Category: baking

30 Things I Love: Scones

Scones

I love scones. Whether they are homemade, from a coffee shop, come frozen from Schwan’s, I love them.

My first taste of scones happened at a coffee shop. I had thought that scones were dry, crumbly, and not very sweet. Then I tasted a pumpkin scone. I was hooked. That particular coffee shop closed, and the nearest one from that chain was now two hours away. Having the “I don’t need to buy that, I can make it myself” attitude (which I think came from my dad who made beautiful pieces out of wood), I started searching for a recipe that would taste similar. Now I am constantly looking for scone recipes. I haven’t found a great raspberry white chocolate scone recipe, but Schwan’s has a good version, so I just buy those frozen to bake at home.

When our town’s farmer’s market was beginning in 2013, I knew I wanted to bring something to sell that most people wouldn’t be making on their own. Scones, caramel rolls, and cinnamon rolls would be the basic fare I would bake each week. After that was decided, it was time to find recipes that had the flavors and textures I like. I’m not big on dry scones, so when I found a recipe for Vanilla Bean Scones from the blog, Iowa Girl Eats, I knew that was one I had to bring each week. I made a few changes to adapt it to my style of baking, and to make it more economical to make. A second flavor was needed, and I wanted to try something a little different. I searched for a maple bacon scone recipe that wasn’t super dry, but didn’t like most of them. I adapted one I found, but I’m still not happy with the texture. I will be tinkering a little more with that recipe this winter until I get it the texture I like with the flavor of the original recipe. The last couple of weeks of the market, I make the pumpkin scones that got me started on this little obsession. They are my signal that fall and comfort food season is fast approaching.

Do you have a recipe obsession? What are your favorite things to make?

Day 1: Pizza

Day 2: Shoes

Day 3: Shout Stain Remover

Day 4: The Ability to Vote

Day 5: My Heritage

Day 6: NASCAR

Day 7: Black Velvet for Photography

Day 8: Strong Coffee and Strong Hairspray

Day 9: Peacefulness

Day 10: Winter’s First Snow

Day 11: Freedom

Day 12: Dairy

Day 13: Jonathan

Day 14: Coffee

Day 15: Seasons

Day 16: Scones

Click here to go to Holly Spangler’s blog, and see the link for other 30 Day Challenge Bloggers

 

Wordless Wednesday – Favorite Christmas Cookies

CarolynCares Peanut Blossoms Cookies

 

Peanut Blossom Cookies

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ cup shortening

½ cup peanut butter

2 Tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 ¾ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

Sugar for rolling

48 milk chocolate candy kisses

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, shortening, peanut butter, milk, vanilla and egg. Mix until fluffy. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Blend at low speed until stiff dough forms. Shape into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately top each cookie with a candy kiss, pressing down firmly so cookie cracks around edge; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely.

Yield: 4 dozen cookies

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 26: Cookbooks

CarolynCares Cookbooks

Some people read novels. I read cookbooks and cooking magazines. There is something so intriguing about new recipes. If a cookbook has good how-to photos, or beautiful photography, they rank higher in my to-read list.

My favorite cookbooks are the two that our church has published, and one that I put together for my sister-in-law shortly before she married my brother. Those cookbooks contain recipes that have been handed down for a few generations, along with a few “newer” recipes. Around the holidays, I have many cookie, Scandinavian, and German cookbooks that I use. There are always the good, specialty books as well. Scones, muffins, hand pies, bread, grilling, cakes, pressure cookers, crock-pot – oh the possibilities when I open my cupboards!

Jonathan and I belong to a dinner club, where the host sets the theme and assigns different courses to the other members. Talk about a challenge! After making a few recipes, I finally joined Pinterest so I could pin some of these recipes. So far, I think the favorite things that I’ve made have been a Rick Bayless Chocoflan cake, a Bobby Flay Coconut cake, and a tomato basil soup. Can I count Pinterest as a giant cookbook?

I am thankful for many types of cookbooks, and the ability to prepare a variety of foods for my family and friends. Since Thanksgiving is in a few days, I think I had better get a few off of the shelf, and figure out my grocery list!

 

To follow other 30 Day Blog Challenge participants, click here.

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 13: Baking

CarolynCares Baking

I love baking, and I’m so thankful for that talent! I used to save the heavy baking for the holidays, but this year, I tried something new. Starting at the beginning of July, I was a vendor at the brand new Central Park Market in our town. It is a farmer’s market with the usual produce stands, along with baked goods, jams & jellies, home decor, a meal served by a non-profit group, and live music. All baked goods sold at the farmers market need to be made from scratch. I loved the challenge of baking four dozen caramel rolls at a time, and trying different scone and pound cake recipes. Baking became my therapy. If my day started out rough, or I woke up feeling grumpy, I would just start baking. By the time I was done, my mood would be considerably better. There were times when I was running behind (I really think that is a gene I inherited from my Grandma – she was late to pretty much everything), and stressed myself out with how long packaging was taking, but by the end of the night, all that was forgotten. It’s pretty impossible to stay grumpy or frazzled when you are in the midst of a festive atmosphere!

The Market ended in early October, and to be honest, I haven’t done much baking beside the caramel rolls that go to Jonathan’s Sunday School class every week. That may have more to do with harvest happening than with being tired of baking. I have been planning out what types of cookies I want to make for Christmas, and contemplating what goodies I should make for Thanksgiving weekend. Our oldest daughter is bringing home a boy to meet the family over Thanksgiving. We will also be celebrating her birthday, which falls on Thanksgiving day this year. When that happens, we sometimes replace the traditional pies with birthday cake, or a dessert of her choice. Just thinking about the dessert possibilities is making me happy!

During the Advent season this year, I plan on baking treats to give to some of the older members of our congregation. Good things do come to those who bake, but better things come to those who share!

Want to read more 30 Day Challenge blogs? Head over to Holly Spangler’s blog, and check out her list of current blog challenge participants.

Patiently Waiting

Over the last 72 hours, we have received between 15 to 18 inches of snow. We’ve had snow in 6 of the last 12 months here. Sigh. Typically we are getting the spring farm equipment out of the machine shed, and making sure everything is ready to go once the fields are dry.

Not this year! Instead of spending time in the tractor we use for preparing the seed bed, Jonathan spent time in the tractor used for clearing snow.

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While he was busy clearing snow, I was getting ready to make some of these delicious little treats. Jonathan brought back this box of Beignet Mix from New Orleans when he was there with our youth group last summer.

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I made a few, and decided I needed to practice my food photography a little bit. You know, things that help you stay sane on yet another snow day.

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The good thing about spring snow storms is the fact that the snow will melt into the thawed ground instead of just running over the top. We can really use the moisture here, so we’re trying to be thankful. To be perfectly honest, though, I can’t wait until I see this out my window:

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Going Old School – Boneless Pork Loin Supper

When I am having troubles with inspiration on what to make for supper, I’ll ask Jonathan to bring a random package of meat in from the freezer.  This time, he brought in a boneless pork loin roast. We put it in the fridge to thaw overnight, so I had a few hours to decide what I wanted to do with it.

The roast as it arrived in from the freezer.
The roast as it arrived in from the freezer.

 

Typically I like to use the Crock Pot, but since I wasn’t roasting any veggies with this one, I decided to use the oven.  I have a Corning French White baking dish that we received for a wedding gift 24 years ago. It is the perfect size for most roasts.

This Corning baking dish rocks!
This Corning baking dish rocks!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. It is a good idea to spray the baking dish with non-stick spray.  Unwrapping the roast is a little like unwrapping a Christmas present. You know that you are going to love what’s inside, you just don’t know exactly what it looks like.  This one did not disappoint!

Beautiful boneless roast with an excellent fat cap
Beautiful boneless roast with an excellent fat cap

The layer of fat on top of this roast was beautiful! It wasn’t too thick, yet it covered nearly the whole top.  When you are shopping for roasts, look for one with a layer of fat like this one. It helps keep the meat moist while it is roasting, yet isn’t so thick that your seasonings can’t flavor the meat.

Speaking of seasonings, I decided to go old school with a twist. I don’t know what is tradition in your area, but around this Scandinavian area, we don’t get too wild with the spice.

Hy-Vee dry onion soup mix, Vegetable Stock, and Red Wine - simple seasonings
Hy-Vee dry onion soup mix, Vegetable Stock, and Red Wine – simple seasonings

I love the Hy-Vee brand of dry onion soup mix. It is inexpensive, and has a great flavor. Emeril’s Vegetable Stock has a good flavor, and isn’t too salty.  The red wine may break some rules, but I really have no clue what wine is supposed to go with what meat. I just use what I like…as you should!  If you don’t like wine, use apple juice.

Wine and Vegetable Stock poured over roast
Wine and Vegetable Stock poured over roast

Pour the liquids over the roast to get the surface moist. I used just under a cup of liquid total.  After the liquid is in, sprinkle the dry onion soup mix over the top. It should look like this:

Dry onion soup mix sprinkled over the top
Dry onion soup mix sprinkled over the top

Cover the whole thing with aluminum foil, and place on the middle rack of the oven.

The middle rack is the best to make sure heat circulates evenly
The middle rack is the best to make sure heat circulates evenly

This roast was still slightly frozen when I put it in, so I set the timer for 2 hours.  I took it out about 5 minutes before the timer went off, and let it rest while still covered. If you are using a meat thermometer that you leave in while it is cooking, set your timer for 145 degrees.  This is what it looked like after the rest period:

Fresh from the oven. It smelled so good!
Fresh from the oven. It smelled so good!

I’m always a little nervous when I make the first cut into a roast. I don’t want to mess it up with a bad slicing job! I should mention – it is okay for the center to have a bit of pink in it if the meat reached 145 degrees. The first few slices revealed a slight pink, and lots of juice!

This roast was tender and juicy.
This roast was tender and juicy.

I sliced the roast into 3 ounce portions, or one slice per serving. If you are weight conscious – as I am – one serving of lean pork roast is an excellent source of protein.

Each slice is about 3 ounces, or one serving.
Each slice is about 3 ounces, or one serving.

I went traditional with our sides. We love Bird’s Eye Baby Sweet Peas, mashed potatoes, and homemade gravy. One final photo before Jonathan and I devoured our supper. The meat was moist, and tender…sooo good!

Supper is served!
Supper is served!

I hope you are able to try a similar recipe soon!

Love this Crazy Life

Time flies when you are having fun, right? I can’t believe how fast the last month has gone!

Jonathan and Laura returned from Tanzania full of stories, videos, and photos.  I’ll let Jonathan tell you about his experiences in another blog.

After the travelers returned home, we jumped right into a full schedule. Laura wanted to head back to college right away to try and catch up on more assignments, so I took her back to USF just a day after they returned home. A day later, Jonathan and I had an organic farming seminar to attend a few hours from home, so he basically hit the ground running as well.

The following week was Thanksgiving. We were hosting this year, so I was able to plan the event how I wanted it. My rule this year – nobody brings anything, and everyone stays out of the kitchen until time for dishes. The exceptions were Christina, who made the dinner rolls, and Laura, who was my sous chef.  The day was awesome. It was the most stress-free Thanksgiving I have ever hosted!

Our menu was partly traditional, and partly not. As in, we didn’t have any cranberry anything, and no marshmallows made an appearance on sweet potatoes.

We started the meal with a Squash Soup appetizer. While our guests were eating their soup, Laura and I set the rest of the meal on the table.

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The rest of our menu looked like this:

Apple Cider Brined Turkey

Mashed potatoes

A Simple Gravy made with chicken stock (no drippings)

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Green Bean Casserole

Dinner Rolls (recipe follows)

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For dessert, I made a pecan pie, double layer pumpkin pie, and chocoflan

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After our meal, everyone pitched in on dishes, and then we relaxed. We took our Olson family photo (minus one nephew who is currently studying in India) so Grandpa could send out his Christmas letter.  It was nice to celebrate with Anita and Charles, who will be heading back to Canada in a couple of days to celebrate Christmas with Charles’ family. They will be heading back to the mission field after the New Year.

I am so thankful for my family, my in-laws, the outlaws, my friends. The list could go on forever. I have been so blessed this past year! Thank you, my dear readers, for being a part of my life for the last two years. I look forward to sharing more stories about my family, my farm, and successful ventures in the kitchen.

Fly Off the Plate Dinner Rolls

1 egg

1 1/2 cups warm water

4 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons instant dry milk

3 Tablespoons oil

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

Mix egg with fork. Add ingredients in order recommended by your bread machine manufacturer. Put pan in bread machine. Select dough cycle, push start. After about 10 minutes, push finger into dough. If it is sticky, add more flour. When bread machine is done, shape into buns. Allow to rise about 20 minutes. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake 10-15 minutes

 

Now What?

The 2012 harvest season has ended for us. The guys are wrapping up the tillage, and should be done some time this afternoon. Many of our friends and family ask us, “Now what?” Some may assume that we kick back and take it easy until spring work starts again. While the most physical part of the work is finished for this crop year, we are not done with our work.

Jonathan and our youngest daughter, Laura, will be headed for a 16 day missions trip to Tanzania next week. They will be working at the Kikatiti school – a place that our church has sponsored for many years. They will be bringing many used eyeglasses with them, and some of the team will be matching vision needs with the glasses we bring. Others on the team will be doing some maintenance work. Laura and a few other women will be teaching girls how to use the sewing machine the was purchased for the school. They will work on the basics of sewing, with the hopes of teaching them how to make things to sell. After they finish their work at the school, they will be going on a safari. How cool! I am very excited for them, yet a tad nervous about keeping things going here by myself.

In the winter, we still have pig chores to attend to, and a lot of paperwork. It is also the time of year when we take a serious look at what varieties of seeds we want to grow next year. We have a yield monitor in the combine, and we’ll print out the yield maps to see what varieties we want to plant again and what varieties we will drop.  We store all of our crops in grain bins, and will be selling throughout the fall and into next year. We work with our buyers to arrange hauling dates that work well with both of our schedules – although sometimes it would be nice if the weather would cooperate on the cold winter days!

Both Jonathan and I will be attending meetings this winter. They are sort of like our continuing education classes. So far, we have the Minnesota Farm Bureau Annual meeting, and three organic conferences on the schedule. I will also have a few meetings for various other committees I am on. I love winter meetings, and networking with other farmers. The education components can really help set the tone for the coming crop season as well. It doesn’t matter what kind of farming you do, it is always helpful to see what is the latest and greatest thing.

Winter is also when I get to have fun in the kitchen. I have been collecting recipes from blogs over the past year, and am excited to have the time to try ones I haven’t gotten to yet.  When the kids all went to college, I warned Jonathan that I may be trying out all kinds of new recipes. He is pretty game to try what I come up with, fortunately!

One of the first recipes sent to me by my good friend is one I have posted above my stove. I see it every day, and have been patiently waiting until I have the time to whip up a batch. This is one that will require an event to bring them to, otherwise I will want to eat them all!

This blog is written in a combination of Swedish and English. The writers culinary passions are rivaled by her photography. This blog is a treat for both the eyes and the taste buds! The first recipe I want to try is her Perfect Expresso Chocolate Cupcakes.  Call Me Cupcake

Another blog that I thought was fun, and had a yummy looking recipe for Mocha Cupcakes with Espresso Buttercream Frosting, is the Brown Eyed Baker. (Notice a theme here?) Her blogging style is one I enjoy reading.  Brown Eyed Baker

On the savory side of things, since we cannot live on cupcakes alone, is a Gratin recipe from Dairy Carrie. This is another blog that has a writing style that I really like, along with some great recipes and awesome information about her dairy farm.

I love, love, love reading cookbooks. I read them like some people read novels. I picked this one up on a shopping trip with my girls, and can’t wait to try out many yummy looking recipes.  This should keep me busy for the winter!

Okay, I’ve given you three blogs and one book to find. I would love to hear about your favorite blogs and cookbooks!

An Answer to my Rhetorical Question?

I asked in my last post if I would ever catch up things, especially in the house. The answer came in an e-mail not long after I posed that question.

We will be hosting a few people from the advertising agency, mono. Tomorrow. Almost exactly 24 hours from now. They want to meet a farm family that raises some of the organic corn that goes into the Prairie Grains Organic Vodka. They are rolling out a new ad campaign, I guess.

This is the time where I would love if my house had a self cleaning setting, like my oven does. Just a flick of a switch and all the dust and grime would simply vanish. Sigh. I can dream, right?

Confession. I hate cleaning. A lot. Don’t get me wrong. I love it when the house is spotless. I just don’t love getting it there. To me it is about as appealing as a trip to the dentist.

In the past, I have bought books on how to clean your house with little effort that turns it into a joy. I am pretty sure the ladies who write these books are not vacuuming up corn, soybeans, wheat, field peas, or the copious amounts of soil that get transported in on work boots. I am guessing they haven’t dealt with hydraulic oil or engine grease on door handles or light switch plates and the walls that surround them.  Then there are the various items that come into the house in the pockets of jackets and jeans. Nails, screws, cotter pins, hitch pin clips,  papers from the bulk fuel guy or elevator weigh slips. I now use a little shop vac to clean the tile floors.  That is my cleaning tip of the week!

The time spent doing the mundane does give me time to plan out what to serve for the “little lunch” that we like to have for our guests. Jonathan and Laura wouldn’t mind Lemon Bundt Cake, but I’m looking for something a little different. Pumpkin Scones maybe?

The good thing about entertaining the folks from mono, is that I will be able to enjoy my clean house. Until harvest starts at the end of the week.

This is my favorite Pumpkin Scone recipe. I actually make them about 1/2 size to make it friendlier to those like me who are watching calories.

TOP SECRET RECIPES® VERSION OF
Starbucks® Pumpkin Scones
By Todd Wilbur

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
7 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
3 tablespoons half-and-half
1 large egg
6 tablespoons cold butter

Plain Glaze
1 cup plus 1 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk

Spiced Icing
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch ground ginger
pinch ground cloves

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon cloves, and 1/4 teaspoon ginger in a large bowl.
3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half-and-half, and eggs.
4. Cut butter into cubes then add it to the dry ingredients. Use a pastry knife or a fork to combine butter with dry ingredients. Continue mixing until no chunks of butter are visible. You can also use a food processor: Pulse butter into dry ingredients until it is the texture of cornmeal or coarse sand.
5. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients, then form the dough into a ball. Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1 -inch thick rectangle that is about 9 inches long and 3 inches wide. Use a large knife or a pizza wheel to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal portions. Cut those three slices diagonally so that you have 6 triangular slices of dough.
6. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes on a baking sheet that has been lightly oiled or lined with parchment paper. Scones should begin to turn light brown.
7. While scones cool, prepare plain glaze by combining ingredients in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed. Mx until smooth.
8 When scones are cool, use a brush to paint a coating of the glaze over the top of each scone.
9. As that white glaze firms up, prepare spiced icing by combining ingredients in another medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scone and allow the icing to dry before serving (at least 1 hour). A squirt bottle works great for this, or you can drizzle with a whisk.Makes 6 scones.