August 2014

Savory Cheese and Scallion Scones

My recipe for Maple Pecan Scones was one of several featured on the blog Fig Jam & Lime Cordial’s International Scone Week 2013, which made me happy as a little kid eating an ice cream cone!! Fig Jam and Lime Cordial is written by Celia, who happens to be from Australia. Drop by her blog because it’s jam-packed with excellent recipes!

Click here to see all the wonderful scone recipes from ‘International Scone Week 2013’.

For International Scone Week 2014 I’m submitting this recipe for Savory Cheese and Scallion Scones. (Savoury – for the rest of English speaking world.) I believe you’re going to like these scones!

Oven at 375F Bake for 20 – 23 minutes

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. baking powder (Yes – a tablespoon!)
6 Tbs. cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/3 cup chopped scallions a.k.a. green onions (Use both white and green parts.)
2 large eggs
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. Dijon mustard (You can add up to 1 Tbs. if you like.)
several shakes of hot sauce

In a medium-sized bowl mix 2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1 Tbs. baking powder. Work in the cut-up 6 Tbs. of butter with your fingers until there’s an evenly crumbly mixture and you don’t see any pieces of butter.

Add 1 cup grated cheese and 1/3 cup chopped scallions.

In a small bowl whisk 2 large eggs, 1/3 cup milk, 1 tsp. Dijon mustard (You can add up to 1 Tbs. of mustard if you like.) and several shakes of hot sauce. Add the liquid to the dry mixture. Stir with a large spoon ONLY UNTIL the dough is moistened. (The dough will be very sticky…)

++ UPDATE My friend Liz, who blogs on “My Favorite Pastime” recently posted a recipe very much like mine, and Liz recommends “Knead the dough very briefly and lightly, folding it back over itself and pressing down (about 10 seconds). It should just lose its stickiness.” THANKS LIZ !! To see Liz’s recipe for Cheese and Chive Scones, click here!

Scrape dough onto a well-floured area of the counter top. OR (and I recommend this) use either a well-floured sheet of waxed paper or parchment. (I usually use a well-floured dishtowel BUT this dough was so sticky that ended up not being a good idea…)

Flour your hands – and flour them often. Also, feel free to sprinkle on a bit of flour while working with the dough. Pat dough into a 10″ by 3″ rectangle.

Cut into five squares. (I found cutting every 2″ worked out perfectly.) Then cut each square diagonally to form 10 triangles

++ This dough can be a bit hard to work with. If you like, scoop out large dollops of dough to make 9 – 10 ‘free form’ scones. If you do choose to have triangular scones, don’t worry too much about them getting out of shape when you’re transferring the scones to the baking sheet. You can always ‘fix them up’ a bit with your hands.

Place scones on a greased baking sheet a least 1″ apart – OR – (I recommend this) place a sheet of parchment paper on the baking sheet.

Bake scones for 20 – 23 minutes, until they’re nicely browned. (I’d ‘err’ on the side of ‘less brown’ rather than ‘more brown’ because you don’t want your scones to dry out.)

Remove scones from oven and sprinkle each with a bit of shredded. Return scones to oven for 10 seconds, which is just long enough to slightly melt the sprinkled cheese!

These Cheddar Cheese and Scallion Scones are best eaten right out of the oven and slathered with lots of butter. Any leftovers should be placed in a plastic food storage bag. Enjoy!!

Original Recipe from “King Arthur Flour’ – click here to see it.

August 14, 2014February 18, 2015

My Yellow Farmhouse - Cooking with Love!23 Comments

‘Not Your Grandmother’s Potato Salad’ – Roasted New Potatoes with Creamy Parsley Dressing and Avocados

UPDATE – A Reddit follower said she swapped out the black olives for (drained) marinated artichoke hearts. I LOVE that idea!!

Our summer family tradition of ‘Swim & Feast’ continued last night and my contribution was Roasted New Potatoes with Creamy Parsley Dressing. This salad is fully-loaded with crunchy shredded carrots and celery, avocado, sliced black olives and hard-boiled eggs. Most of us returned for second helpings – even the children!

The stars of this dish are the new potatoes which are roasted in the oven with red onion wedges and minced garlic. With the addition of chicken, salmon or ham etc. you’ve got yourself a great meal!

++ You don’t have to peel new potatoes – how’s that for easy?

++ This salad can be made the day before – and it can also be served warm.

INGREDIENTS & METHOD

Preheat oven to 425F Total time for baking potatoes 35 – 40 minutes

3 lbs. new potatoes (I used White Delights which have a firm texture.)
1 cup red onion, sliced thick
3 large cloves of garlic, minced (About 1 Tbs.)
3 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped celery (One stalk.)
1 can (3.8 oz.) DRAINED sliced black olives
6 hard boiled eggs, cut into large slices (3 of the eggs are mixed into the salad – the other 3 are placed on top of the salad.)
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3 Tbs. chicken stock (I used “College Inn – Bold Stock) ++ You can freeze the leftover stock or use it when making scrambled eggs instead of milk or in gravy etc. etc.
1/2 tsp. salt – or to taste
1/4 tsp. pepper
3 Tbs. minced fresh parsley
One chopped avocado – placed on top of salad right before serving. (Why? Because avocados become brown when exposed to air.)

Rinse 3 lbs. new potatoes – no need to peel. Cut into 1 1/2′ pieces. Place chopped potatoes, 1 cup sliced red onion & 1 Tbs. minced garlic in a medium size bowl. Add 3 Tbs. olive oil – mix everything together. Place onto a greased 15″ x 10″ cookie sheet, spreading out potatoes etc. to form one layer. Roast potatoes at 425 for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, stir potatoes and roast for 15 – 20 minutes more – or until you can pierce potatoes easily with a knife. (You don’t want to overcook them either or they won’t hold their shape in the salad.)

Place the cooked potatoes back into the medium sized bowl and add 1/2 cup shredded carrots, 1 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley, 1/2 cup chopped celery, 1 can (3.8 oz.) DRAINED sliced black olives and 3 sliced hard cooked eggs.

In a small bowl mix 3/4 cup mayonnaise, 3 Tbs. chicken stock, 1/2 tsp. salt – or to taste, 1/4 tsp. pepper and 3 Tbs. minced fresh parsley. Pour sauce into bowl containing potatoes and mix well. Top salad with the remaining 3 (sliced) hard cooked eggs & sprinkle on a bit of minced fresh parsley.

** Just Before Serving – add 1 chopped avocado to top of salad.

You can serve salad warm. OR – you can let it sit in the fridge overnight, which gives the flavors time to blend. Enjoy!

August 6, 2014April 11, 2018

My Yellow Farmhouse - Cooking with Love!27 Comments

NIGHT GARDEN – Photos and a Poem

I honestly believe I was a Native American in an earlier life because I don’t like coming inside once dusk has come and gone. It’s so quiet, peaceful and beautiful outside that I wish I could stay all night! And there’s been more than one night (crazily, considering the bears..) I’ve dragged a few cushions, pillows and blankets outside so I didn’t have to go inside – at all. And I’ve always slept like a baby – never waking up ’til the sun shone full in my face.

I hope to have a little bitty house built on my property just so I can sleep outside – and and it would look something like this. (Uncle Mikey – are you listening!?)

++ I had no idea writer Jane Yolen (who I had once the pleasure of meeting) wrote a poem called “The Night Garden” !! See below for my poem “My Aunt’s Twilight Garden’.

Tonight, as I watched the clouds scuttling across the sky… I moved where I was sitting so the ‘Intruder Hummingbird” could have his late night snack….(The ‘Intruder’ is very wary because the Resident Hummingbird, who got used to me very fast, is always chasing away the ‘Intruder’, who’s still too nervous to feed when I’m close….. )

In any event, I decided I’d try to capture the beauty of my gardens after the sun goes down. I hope you enjoy both the photos and my poem.

+++ My Aunt’s Twilight Garden +++

Crickets would chirp merrily among the Bachelor Buttons and Zinnias in my aunt’s twilight garden. I would tiptoe out to their hiding place, and bending low, whisper goodnight.

Viewed from my childhood window, trees would rustle and sigh gently, silhouetted against the darkening sky. The sounds of older children at play would drift along the breeze, arriving muted but gay.

God was in his heaven during those lazy summer twilights. The world would slowly close its eyes until darkness and peace descended

Unknown and unseen, but felt deeply, something beckoned to me in the moonlight.

In adolescence I learned the world was not asleep but had only changed into its nightly coat of jet black and diamonds. And I began to realize the night sounds had somehow hushed their voices so I could no longer hear them in the moonlight?

I had arrived at the future.

The bright sun of day leaves but little time for dreams. And yet…..

May all your twilights be full of magic and may you always hear the crickets whispering to you in the moonlight ! Cecile Hamel-Roy – – My Yellow Farmhouse

August 4, 2014October 5, 2014

My Yellow Farmhouse - Cooking with Love!22 Comments

Scrumptious No-Bake Pies … Double Chocolate Pie with Pecans … & … Pistachio Pie with White Chocolate Chips and Walnuts

Who wants to heat up an oven in the summer – not me! These pies are so simple & so delicious I know you’re going to make them often. And, believe me, these pies won’t be hanging around your fridge for very long! (I honestly think I ate more pie than my grandchildren !!)

My grandchildren and I experimented with different fillings and crusts – Double Chocolate Pie with Pecans and Pistachio Pie with White Chocolate Chips & Walnuts became our favorites, so I’m posting those two recipes today.

There are so few ingredients used to prepare these pies that you might be a bit surprised – – a box of instant pudding, 1/2 cup milk, 8 oz. of whipped topping (such as Cool Whip), 1 cup of mini-marshmallows, the chips and either vanilla or almond extract. You just mix everything together, pour into a purchased no-bake pie crust, sprinkle with nuts and drizzle with chocolate…. and there you go… an almost instant pie!

My grandchildren and I sampled our pies almost immediately – and they were delicious, but we discovered the pies were even better refrigerated for a few hours. But who wants to wait – these pies are ready to serve after about 20 minutes.

Using these simple recipes as a base, I hope you experiment and find your own favorite no-bake pies. And don’t forget to share your ideas!

++ Pistachio Pie with White Chocolate Chips & Walnuts

1 ready-made shortbread crust (I use Keebler)
one package INSTANT pistachio pudding
1 (8 oz.) container whipped topping – – such as Cool Whip
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup mini-marshmallows
chocolate syrup – – such as Hershey’s
1/4 cup chopped walnuts – – to sprinkle on top

In a medium bowl beat 1 box pistachio INSTANT pudding, 8 oz. Cool Whip, 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 tsp. almond extract for about 45 seconds. Stir in 1/2 cup white chocolate chips and 1 cup mini-marshmallow.

Spoon pie filling into pre-made shortbread crust. Pour on some chocolate syrup. (I think I got carried away when pouring the chocolate syrup on both pies today!) Sprinkle on 1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped walnuts. ++ To make it really easy, purchase chopped walnuts!!

Refrigerate pie for a short time – 20 minutes will do it, although overnight is even better. But who can wait that long – NOT ME….

++ Use the cover provided with the crust if you’re transporting the pie!

++++++++ Double Chocolate Pie with Pecans +++++++++

- 1 ready-made chocolate crust (I use Keebler)
- one package INSTANT chocolate pudding
- 1 (8 oz.) container whipped topping – – such as Cool Whip
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1 cup mini-marshmallows
- chocolate syrup – – such as Hershey’s
- 1/2 cups pecan halves – to sprinkle on top
- 11 – 12 Maraschino cherries, drained on a paper towel

++++ For Double Chocolate Mint Pie – add 1/2 cup CRUSHED Mint M&Ms instead of the 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips!

In a medium bowl beat 1 box chocolate INSTANT pudding, 8 oz. Cool Whip, 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract for about 45 seconds. Stir in 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips and 1 cup mini-marshmallows.

Spoon pie filling into pre-made chocolate crust. Pour on some chocolate syrup. (I usually use a crisscross pattern but today I went a little wild the the chocolate syrup!) Place 1/2 cup or so pecans on top, then 11 – 12 Maraschino cherries.