Given that we’re in prime blueberry season around here, I decided my healthy scone would contain some tasty ripe blueberries.  From past healthy scone baking attempts, I’ve found that if you decrease scone fat very much you also decrease the moisture, and need to drink an extra cup of coffee or 3 to wash it down.  I based my scones around this recipe I found during my search, which incorporated low-fat ingredients like yogurt; from past experiences, I find this tends to keep baked goods moist without the fat.  These scones truly came out GREAT – toasty brown and crisp on the top, moist and fluffy on the inside.  The tart lemon glaze was a fantastic complement to the sweet blueberries: they taste like summer, even now as the sun starts setting earlier and the nights are getting cooler…

Low-Fat Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze – adapted from Anneliese, via What Matters Most

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray.  Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and lemon zest in a large bowl.  Cut butter into small pieces.  Using a pastry cutter (or a fork) cut the butter into the dry ingredients until mixture appears uniformly crumbly.  In a stand mixer, beat together the yogurt, egg, and vanilla until well combined.  Slowly mix in the dry ingredients, mixing until incorporated.  Gently fold in the blueberries to the mixture.  Form 2 inch balls of dough and flatten each to about 1 inch thickness on the cookie sheet.  Bake for 18 minutes, or until tops appear golden brown.  Cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack.  To make the glaze, mix the juice of your lemon with the confectioners’ sugar – you may need to add more sugar depending on exactly how much juice your lemon yields, and how thick you want your glaze.  When scones are completely cooled, drizzle with glaze.  Enjoy!

First, good news in the photography front – you will notice an improvement in my photography (hopefully) as I got a digital SLR for my birthday!  Also, I too have come up with a list of 30 things to make while I’m 30.  By next August 22 – you should see me making:

1. Crumpets
2. Chocolate Croissants
3. Pulled pork
4. Hot fudge sauce
5. Salt Ice Cream
6. Crème Brulee
7. Ceviche
8. Braised Beef Canneloni
9. Gnocchi
10. Clam Chowder
11. French Meat Pie
12. Boston Cream Pie
13. Fish Tacos
14. Baked Oatmeal
15. Galette
16. Beer Pancakes
17. Eggs Benedict
18. Focacia
19. Black & White Cookies
20. Cinnamon Bun French Toast
21. Homemade Sausage
22. Sangria
23. Sauerbraten
24. Beef Wellington
25. Homemade Mayonnaise
26. Spanikopita
27. Italian Wedding Soup
28. Jam / Preserves
29. Coq au Vin
30. Bisque

Sadly, bacon-infused vodka did not make the list.  For now, off to celebrate with more cake.  Stay tuned for the cooking adventures!

Looking for a Mexican side-dish that’s full of vegetables and great flavor?  Look no further than calabacitas, which traslates to “little squash.”   This dish goes together easily and showcases fresh summer flavors – zucchini, summer squash, corn and fresh oregano.   Throw in some onions, season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes (if you want the heat), sauté for a few minutes and you’re good to go!

Calabacitas

olive oil
1 small zucchini, sliced thin
1 small yellow squash, sliced thin
1 Roma tomato, diced (I omitted)
1 small red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c. frozen or fresh corn
1 tsp. chopped fresh oregano
red pepper flakes, to taste
cumin, to taste (around 1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

1. Coat sauté pan with olive oil
2. Lightly coat a sauté pan with oil. On medium heat, cook onion, zucchini and squash until slightly softened – about 5-10 minutes.
3. When zucchini has almost reached desired consistency, add corn and heat through.
4. Season with oregano, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper before serving.

Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies – Adapted from Martha Stewart, marshmallowfluff.com

Ingredients – for the Cookies:

Preheat oven to 375.  Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.  In a separate bowl (or a stand mixer if you have one) combine the butter and sugars.  Beat until smooth and fluffy – which for me was about 2-3 minutes.  Make sure to scrape down the bowl intermittently to ensure good mixing!  Then add the egg, mixing for an additional 2 minutes until well combined and light.  Next add about half of the dry ingredients, stirring to incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Add the milk and vanilla, mixing to combine ingredients evenly.  Finally mix in the remaining half of the dry ingredients.  Drop the batter by rounded tablespoons onto a cookie sheet, covered in parchment, and bake in a preheated oven for 12 minutes or until the center springs back when lightly pressed.  Cool completely on a wire rack before proceeding to filling.

Ingredients – for the Frosting

Beat together butter, peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla until the mixture is smooth.  Spread frosting onto the flat side of a cookie, and press another cookie on top to form the completed pie.  Enjoy!

Chicken fajitas are a summer staple in our house. Throw together some tasty marinade, grill up chicken and vegetables and serve them together on warm tortillas. It’s the perfect summer meal: no indoor cooking, minimal dishes and maximum flavor.  Serve them on the deck with an  ice-cold margarita and you’re faced with pure perfection.

While tequila-lime marinade has been my go-to choice for all things Mexican-related, I decided to shake things up a bit last weekend and searched AllRecipces.com for a new chicken fajita marinade.   Success!  The lime juice provides a bit of tart sweetness, while the liquid smoke and cayenne pepper imparts a smokey zing.  I was in a rush and only let the chicken marinate for about an hour, but that didn’t seem to cause any problems.

I use a grill basket like this one for my grilled vegetables, so it’s just as easy as sauteing on the stove.   I don’t use an actual recipe;  chop up mushrooms, peppers and onions and toss them in either olive oil or Italian dressing and then season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Coat your basket with cooking spray and place on the grill during pre-heating.  Cooking times will vary, but 5-8 minutes, stirring every 2-3 minutes, will usually do it.

Chicken Fajita Marinade

1/4 cup lime juice
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. In a small bowl whisk together the lime juice, water, olive oil, garlic, soy sauce, salt, liquid smoke, cayenne and black pepper.
2. Pour marinade over meat and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Cook as desired.

Regular readers of this blog will probably recognize the recipe below – it’s the chocolate cake that I’ve used as the base for all of my chocolate cupcakes.   It deserves its own post – it’s just that amazing.

First of all, it’s really easy to make.  There’s no melted butter or chopped chocolate, just vegetable oil and cocoa.  It’s a breeze to throw all the ingredients together.    The resulting cake has a rich, warm chocolate flavor with a soft, but not overly spongy crumb.

My husband made and decorated this cake for my birthday.  It was so pretty and absolutely delicious!  The cookies and cream frosting (simply halve the recipe from Oreo Cupcakes) added a nice touch.  I have to admit, it was difficult to get a good picture of the cake because it was after dark and we didn’t want to interrupt the celebration.

If you’re looking for a delicious, easy chocolate cake recipe, give the Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake a try… you won’t regret it!

Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease 2 9-inch cake pans.
2. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.
3. In a large bowl, combine sugar, eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Stir until well blended.
4. Add flour mixture to large bowl and beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes.
5. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Cool for 10 minutes before removing to wire racks. Allow cakes to cool completely before frosting.

That’s where I come in. I am an unapologetic lover of all things cheese (bacon as well, but that’s for another post…). Melted, cubed, sliced, you name it– I’ll eat it.  I love going to restaurants and ordering a cheese plate to share; it provides a wonderful opportunity to try out new cheese selections and often a fruit or nut pairing that works really well.  The downside is that those delicious looking plates often come with a hefty price tag and a microscopic wedge.  Here’s my budget solution to a gourmet cheese display that takes maybe 10 minutes max to put together pulling things you probably already have in your pantry and your fridge!

From L to R: jalapeno jack, pepperoni, colby jack, strawberries, fig jam, salami, olives, gorgonzola crumbles, berries, brie log

Let’s break the plate down into a few categories: meat, cheese, bread, fruit/veggies, and spreads.  While you don’t have to have everything on your plate, it’s the combination of them that really elevates a fairly lazy dinner.

Start with the cheese you can find in the fridge. Think about what you’d naturally pair with it. Got swiss cheese? How about add a few cut up slices of deli ham? Cheddar? Pull out that salami or pepperoni and add a bit.  For both of those, pickles would go really well– giving a nice, salty bite. Add a few gherkins from the jar, or better yet– call them cornichons and you’re already getting fancy! Look at you!

Next– the crackers or bread. I like to keep a big variety of crackers on hand, for just such occasions.  You could even add a few slices of crusty bread if you’ve got it on hand.

One “must have” for a cheese plate in my home is fruit. Slice up an apple and serve with colby, cheddar, or muenster. Gouda is fantastic with dried apricots. Blue cheese? Use some dried cranberries, or any fresh berry in season. Grapes are an easy go-to as well. Brie pairs well with pretty much any fruit.

Spreads– this is where your display really goes above and beyond the standard. I’ve seen and enjoyed many a cheese plate that came with a bit of honey comb, but who keeps that around? Add a tiny bit of honey to a prep bowl, add a spreading knife, and it’s pretty much the same thing. Similar with figs– I love them, but I never (emphasize NEVER) have fresh figs on hand. What I do keep in my fridge is fig jam.  Not only does it keep much longer, it goes amazingly well with brie and it’ll make a spread for the best turkey sandwich you’ve ever had! A bit of spicy mustard is also an always-welcome addition for that cheddar and salami.

Finally, the extras. I usually pile a few olives and mixed nuts into the fray just for snacking.  Put everything on to a big cutting board that you used to slice the cheese, and voila! No dishes! Depending on your wine/beer leanings, pair the whole deal with a glass of sparkling Italian wine (prosecco) or a lambic-style beer; a decent bottle of either will run you no more than $10. A final note on cheese– the biggest problem with the delectable dairy product is cost. I have never failed to find an amazing selection of affordable cheese at my local Trader Joe’s.  While I’ve found plenty of bargains, quality double-creme brie for less than $4 is something of value.

Now go out there and rummage through your pantry for your own wine and cheese night! Let us know about your favorite cheese and fruit/snack pairings!

Most people advocate using sour cherries for a pie, hence most recipes are directed towards sour cherries and have a large amount of sugar to compensate for the tart cherry taste.  I personally happened to have bing cherries on hand, so I went searching and turned up a fairly straight-forward Martha Stewart recipe that I modified slightly.  I cut back on the sugar content by another 50%, and instead of plain sugar I used vanilla sugar to round out the flavors in this recipe nicely.  (If you don’t have vanilla sugar, you can always add a tsp of vanilla to the filling and I’m sure it would come out great.) I also didn’t have quite the 2 lbs of cherries called for, but figured I would just give it a try and see how it went.  Turns out, it’s much easier to make than I ever thought it would be – the gooey, perfectly sweet, crimson filling came out just right.  As the great philosopher/80’s band Poison once said, “She’s my cherry pie, tastes so good, makes a grown man cry.”

Vanilla Bing Cherry Pie Filling

• 1.5 lbs fresh bing cherries, pitted and halved
• 1/4 cup vanilla sugar ** may substitute 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1/4 cup plain sugar
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Your favorite pie crust recipe – enough to make 2 crusts(or in a pinch, just use frozen/refrigerated pre-prepared pie crusts!)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Roll out pie crust to 1/4 inch thickness and press into pie plate of your choice, reserving top crust for later. Place cherries in a large bowl and sprinkle with the vanilla sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice.  Mix ingredients well.  Place pie filling into prepared crust.  If you wish to make a decorative lattice with your top crust (as I did) – roll your top crust to 1/4 inch thickness, then cut your pie crust into 3/4 inch strips.  Taking alternating strips from the top crust, lay them all parallel to each other on top of your pie – do not press into the bottom crust yet!.  Then, fold back every other strip on top of the pie.  Take the longest remaining pie crust strip, and place across the middle of your pie over the strips that did not get folded back.  Unfold the strips over the newly laid pie crust strip.  Then, fold back the alternating strips, laying another new pie crust strip on top.  Continue folding alternating strips, laying new pie crust strips, and unfolding until you have covered the top of the pie.  (As you started in the middle, when you have finished one side of the pie - fold back the other side of the pie crust strips and repeat the process going towards the opposite side!)  When lattice is formed, trim the stips to fit the curve of your pie plate, and crimp down the lattice strips to the bottom crust.  Place pie in oven on center rack.  Bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 45-50 minutes longer, or until crust is golden brown.  Enjoy!

I love summer cooking.  Marinate some meat, slice up some farm-fresh vegetables, throw them on the grill and dinner is ready.  My husband received The Grilling Bible from his sister for his recent birthday, and we’ve enjoying paging through this book marking recipes for future use.  It’s going to be a fun summer with lots of variety.

This recipe was originally for Lime Mustard chicken, but a and a last-minute substitution was necessary when I found there were only about 2 tablespoons of lime juice left in the refrigerator.  Confession:  I LOVE fresh citrus juice, but frequently resort to bottled lemon and lime juice because it is just so easy!

The chicken was tangy and flavorful with a nice little kick, courtesy of the ground red pepper.  We want to try it again, but it will have to get in line behind all of the other new recipes from The Grilling Bible!

Lemon Mustard Chicken Marinade
produces enough marinade for 4 butterflied chicken breasts

1/2 cup lemon juice
4 tbsp honey mustard*
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground red pepper

Whisk together all ingredients. Pour over chicken and marinate in the refrigerator for two hours.

*don’t have honey mustard? use 2 tbsp honey and 2 tbsp mustard

A refreshing combination of mint, lime and light rum, you really can’t go wrong with a mojito on a hot summer day.    Sweetened by sugar or simple syrup and topped off with club soda, the flavors meld beautifully in this smooth, subtly sweet drink.

With a potted mint plant that’s growing like crazy, making mojitos seemed like a good way to put some of it to use.  I followed a drink recipe from Barcardi and was quite pleased with the results.  Muddling, the process of combining ingredients by pressing them together with a muddler, is the most important step in creating this drink.  I used a wooden spoon’s large handle in place of the muddler to press the mint, sugar and lime together –  you want to combine the ingredients and lightly bruise the mint leaves so they’ll release their oils.

Pick some leaves off your mint plant or grab a bunch of mint from the grocery store and whip up this refreshing drink today!

Basic Mojito
Yields 1 drink

1.5 oz light rum
10-12 fresh spearmint leaves
1/2 lime, cut into 2 wedges
7 oz club soda
4 tsp sugar or 2 tbsp. simple syrup
crushed ice

1. Lightly squeeze lime wedges into a tall glass. Add lime wedges and mint leaves to glass and muddle. Pour in sugar or simple syrup.
2. Fill glass with crushed ice.
3. Add rum and club soda, stirring gently to combine all flavors. If desired, garnish with lime and sprig of mint.