Blueberry Scones

Last week was ridiculous.  Between two trips to the emergency room for a baby whose 104-105 fever wouldn’t break for 3 days (with medicine), and work deadlines that didn’t take notice at all of my personal schedule, I’m physically and emotionally spent.

For instance, after 2 days of a high fever, we thought we were in the clear when the baby’s temperature went down to 99.  And, after 48 hours of no sleep, we thought to take a nap at 3:00 a.m.  At 5:00 a.m., turns out the temperature went down to 94, which is bad bad bad.  Helpless is the word.  Oh, and also sleep deprived.

Spent.

As in, I want to hide under my bed covers and sleep for a month….and wake up only for these scones.

I made these scones as a way to use up my frozen blueberries, and to also have a special breakfast treat for several days during the week.  With such a short ingredient list, you’re likely to have everything on hand.  And after a week like mine, I’ll call that a win.  Add a cup of dark coffee, and I can almost see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Blueberry Scones

barely adapted from Tyler Florence

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut in chunks
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (if frozen, make sure its thawed and drained)
• 1 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing the scones

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
3. Cut in the butter with a fork until the mixture look like coarse crumbs.
4. Fold the blueberries into the batter. Be careful and gentle to where you don’t break the blueberries because the color will bleed into the dough.
5. Make a well in the center and pour in the heavy cream. Fold everything together just to incorporate; do not overwork the dough.
6. Press the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 12 x 3 x 1.5 inches. Cut the rectangle in half then cut the pieces in half again, giving you 4 squares. Cut each square in half diagonally.
7. Place the scones on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush the tops with a little heavy cream. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until beautiful and brown.

Fresh Berry Cream Pie

Happy Fourth of July! This is a very important time for me. Are you ready? Pastry cream. Have you had it? I thought I had. I have only now just discovered it. I have tasted several pastries and tarts from bakeries, that have just left me wondering why it was any different from vanilla pudding. It’s better. How much better? So good that I (1) considered eating the whole bowl, (2) wanted to slather myself with it like lotion, and (3) paired it with a buttery crust and decorate it with fresh berries.

Don’t judge my excitement. When you discover, albeit later than almost everyone in this nation, something so wonderful, I could shout it from the rooftops – or at least from my kitchen. Glorious velvety cream that should never be given a supporting role. Rather, use it as a filling for a flaky butter pie crust that is light enough to complement the vanilla cream and slightly tart berries.

I love pies on Fourth of July, and this cream based pie is a nice stunning alternative to the usual, and a great way to take advantage of the summer berries. Served cold, it’s quite refreshing for the Texas and/or July heat, as well.

Fresh Berry Cream Pie
dough adapted from Joy the Baker; pastry cream adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 1 and 1/4 cup cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup buttermilk, cold

Pastry Cream:

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Toppings:

• Fresh blueberries
• Fresh strawberries, cut in half
• Apricot or apple jelly, for glazing

Directions:

1. To make pie crust: Sift together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter and cut into the flour mixture until its coarse crumbs. Add the buttermilk and mix Turn out onto a clean surface and knead until the dough comes together. Once the dough comes together, gather into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least and hour. At this point, preheat your oven to 350F. After chilling, roll out the dough to a 12-inch diameter circle. Drape onto your pie dish. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for about 30 minutes. After, remove plastic wrap, place parchment paper/aluminum foil on top and add pie weights. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let it cool with the pie weights. Remove pie weights and parchment/foil. Poke holes on the bottom with a fork. Bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.
2. To make pastry cream: In a heavy saucepan, over medium heat, stir together milk and 1/3 cup sugar and bring to a boil. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and egg. Add the cornstarch and sugar and thoroughly combine. When the milk is boiling, take about a 1/2 cup of the boiling mixture and add it slowly to the egg mix, whisking constantly. You do not want the eggs to cook or the mixture to curdle, so whisk vigorously. Add the mixture into the boiling milk and continue to whisk until the mixture boils. Once the mix boils, turn off the stove and move off the heat. Now, stir in the butter and vanilla until fully incorporated. Pour into a heat-safe container, cover with plastic wrap touching the top of the cream as to avoid a skin forming, and chill in the refrigerator until cool. If you leave it in the fridge for too long, it will be gelatinous. If so, just beat it again with the mixer and it will come back to form.
3. To assemble the tart: Spread the pastry cream on the cooled pie crust evenly. Decorate with the berries as desired. Heat the jelly in the microwave and using a pastry brush, slightly brush the fruit with the jam for a shine.

Summer Smoothie

Sometimes, a smoothie can solve all problems.

For instance, when you are sweaty in the morning because you spent the night under your winter sheets, a smoothie really can perk you right up.

Or, when you ate an inordinate amount of pizza for dinner, and you really need to fill your taste buds (and body) with normal whole foods, a smoothie can jump-start your road to good eating the next day.

This is my go-to all-around-great summer smoothie.  And, it’s SCD approved!

Summer Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 2 handfuls of organic spinach
• 2 tbsp honey, adjust to taste
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients into blender until you are left with a magnificent and refreshing smoothie.

I added natural peanut butter and almonds.  Next time, I’ll use more drippy peanut butter, but the flavor was all there.  The almonds add the perfect crunch while giving you all the antioxidant goodness.

What’s in your summer smoothie?

I Whip My Oats Back And Forth

If you thought my inane post titles were going to change after yesterday, think again!

Being that it’s Friday and all, “I hop up out of the bed and get my swag on, pay no attention to the haters, because we whip ’em off…”

Again, inspired by the fabulous KERF, I made banana whipped oatmeal.

It’s creamy.  It’s smooth.  It’s rich.  It’s buttery.  It’s sweet in all the right ways.  It’s not your regular bowl of oats.

That brown glob would be my homemade chocolate peanut butter.  (Delicious!)

And just when you thought I couldn’t put a camera closer to my food:

So “all my ladies [or gents] if you feel it…do it, do it!!”

Banana Whipped Oatmeal

Adapted from KERF

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 tbsp ground flax
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 pinch kosher salt
• 1/2 large ripe banana, chopped*
• 1/4 cup of blueberries

Directions:

1. Add oats, flax, chia, salt and vanilla to milk and simmer over medium heat.
2. When it starts bubbling, add the banana.
3. Go ape shit and whip it real good!
4. During the last 1-2 minutes of cooking the oats, add the blueberries and stir.
5. Enjoy your whipped oats!

Note:  *I like to chop the banana into larger pieces because I want to have pieces of banana in my oats to taste.  The finer you chop your banana, the finer the consistency.  It’s the difference between mashed and smashed potatoes.

Side Question:  Have you heard/read about the study/research on birth order and how it is telling of your personality/character?  If so, what do you think about the study?  Do you think you fit into the birth order roles?  Are you married to or with someone that’s your same birth order or different?  What kind of differences do you notice?

It’s a random question I know – but I have been really focusing in on this research for the past few months.  I know it applies to my life (I’m first-born; so is Binks).  If you think this question is associated to this post, then you are right.