1. Crumbly & Creamy Raspberry Scones

    May 18, 2012 by Judi

    She played the words over in her mind, rolled them around. Arranged marriage.

    Arranged marriage.

    She certainly felt arranged. She’d spent the better part of the morning being pushed and pulled about like a roll of satin, cream-colored taffy. There was great deal of attention and concern dedicated to the comfort of the clothes that now draped her- the lightness of her dress, the looseness around her upper arms, the way the hem swung around her knees, the sweetness of her shoes (they did not pinch as she feared) but the women who dressed her were rough, like burlap. 

    They had round, stern faces and they hummed around her like disapproving bees. She did not understand the words they muttered to one another. She thought perhaps that was for the best. 

    She wondered if she would bruise. Already, there was a spot on her wrist where a woman had pinched to secure a glass bracelet- it bloomed there like a raspberry, like another decoration. 

    She wondered if he would mind.

    If you are particularly observant and have been around this site for a while, you should be able to tell which recipe picks are mine and which belong to Nicole. Mainly, the difference all comes down to… sugar. Sweet, glorious sugar.

    We both love decadent sweets but I generally go for richness over sweetness. Nicole, on the other hand, chooses sweet. Every time. A constant refrain from testing one of my picks is usually, “It was good but it wasn’t sweet enough for me.” And my refrain for her picks is usually along the lines of “NICOLE, 3 CUPS of sugar?! PS this is really good. BUT 3 CUPS?” (From the sheer volume of our reactions, I know, it would seem like I’m the sugar hound. Sadly, my loudness is all genetics.)

    So to offset the decadent sweetfest of last week, I chose a raspberry scone recipe.  Aren’t they lovely? They’re creamy and rich, yes but scant on the sweetness. I’m in the mood for that today.

    If you’d like to “go Nicole” for this one, sprinkle some turbinado sugar over the mounds of dough just before baking for an extra sugary crunch or try a simple glaze.

    Let’s talk, for a second, about how I’m going to buy the hell out of the Smitten Kitchen cookbook. I pre-ordered that sucker so fast… is it possible to get whiplash in your fingers? I must make something from Deb’s site once a week and every time I do, the recipe is a winner. A friend even made this delicious monster for my birthday this year (and lo, it was good. So good. Did I even need to say that? Really?)

    Whole Wheat Raspberry Ricotta Scones

    Source: Smitten Kitchen | Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Serves 9 | Print Recipe

    Ingredients

    1 Cup of whole wheat flour
    1 Cup of all-purpose flour
    1 TBSP of baking powder
    1/4 Cup of granulated sugar
    1/2 Teaspoon table salt
    6 TBSP of cold unsalted butter
    1 Cup of fresh raspberries
    3/4 Cup of whole milk ricotta
    1/3 Cup of heavy cream

    Directions

    1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

    2. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

    3. In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, sugar and salt together.

    4. Using a pastry blender: Add the butter (no need to chop it first) and use the blender to both cut the butter into the flour mixture until the biggest pieces are the size of small peas. Or with your hands: Cut the cold butter into small cubes and, working fast, work the butter into the flour mixture until the biggest pieces are the size of small peas.

    5. Toss in raspberries and use the blender again to break them into halves and quarter berry sized chunks. (Or chop them roughly and stir them into the mixture.)

    6. Add the ricotta and heavy cream together with a flexible spatula until the dough comes together.

    7. Using your hands, gently knead dough into an even mass, right in the bottom of the bowl.

    8. Quickly transfer dough to a well-floured counter.  Flour the top of the dough and pat it into a square that is about 7-inches wide and about 1-inch tall.

    9. With a large knife, divide the dough into 9 squares.

    10. Transfer the scones to prepared baking sheet with a spatula.

    11. Bake the scones for about 15 minutes, until lightly golden at the edges.

    12. Cool in pan for a minute, then transfer to a cooling rack. Best enjoyed day-of.

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    Category Breads, Breakfast, Desserts | Tags: , | 1 Comment

  2. Rosemary Buttermilk Pound Cake

    May 9, 2012 by Judi

    Something inside her struggled against her mother’s words, a long burrowed instinct that wanted to rebel, to kick out against them. And suddenly there was a memory in the place where her mother’s voice had been, something long forgotten. She was at a neighbor’s house. She was small, incredibly young, maybe three years old. She slipped and fell in the pool in the backyard and her mother jumped into the pool. Constance heard the splash, could feel the cold chill of the water enveloping her, the wave her mother created.

    Constance was small and the pool deep but she was not afraid. Her falling into the pool was a slip of a moment in Constance’s life, nothing more than passing the ketchup at dinner or slamming her bedroom door as a teenager. Her mother had grabbed hold of her so fast, had pulled her up and into her arms and held her there, her head and face high above the line of water. Constance had laughed.

    That is an excerpt from my book.

    A book I would not have without my mother.

    I say that for the obvious reasons- for one thing, I clearly would not exist without her. Clearly.

    For another, I would not love books without her. My mother had four children, I’m the third, and the majority of the pictures around when I was small consist of her gazing into the camera with half-closed eyes. Don’t get me wrong- she is as beautiful then as she is now but nobody could look at those pictures and not think, “Wow, she looks exhausted.” Four children will do that to a person. I can only imagine. And yet she read to me. A lot.

    Even she admits that she does not how she was able to do this. It’s like those moments of her and me, a book between us, were strangely apart from the rest of her busy day, like the hour before and the hour after just kind of pulled until there was this extra time, this nowhere time. I learned to love stories there, in her lap. That’s important.

    When I told her I wanted to write, she didn’t laugh. She didn’t fret. She honestly didn’t look too surprised.

    If, over the years, my transient adventures made her increasingly nervous, she would share her fears that I wouldn’t make it, that it would never happen for me, that it was too tough out there, in private, to my father, behind closed doors. All she would say to me is that she was happy if I was happy. Which I was. Which I am.

    When I sat down to write my first book, it seemed natural to make it about a mother’s love. And then, the second book turned out to be about that too. Isn’t that funny?

    Thank you, Mama.

    What do you want to thank your mom for? Share it with us.

    You’ll be happy you did. Promise.

    Buttermilk Rosemary Pound Cake

    Source: Adapted from allrecipes.com | Total Time: 1 hr 45 min. | Makes 1 9-inch or 10-inch loaf pan | Print Recipe

    Ingredients

    3 Cups of all-purpose flour
    1/4 Teaspoon of baking soda
    1/2 Teaspoon of salt
    1 Cup of butter
    3 Cups of white sugar
    6 Eggs
    3 Teaspoons of fresh lemon juice
    1 TBSP of fresh rosemary, chopped
    1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract
    1 Cup of buttermilk

    Directions

    1. Preheat oven to 325° F.

    2. Butter 1 9-inch or 10-inch loaf pan.

    3. Mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

    4. In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar.

    5. Mix in the eggs, one at time, beating well after each addition.

    6. Stir in the lemon juice, vanilla extract and chopped rosemary.

    7. Gently mix in flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Do not overmix.

    8. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

    9. Bake in preheated oven for 90 minutes. Do not open oven door until after one hour. When cake begins to pull away from the side of the pan, it is done.

    10. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

    Serve warm with honey.

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    Category Breads, Brunch, Desserts | Tags: ,, | 7 Comments

  3. Free May 2012 Desktop Calendar- Red Velvet

    May 3, 2012 by Nicole

    I’ve decided to match new episodes of Smitty and the Girl with our monthly free calendar. They’re both monthly treats so it seemed right that they be together. Download instructions can be found underneath the latest episode.

    Smitty & The Match [Ep. 10]

    Read the First 9 Episodes | Previously on Smitty & The Girl : A mystery woman has blown into the sleepy small town of Cliffwood. Wealthy eccentric Sylvia Mathers and bar owner Mike Howell could not be more different but now it looks like they have something in common- a pretty redhead with an eye for trouble.

    Petula had stayed in the booth for hours. This hadn’t been her intention, not at all, but she’d soon grown comfortable on the plush leather seat and the wait staff, a particularly nosy bunch, had begun trying to eavesdrop under the guise of bringing her every single dessert in the case to sample, one after the other. And Petula was damn hungry.

    Her dear old aunt had left after it had been clear that Petula was not going to tell her why she was suddenly there, in town, when she had sworn never to return. Instead, Petula had sat back, twirled her fork through a bite of creamy, dreamy cheescake, and they parried back and forth, like a tiresome tennis match. Their exchange unfolded as follows:

    Sylvia sipped her tea, forced a smile. “What are you doing here, Pet?”

    Petula smiled back. “The town’s changed so much since I’ve been gone. Was that an actual stop light I saw on King Street?”

    They both laughed, laughs neither of them felt in the slightest. “It’s been so long since you’ve been home,” Sylvia replied sweetly. “How many years has it been, anyway?”

    “Not long enough if there’s still only one bar in town. Wouldn’t you agree, aunt?”

    “I’m curious.” Her aunt’s smile stiffened, just a touch. “Why the impromptu visit if you hate it here so much?”

    Petula’s hair was long dry now, long enough to twirl around her finger. For the first time, she turned to her aunt and looked her dead in the eye. “I don’t hate it here at all. It’s you I can’t stand.” She said it with a lilt in her voice and when Nosy Waitress Number 1 walked up with yet another plate, Petula ignored the weight that suddenly pressed down on her chest. She smiled brightly at the woman and accepted the marbled pound cake as if she was being granted an award.

    That was what had sent her aunt packing for the door. She didn’t say a word, merely watched Petula eat her cake, and then she stood up, wrapped her coat over her shoulders and headed for the door. Under the glare of the horrible diner lights, she looked far older than she would’ve wished and decades more tired than when she’d stormed in earlier.

    Perhaps Petula should’ve felt sorry for that. Instead, she reached for the cake.

    ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    Happy May! Or it would be if I weren’t still wearing a coat. I know, I know. It’s Maine, you’re saying. But THIS IS NOT NORMAL, people. Also, is it wrong that I feel slightly better whenever people who live elsewhere ALSO complain that it’s still really cold there too? Like, people are bemoaning their coldness and I am in slight glee/relief. I do not think that is behavior deserving of red velvet cheesecake from Magnolia bakerybut oh well, cheesecake we shall have.

    To download your own free May 2012 Some Kitchen Stories desktop calendar, click the ideal version for your screen:

    Click here for 1920 x 1080 version.

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    Category *Calendars* | Tags: | 1 Comment

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