Pumpkin Roll Scones

Mhmmm...

Don't these look good?


Who am I kidding? I know they do!

I saw a trick to make food photographs turn out better, and I think it worked! Awesome.

I have never made scones before, and so this was a real adventure. One of the local coffee shops makes some excellent cinnamon scones, so they're next on my list to try! Definitely make sure you have some people to share these with, because you'll be tempted to try and eat them all!

I saw this recipe over on Buttered Side Up and gave it a try for brunch one morning. Need I say it? Excellent! If you'd like to see all the in-progress pictures, click above. To go directly to the recipe, click over here.

Until next time,

Alfredo Sauce

I know.

We're all supposed to be "healthier" by eating food that had its natural fat rendered, skimmed, separated, or chemically removed. But you should know that fat is your friend. My favorite food-information website, Food Renegade, has some very good articles: Butter As a Health Food and More Fat in Your Diet should get you thinking if you didn't already know.

So, alfredo sauce, while rich, isn't bad for you. Moderation and fresh ingredients are the key.

Printable Version / Adapted from All Recipes
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Homemade Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients:
1/4 cup BUTTER
1 cup HEAVY CREAM
1 clove GARLIC, crushed
1 1/2 cups fresh grated PARMESAN CHEESE

Over medium heat melt the BUTTER. Add CREAM and gently simmer for five minutes. Then add GARLIC and CHEESE, whisking quickly. Reduce heat to low and stir occasionally until CHEESE is melted.

Serve immediately, preferably over hot fettuccine noodles!

*Note: Parmesan cheese is not a fast melting cheese like cheddar. It will take some time and patience for it to melt into this delectable sauce.

We make this about one a month with some pan-seared chicken breasts cut into slices over hot fettuccine. Add fresh bread and it's comfort food that can't be beat. I read some where that Alfredo was "grown up" macaroni and cheese, but I don't know, I like macaroni and cheese an awful lot to relegate it to "kid food"!

Until next time,

Flaky Pie Crust

I hate shortening. Can't stand the stuff, but I also can't seem to get a good pie crust just using butter. (I haven't been sucessful with rendering lard yet...) Apparently, it's all in the technique!


This is the best crust I have ever eaten!

Pie Crust
makes two crusts

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups ALL PURPOSE FLOUR
1 tbsp SUGAR
1 tsp SALT
3/4 cup COLD BUTTER
2/3 cup plus 1 tbsp COLD WATER

Cut COLD BUTTER into cubes. Set aside. Combine FLOUR, SUGAR, and SALT in a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry cutter, cut in BUTTER until no pieces larger than a pea remain. Add in about half the COLD WATER and mix, adding more COLD WATER as needed until dough comes together.

Divide the dough in half and wrap in plastic (I used cereal bags) and set in the fridge.

It is very important that the dough now rests in the fridge for at least 45 minutes and up to 60 minutes.

After resting, roll dough out.

It's better to under cook this crust, and I found it better for lower heats in the 350 degree range. The apple pie was in the oven for an hour, the pumpkin pies were in for 45 minutes but started at 425 degrees. At this high temperature they became hard. Play with it, see what's best for you.

NOTE: Never let the dough sit at room temperature longer than necessary. Always put it back in the fridge until ready to use.

It was just as good as it smelled and looked!

Homemade Chicken Broth

Have you made chicken broth from scratch yet? If not, why not give it a try? It's easy and simple and so much better for you than the store stuff because you know exactly what's in it (and you control salt content)!

Basic Chicken Broth

Ingredients:
1 WHOLE rosted chicken, picked mostly clean of meat.
VEGETABLES to taste.
(I used: 5 stalks of CELERY,
1 large chopped ONION,
1 sliced green PEPPER
4 smashed cloves of GARLIC,
SALT & PEPPER.)
These are what I had on hand, you could add CARROTS, THYME, ROSEMARY, PARSELY, BAY LEAF, SAGE, and anything else you can think of. It's really hard to ruin.
WATER to cover.

Place chicken carcass into a large pot. Add vegetables. Add enough water to entirely cover the chicken. Set over burner, turn the fire to low and do not cover.

Leave it alone for at least 1 1/2 hours, but you can skim as needed.

Strain broth using a colander or mesh strainer.

Pick any remaining meat from the chicken and put into a separate container to use later.

Store in glass jars in the fridge.

Easy, right!? Absolutely simple, and it makes the house smell divine! After a night in the fridge, remove the congealed fat from the top. If you make a mistake and add too much spice, add a little more water. If you add too much water, mix in a little more spice. It'll turn out, I promise.

Now, this can be canned and stored just like the store stuff, but you need to do it with a pressure canner. A regular water-bath canner does not reach a high enough temperature to kill botulism, a rare but deadly bacterium that produces nerve toxin. I didn't actually can this batch, because I don't have a pressure canner, but I liked how it looked in the jars anyway.

I used a fair bit the day after this batch was made in a chicken topped with biscuit dish I was trying out. Yum!