More Pie

Peach.

Peaches soaked in a bit of red wine, fresh grated ginger, brown sugar, dash of cinnamon, fresh ground black pepper. Then baked in a pie [full disclosure: flour & butter were added to filling before baking].





Yum.

This Morning's Experiment

I was gonna call them Blueberry Oddballs.
Then the almost-10 year old suggested Puffball Scones.

Folks who follow this blog know I make a lot of biscuits and scones. A lot. So they're pretty easy for me to make. Still, cutting all that butter and flour together is time consuming. And some mornings, especially when I've already poured the hot water in the pot to steep the garden peppermint, I want something quick. So I used the basic biscuit recipe I learned from Betty Crocker* and I substituted olive oil for the butter. I added a generous amount of cinnamon and some tumeric. And of course, blueberries. Then, instead of rolling the dough out onto a floured board and cutting shapes, I just dumped the dough onto the floured board, kneaded it very gently to fold in the blueberries, then formed loose shapes by hand.

Good morning.

Peace.


*Huh. I went looking online for the recipe to link to and the one I found was slightly different from the one in my cookbook. The basic recipe: Oven 450. 1 3/4 cup flour. 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder. 1/2 teaspoon salt. I mix it together with a fork. Cut in 1/3 cup shortening (I usually use unsalted butter). I use my fingers. Stir in 3/4 cup milk. Turn onto floured board. Knead 8 times. Roll. Cut into shapes (I use a small glass for circles or a heart-shaped cookie cutter). Bake approximately 18 minutes, until just beginning to brown.

Monday Critter Blogging

Wish I were...

...here...

...or here...

...or here...

...or here...

...or here...

...or here...

...or here...

Missing my family and those lovely California breezes on this hot and sticky Massachusetts day.

Blueberry Picking Leads to Blueberry Pie

No lemon juice? Try some Lagunitas Maximus.

Yes, I am the worst crust maker in the history of the world.

And now, I get to go eat this!



Update: Yum! Delicious! I did all those freeze-this-freeze-that things, so the crust was very flaky. The problem, I guess, is my ratio, or something. I need more crust! So I end up having to roll what I've got so thin that I can't do anything with it. It just fell apart & laughed when I tried to lattice it. I got the last laugh, though.


Peace.

A Gentle Reminder

Although our town dump does not have a leave/take shed and that makes me sad, it does have a book shed and I am addicted. Recently, I picked up this book (yet another good thing about my groovy town: lots of interesting parenting books in the book shed). I wasn't sure at first if Everyday Blessings meant it was a christian book, but I was feeling the need to be blessed anyway. Then I saw the subtitle: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting. Ah, yes.

We're back from vacation, jetlagged, hot, and crabby. This is the first year that I've realized that summer hide-from-the-heat cabin fever is way worse than anything winter can bring.

I need to take a deep breath.

Breathe, Ina, breathe.





Peace.

Summer Vacation

Here We Come!

Peace.