Berries!

Lately I've been craving blueberry/lemon concoctions. And tea and scones. So let's put them together, shall we? Whole Wheat Blueberry Scones

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 3/4 cups white flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup butter (chilled, cut into pieces)
1 3/4 cups fat-free buttermilk
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Juice of 1 lemon
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Mix dry ingredients. Cut butter into dry mix. Stir in buttermilk just until moistened, then stir in the blueberries. Form dough into 12 wedges. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Let cool. Mix powdered sugar into lemon juice till mixture is thick but still runny. Drizzle over scones.

Serve these with iced blueberry mint tea, and perhaps some marscapone cheese to spread on.

Crocodile and diamonds and gold, oh my!

Now, I'm not much of a Louis Vuitton girl, despite the MJ influence and the posh frenchness, and the being owned by the same company as Hennessy, etc. But have you seen the new watch collection Marc just did for them?
An entire watch face covered with pave diamonds? Black and gold and white and a clever use of the company's logo at 5'oclock? Sigh.

Mallows!

It is getting warmer out, and no one wants to turn on the oven and make their apartment all sticky-hot to make treats. So what is non-oven, non-fat, and mega-delicious? Homemade marshmallows!
There are various recipes for them, mostly involving gelatin, sugar, corn syrup, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt. Recipes are here, here and here.

Split the "batter" into portions when you're done if you want to make flavored mallows. You can use food coloring and extracts to flavor the different portions, and then either swirl them into one pan, or pour them one by one for layered treats. How about half vanilla, half earl grey?

SPAIN

Last week, I just missed the chance to purchase a 6.6 lb wheel of Senorio Montelarreina (Manchego) cheese. I have been sad all week, thinking how delicious at least a half-pound of this would have been with some quince paste.
So let's do the next best thing: make quince ratafia! Shred one quince into a jar. Add a bottle of vodka and a 1/4 cup of sugar. Let sit for a few weeks, then drain out the fruit and serve. You can use brandy, too, if you'd like. If you drink enough of it, you will forget about that 6.6 lb wheel of cheese...

Breakfast for Dinner, Pt. VI

All aboard the runny egg train- next stop, Tunisia! There, they have a pastry called a brik. An egg brik consists of encasing an entire egg in a flakey triangle of pastry dough, which is also filled with onion and spinach and parsley and other delightful things. This is then deep-fried, but just enough so that the egg is still a delicious runny mess.

Then things get better: There is a Tunisian tradition where the mother of the bride makes an egg brik for the groom, and he must eat it without getting yummy eggy goo all over himself. If he spills the egg, then the wedding is off. More people should base marriage off of things like the ability to eat eggs.

Breakfast for... wait, we won't eat you.

This pig in England is afraid of walking around in the mud, due to having dirt-phobia. So, to help it out, the piggies farmers tried PUTTING IT IN WELLIES!Now he will walk in the dirt. In children's rubber boots. In England. Isn't it great when animals overcome adversity?

Breakfast for Dinner Pt. V

I'm losing count on this one. Turns out Italy has their own poached egg dish, challenging the French's lead in breakfast for dinner ideas. It is traditionally called, "Uova in Purgatorio" which means "Eggs in Purgatory" and generally consists of 'poaching' eggs in marinara sauce, which can then be served over polenta, mashed potatoes, pasta, or by themselves.

For the recipe, we'll go with Mario Batali's, since I luft him:

Yield: 5 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Ease of preparation: easy

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup Gaeta olives, pitted but left whole
1 (28-ounce) can peeled tomatoes, juices drained and set aside for another use, tomatoes cut into 1/2-inch strips
Salt
10 eggs
1 bunch basil, leaves cut chiffonade
1/4 cup freshly grated caciotta

In a 12 to 14-inch nonstick saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat until just smoking. Add the onion and cook 7 to 9 minutes, until softened and light brown. Add the olives and tomatoes, season lightly with salt, and cook slowly for 18 to 20 minutes, until the tomatoes start to break down.

Carefully crack the eggs into the pan, keeping them whole and separated. Cover with a lid or foil and cook 3 to 4 minutes, until the whites have set but the yolk is still runny. Sprinkle basil and grated cheese over and serve from the pan on the table.


Points: France-3, Italy-1, Me-1. Mmmmmm, purgatory.

Iced Tea Time

It is finally getting hot out, and time to make delicious iced tea. But how to do it without shattering your favorite glass jar into a million pieces with hot water (like I maybe just did)? The Bodum heat-resistant acrylic ice tea pitcher!

It has a built-in filter for loose tea (English Breakfast?) and herbs (English Breakfast and fresh mint?) for super easy, perfect iced tea. And no broken glass.

Embroidery Town!

Today I found this file in the pre-digitized design set, along with other adorable ready to go embroidery images. All this little guy needs is some summer clothes to be embroidered on. Maybe the skirt of a jumper?
Don't you just want to put him on your tote bag, or your bed sheets, or a pillow?

And the Award Goes To...

Know what the cutest sea critter is (that you can eat?) It is...

The Scallop! I think we should call it a seamallo, or as a close associate calls them, "squishy sea dots."

Breakfast for Dinner Pt. IV

What's the only thing better than dinner with a poached egg on it? A huge cheese ravioli with a runny egg yolk cooked right into the middle of it, covered with shaved truffles. The idea is, that cutting into the yolk mixes with the cheese, creating the oozy sauce needed for the pasta.



This will be the third dish at my dream dinner party. Martha's detailed instructions are here, but I would suggest just using your favorite simple ravioli recipe and just making a few adjustments for the yolk.