Pocket’s pocket-Pocket is cute… but i still think the real thing is unsurpassed in cuteness. Such an inspiration.
How does your dog inspire you?
Meyer Lemon Scones
Le sigh… I was once a very proud guardian of a glorious Meyer Lemon tree that i grew from a wee gallon pot. After 4 years, many fruit and astounding growth – the department of mean in California confiscated it on our move from Texas. I still shed tears thinking about it… but for those of you who have access to these wonderful lemons – here is a most excellent recipe. I know – it’s not citrus season YET…. but you may have some juice leftover in the freezer and need to make some space for holiday cookies!
I adapted this recipe slightly from Baking Bites, my changes have been annotated. My scones got a bit dark on the bottom, resulting from cutting the scones about half as large as the original recipe called for and the addition of cornmeal and lack of parchment paper. The cornmeal is what makes these scones truly special, so try mixing some in with the rest of your flour: it gives excellent texture.
Meyer Scones
- 2 cups flour *I used 1.5 C bread flour as i was out of all purpose and .5 C cornmeal
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- -1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup or one stick butter, chilled, quartered and diced into smallish chunks
- 8-10 T fresh meyer lemon juice (Juice from 1.5 of my lemons)
- 1-2 tsp meyer lemon zest (Zest from 2 lemons)
- Agave nectar and more lemon juice
- Preheat oven to 400
- Mix the dry ingredients, including sugar until well sifted.
- Mix in the zest.
- Add butter, toss to coat then work in with your fingers. You want a sandy consistency, but don’t melt the butter with your hands. A few chunks are okay, but try and get the dough a uniform texture.
- Add about half the juice and mix with a spoon. Add the rest of the juice and mix until the dough forms a ball. I found i had to knead with my hands to get it good and mixed – could maybe have used more juice due to the cornmeal.
- Divide in two and form two balls, flatten to about 1 inch thick, and quarter. I cut my dough balls into 8ths.
- Separate scones slightly and bake at 400 for about 20 minutes or until golden. Mix up a splash agave nectar with a bit more juice and drizzle glaze on top of scones. Serve cooled or slightly warm.
- Makes 8 – 16 depending how small you cut them.
These suckers are REALLY good. Lightly citrusy. Sweet but not TOO sweet. Really good. Especially with that drizzle on top.
Have you ever had a Meyer Lemon? What did you think?
Creamy Roasted Squash & Chestnut Soup (No Cream Recipe)
I made butter for the first time in ages yesterday, and as usual was inspired to make a soup using the leftover buttermilk. We had an acorn squash in the cupboard, screaming to be used as well as half a bag of chestnuts and some other good soup veggies on hand. We’re pretty obsessed with leeks lately, and no soup is complete without a leek, so that went in as well. What really made this soup special, though was a first step i often skip: roasting! I roasted the squash first, then boiled the rest of the ingredients. You could probably roast the turnips as well to get an even stronger roasty flavor.
* Buttermilk and Cultured Buttermilk are not the same thing, really – but you could use either in this soup with yummy results. Fresh buttermilk is light, not tangy, and apparently lactose free milk. Cultured Buttermilk has been fermented and is tangy and thicker.
Roasted Squash & Chestnut Soup
- 1 acorn squash (could use butternut, delicata, etc)
- 1/2 cup chestnuts, *shells and inner membrane removed
- 1 small/medium turnip, chopped
- 2-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 leek, cleaned well and chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon each: Cinnamon, ginger, cloves
- Salt
- Pinch flour
- 1/2 – 1 cup stock
- 1/2 – 1 cup buttermilk
- Pat butter
* To remove the shells and inner papery stuff from the chestnuts, carve an x in the shell and pop in the microwave for about 30 seconds. The heat should open them up some and make that inner shell layer pop off. If you try to shell raw, the inner layer is too difficult to remove.
Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds: set aside if you wish to make roasted seeds later. Cut half longways and place cut side down on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 for about 30 to 45 minutes, or until soft. Meanwhile, cut the onion and leeks and toss into a soup pot with a bit of butter, sauteing until soft. Add the flour and saute until butter and flour are combined, toss in the rest of the veggies and cover with water. Boil until the turnips are soft (20 or so minutes). Remove squash from the oven and scoop the flesh into the soup pot, being careful not to put in those hard string bits from near the skin. Add the splash of stock (enough to lube up the soup, but not so much that it because very thin) and blend with an immersion blender. Finish with the buttermilk and stir in well.
The chestnuts aren’t ‘key’ to making this soup work, but they do add a lovely flavor. Add them if you can get them, but don’t stress it if you can’t. Chestnuts grow locally here and are sold by a lovely group of high school students at the farmer’s market as a fundraiser.
Serve with a bit of grated cheese on top and a side salad for a wonderful late Autumn meal. We polished off the whole pot, it was so good. Though, i guess we usually polish off the whole pot. 😉
Is it “soup season” in your neck of the woods yet?
Fiber Fridays: My pocket Pocket
Fiber Friends has exciting news! We’re working on our own website and we will now be found in a Colorado boutique pet shop: Oh My Dog!
In preparation of this new arrangement, i got to make a little Fiber Friend of my favorite Corgi in all the land: Pocket! Isn’t the pocket Pocket adorable? Not quite as adorable as the real thing, but if i was traveling long distance, headed off to college for the first time, or working in a dreary office space i’d sure be comforted by this little felt version.
This little Pocket is headed to Colorado to serve as a sample Fiber Friend and gift certificates will be available to purchase on site through the boutique. I also sent along a sweet little mobile of a corgi herding a sheep for purchase and window display. I’m looking forward to representing Fiber Friends in a retail setting!
I’ve also been working on developing the Fiber Friends tab of this website with more photos, information and a contact form to take custom orders. While i work on developing an e-commerce tool for this site, you can still find all my in stock Fiber Friends on Etsy and can request custom orders there or through this contact form. I will maintain all the same shop policies and guarantees as my Etsy shop and you can feel safe and secure paying me directly using Paypal or old fashioned checks. I’m all about customer service, along with supreme felted cuteness, so your transaction is safe with me! If you’re in Grand Junction Colorado, i hope you’ll check out Oh My Dog and say hello!
I’d recognize that butt anywhere. 😉
Do you have a favorite boutique shop for pet owners?
Filed under Dogs/ Corgis, Felting, Fiber Fridays, Fiber Friends, Fibers
