lemon blueberry scones (vegan)

thanks to those rad pumpkin scones i made a few weeks ago, i've been on a scone kick lately.  i had some fresh blueberries in the fridge & a bagful of lemons, so i thought those ingredients seemed ripe for some scone makin'.  i perused the internet for a recipe & didn't find one quite to my liking, so i invented my own. kind of scary, but the proportions seemed similar enough to the pumpkin ones, so i gave it a go. they turned out just fine...delicious, even!

lemon blueberry scones (vegan)

makes: 8 big ones (or 16 little ones) 

ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 TBS baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ginger

zest of 1 lemon

¼ cup earth balance

¼ cup melted coconut oil (or canola oil)

¾ cup almond milk

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 cup fresh blueberries (tossed with a little flour and/or granulated sugar)

for glaze: a tablespoon or so of remaining lemon juice + ½ cup powdered sugar (more or less juice depending on what you want the consistency like)…or...sprinkle unbaked scones with turbinado sugar

directions:

1.     preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

2.     combine all the dry ingredients (flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, lemon zest) in a large bowl.

3.     measure out the almond milk and add the lemon juice – let it sit while you do the rest.

4.     “cut in” the earth balance (I just used my fingers to crumble it up)

5.     add the liquefied coconut oil and stir til combined

6.     add the almond milk to the mixture and stir til combined.  Then gently fold in the blueberries with a spatula (I rinsed them in a mesh strainer, dried them off, and added a little flour and white sugar)

7.     put the mixture on a silipat and form into a disc (about 6 inches across) – cut with a pizza cutter into 8 triangles and transfer to baking sheet. bake for 15-18 minutes until the scones are firm & a toothpick comes out clean.

8.     Cool on a wire rack (lined with wax or parchment paper) and drizzle glaze on the top. 

Quinoa Salad with Mango and Black beans

this flavorful and healthful (and colorful) salad comes together very quickly. i got it out of the veganomicon cookbook, but you can also find it online here.  i used half regular and half red quinoa.
while eating this salad, i got the same sensation as when i eat kale. like my body is thanking me for the nutrients and saying it's glad i didn't give it chili mac and french fries again.

there's a little asian grocery store about 2 miles away, and i got the green onions and cilantro (as well as some mint, basil and dill and a honking big piece of ginger) for DIRT CHEAP. probably about 1/2 less than the grocery store. henceforth, i plan on getting all my herbs & stuff there.

Lemon, Ginger & Cranberry Oatmeal

Lemon, Ginger & Cranberry Oatmeal (vegan)
serves: 1
 
ingredients:
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup almond milk
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons ginger syrup
1 tablespoon dried cranberries
zest of about 1/4 or 1/2 lemon (depending how lemony you want it)
2 teaspoons ground flax seed (optional)
dash ground ginger
dashes kosher salt

directions:
In a small pot, combine all ingredients. Heat over low/medium until it reaches your preferred consistency, stirring occasionally (about 6 minutes)

pumpkin scones (vegan)

i never knew what to think about scones. they always look really dry, like you'd take a bite and just go "cachhhhhhh" with your throat. like sticking a bunch of saltines in your mouth or something.  i've never ordered or bought one, and i've never baked them either.  but last month at our work christmas party, i tried a cranberry scone (from panera) and thought it was great.  fast forward to january, and it seems as if i've ended up with no less than 14 cans of libby pumpkin puree in my pantry (they were on clearance for 44¢ at walgreens, so i stocked up. they also had boxes of domino brown sugar for 25¢!). and i'm a little burnt out on muffins. scone time!  i used this recipe for vegan pumpkin scones and made a few slight modifications (wheat flour & more spices).  they turned out like fluffy little pillows - not dry at all - and not overly sweet either.

Pumpkin Scones (adapted from Vegan Joy)

1/3 cup almond milk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup canola oil
½ cup canned pumpkin puree
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
dash of ground cloves
¼ teaspoon salt

For the glaze:
1 tablespoon earth balance, melted
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 cup powdered sugar


Preheat oven to 375° F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or line it with parchment, and set aside.

Make the scones: In a medium bowl or 2-cup measure, whisk together almond milk, vinegar, oil, pumpkin, and vanilla. Set aside.

In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt.

Make a well in the center of the dry mixture, and pour in the liquid mixture. Using a flexible spatula, make a scraping-scooping-pressing sort of motion to gently combine the two. When you have only a few streaks of flour left in the dough, remove it to a lightly floured surface. Pat the dough evenly into a circle 6” in diameter and about 1 ½” high. Using a sharp knife, cut the mound into eight wedges; it should be fairly sticky and a bit misshapen; that’s okay. Transfer wedges to prepared baking sheet.

Bake until firm and just baked through (insert a knife; if it comes out clean, they’re done), 12-15 minutes.

Make the glaze: Whisk all glaze ingredients together and drizzle over scones.

december gocco projects (and other craft stuff)

i broke out ye ole gocco last month to work on a few projects. i made some note cards as my gift offering for craft nashy's annual holiday get-together (they do a craft-related gift drawing).  i used a multi-pack of brightly colored cards and printed a little greeting ("bonjour, mon ami") with silver ink:

 i hadn't hung out with these girls since early 2010, so it was nice to see them again. only 4 of us were at the party, and during the gift swap i wound up with a super awesome embroidered towel made by jenny:

that night, i continued to work on my deer cross stitch, which i still haven't finished. maybe by 2012...

 i also made some cards/prints based on an illustration from this book:

you see, courtney got everyone in my family black forest cuckoo clocks for christmas 2009, and i thought it would be cute to hang up this print by the clock (which i still haven't hung up yet. absolutely ridiculous, i know...)

finally, this is OBVIOUSLY not my own work, but i bought these notecards on sale at anthropologie & picked up some mats and frames at hobby lobby today. i hung them up above the console in the living room.  i like the way colored mats spruce up little art prints, and i am especially fond of the oval shaped ones:

here's to continued craftiness in 2011!