Sunday, July 27, 2014

Vanilla-Blueberry Pecan Scones

Saturday morning, I managed to get out of bed and head to Pocahontas Produce to go blueberry picking. The farm was on the outskirts of Birmingham, quite quaint in appearance, and a weekend oasis.


We began filling our buckets, while also eating our fill of blueberries on the way--Mother Nature's candy.


We each left on a summer produce high with a gallon of berries and ready to cook up some berry fun.


Since it is the weekend, breakfast is always my favorite weekend meal--it's the meal that begins your day and sets your mood for the relaxation and fun you have ahead of you. So, I had to make blueberry scones, specifically Vanilla-Blueberry Pecan scones--yum! 


Vanilla-Blueberry Pecan Scones 
Time: 1 hour 
Servings: 8 scones 

Ingredients 
1 cup AP flour 
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1/2 cup cold butter, diced
1 egg
1/4 cup heavy cream 
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup fresh blueberries
1/3 cup pecans 
heavy cream for brushing before baking 
turbinado sugar, optional 

Procedure 
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. 
2. Add butter and mix until flour mixture looks like coarse sand. 
3. Add egg and heavy cream, and mix until thick dough forms. 
4. Add blueberries and mix with mixer to allow berries to release some juices. 
5. Stir in pecans. 


6. On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1-inch thick square.
7. Cut square into 4 smaller squares. Cut each square into 2 triangles to form 8 scones. 
8. Brush with heavy cream and top with sugar--*recommended turbinado sugar. 
9. Bake 18-20 minutes and sprinkle with more sugar when finished. 



A perfect summer breakfast treat! 

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Citrus-Spiced Sweet Tea

Y'all, I have settled back in the South for a little bit. What does this mean?? Awesome bbq, fried chicken, sweet tea and an apartment with a kitchen...this girl isn't kitchenless anymore! 

To begin my Alabama adventure, I figured I would start this new chapter off with a twist on classic Southern sweet tea. This citrus-spiced sweet tea from Charleston Receipts will be the perfect welcome home drink.


Southern Spiced Tea 
Recipe by: Charleston Receipts 
Total time: 15 minutes 
Servings: 18 cups

Ingredients 
Tea
8 cups boiling water 
4 tea bags 
6 oranges, squeezed 
2 lemons, squeezed 
1 tsp. ground cloves 

Simple Syrup 
2 cups sugar
8 cups water 

Directions 
1. Steep tea bags in 8 cups of boiling water for 5 minutes. 
2. In a separate saucepan, heat 8 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar until the sugar dissolves. 
3. Squeeze oranges and lemons. 
4. Add simple sugar, cloves and fruit juice. Serve tea chilled.