I'm a WINNER!

 

Last month I WON the King Arthur Flour Scone Bakeware and 2 Scone Mixes from Momma Told Me and I got it last Friday. As usual I had another long night with no sleep and thought since I'm wide awake I'm going to make up one of the mixes and have those for breakfast.

King Arthur has 18 scone mixes. All you have to do is cut in 8 Tablespoons of butter/margarine, add an egg and milk and blend it all together. The only thing I had trouble with was not knowing if I should just pour the dough in the scone pan or scoop up enough to fill in a section and work around the pan one at a time. I ended up doing each individually.

Aronia Berries: I also added about a cup of Aronia Berries which are really high in Antioxidants and great for people that have problems with chronic illnesses, inflammation, helps to lower glucose and more. (Click here for information). They are pretty tart and definitely not sweet like blueberries are. So if you prefer sweet try blueberries, blackberries - or you can do nuts, dried fruit, coconut, etc.

Jenna at Momma Told Me mentioned in her review that her scones came out a little dry and mine seemed a little "wet" (actually it was like banana bread thickness). That could be because I added the berries or because I used So Delicious Coconut milk instead of regular milk (I did have to cook it for about 10 minutes longer than on the box). Not sure. Why don't you try a mix and see if you have the same results?

The mixes available are:  ($6.95 each unless marked otherwise)
Blueberry Sour Cream Scone Mix            Cranberry-Orange Scone Mix
Cherry Almond Scone Mix                         Lemon-Blueberry Scone Mix
Vanilla Raspberry Scone Mix                    Cinnamon-Pecan Scone Mix
French Toast Scone Mix                           Peaches & Cream Scone Mix
Lemon-Ginger Scone Mix                          Very Berry Scone Mix
Apricot Sour Cream Scone Mix                 Cran-raspberry White Chocolate Scone Mix
Chocolate Chunk Scone Mix                     Cream Tea Scone Mix
Apple-Cinnamon Scone Mix                      Harvest Pumpkin Whole Grain Scone Mix
Strawberry and Cream Scone Mix             Maple-Oat Scone Mix
Pina Colada Scone Mix                              Cinnamon Filled Cream Scone Mix  ($7.99)

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There are lots of recipes on the King Arthur site - check 'em out!

PS: Don't get your berries from Superberries as they are extremely expensive. The place I get it from at the farmer's market sells it for $5 a pound and you can order it in January for the year. (I order 3 pounds for the year and just throw them in the freezer).  I'll find out their information and if you'd like me to forward it - leave a comment with your email info (I can't get your email from Intense Debate Comments)

Well, that was a long rambling post - I hope you enjoyed it. Would love some comments - have you ever used King Arthur's Mixes to make anything?

The New Basics Cookbook - Book Review

Do you have a cookbook that you have had for years and wouldn't get rid of if someone offered you $10,000?

I purchased The New Basics Cookbook many, many, many years ago (about 20 years ago probably) and for most of that the book was at Mom's (unless I managed to sneak it out).  I recently got The New Basics Cookbook (updated I think) and I have been so excited - in fact, I told Mom she could keep the older version of this great cookbook!

"The New Basics Cookbook is a basic cookbook that combines the information today's cooks need with irresistible recipes for the foods they want to prepare." What I love about the cookbook is the way the chapters are written and the educational value of each is priceless.


Including the Index this cookbook is over 800 pages long!  It's perfect for the beginning cook, as a "first home" gift (apartment or wedding), for guys (yes, there is a Fire Up for Grilling and a Meat Market chapter).  It's easy to read.  As an example, the vegetable section (I think this one is the biggest) starts with a description of each vegetable, how to prepare it (with hand drawn illustrations), what to look for when purchasing it, how to season it, the various ways you can prepare it (boiling, steaming, baking, sauteing, roasting, etc) and you'll also find a good section on it's nutritional value (vitamins, carbs, fiber) and there are also great quotes such as:

"Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education." ~ Mark Twain

This last week I had a hankering for Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes - I didn't make 'em but I did make waffles!  And I used a recipe out of this cookbook (after trying a Allrecipes.com recipe on another blog that I didn't like). I HAD to use up the buttermilk right?  I had blueberries, but decided to use these Aronia Berries that my Chiropractor suggested because they are the highest in Antioxidents and are great for people that have low immunity levels.  I thought I'd share the recipe with you.

You can purchase your copy of The New Basic Cookbook HERE. It's $13.16 and worth every penny!

Buttermilk Waffles (pg 452, in the chapter: "Which came first?" LOL)

This recipe is so good and cinnamony.  It was much better than the other recipe I tried - the flavor was wonderful!  It also froze well.  Makes 12 (5-6") waffles.

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

2 Tab (packed) light brown sugar

(Note: I actually used about 2 Tab. white sugar as I didn't have brown sugar.  Also I used all white flour as I didn't have whole wheat)

1 teas baking soda

1/2 teas ground cinnamon

1/4 teas salt

2 cups buttermilk

2 eggs, separated

1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted & cooled

Preheat your waffle iron and grease it lightly.  In a large mixing bowl, toss together the flours, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, stir together the buttermilk, egg yolks and butter.  Beat the egg whites in mixer until stiff.  Stir the buttermilk mixture quickly into the dry ingredients, until almost blended. Then gently fold in the egg whites.  Cook the batter in the prepared waffle iron, using a generous 1/3 cup for each waffle, until crisp and golden, about 2 minutes.  Serve immediately with your favorite fruit sauce.  (This was super with maple syrup)

PS: The cinnamon (Highland Harvested Saigon Cinnamon) I used was from The Spice Hunter.  I had never used their cinnamon before but I really love it (you can find it in the grocery store in the spices).  The scent is very aromatic and almost "sweet".  I can't wait to try it in cinnamon rolls or Cinnamon Swirl Bread - this recipe is also in The New Basics Cookbook (pg 619) and the Walnut Raisin Whole Wheat Bread sounds scrumptious too!