and other assorted weeds were nearly knee-deep. I pulled a garbage bag full of weeds so far today. Little by little. Sometimes I feel like I need "man-hands" around to help with some of this...especially when I'm in building-mode.
An update on the brioche...something went terribly wrong! The dough was so moist...I added a bit more flour, let it rise, and ended up plopping it in a bread pan instead of rolling (impossible to do) it into triangles and rolling them up. It baked into an inedible brick...truly my worst baking disaster. I ended up making cherry ginger scones (inspired by Vee's scone making) instead and they were delicious.
The drink of the day: Fresh lemonade with a splash of Limoncella. Yum.
YART Recap
4.24.2009
Today's To-Do's~~~~~
- Bundle up quilt/craft magazines and books for YART
- Pack up table cloth (old quilt), folding chair, big canvas umbrella (and stand)
- Grocery and wineshop --we had Bellini's at Bunco last night, and they would be a delightful drink for after the sale tomorrow.
- Trip to the little cake decorating supply shop for cellophane wrappers for homemade soap.
- Make a batch of Merlot Rosemary Jelly and a batch of Camomile Jelly (also for YART)--we'll call it food arts...
- If there's time...go to the basement and pull out the white coffeepot lamp!
4.23.2009
Another project for the To Do list...
4.22.2009
YART-West
Have you heard about YART? I don't know where it all started, but this coming Saturday there will be YART-West in Evansville. Yard + Art = YART...a yardsale for art. The only stipulation is that everything must be priced at $10.00 or less; supplies, finished products, jewelry, prints, fine craft...this should be fun. I'll have a vendor space...offering jewelry, supplies, and hundreds of quilting and craft magazines. The weather is supposed to be wonderful...can't wait!
4.19.2009
Packrat Payoff...
4.12.2009
Easter Sunday...
I love this photo...wish it were mine, and wish it were here...so full of springtime charm.
4.05.2009
More Sunday things...
Daffodil Redux
I spent 60 cents on two metal trays (ten cents for one, fifty for the other), cute little unused baby shoes, the white pair in a cute little presentation box--fifty cents a pair, two glass apothocary jars, fifty cents each, a beaded box, 25 cents, a heavy I-don't-know-what-it's-made-of hinged box for ten cents, "pearl" necklace - 25 cents, and a bag of thread for 25 cents--purchased mainly for the ecru tatting thread.
The boxes will be for my growing jewelry business, and the containers will house small plants...mini-terrariums (later today).
Catching Up
It's been awhile...as usual, not much going on. As I look through photos on my phone, I decided to do a little blog post. Last Monday...
-
Photo is from http://www.mortons.com/ While perusing new books this week, I came across Morton's the Cookbook 100 Steakhouse Recipes fo...
-
I've been looking forward to today all week...I'm packing up my sewing machine and visiting my friend Michelle. We're going to ...