Pumpkin Scone with Whole Wheat Flour

 

Heavy wet snow coats and breaks the foliage in late May what better time for Pumpkin Scone.

1 cup white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup oats, uncooked

1 Tablespoon baking powder

½ cup packed brown sugar

1/16 teaspoon lavender salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon cloves

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

2 eggs

1 cup cream

15 ounce can of pumpkin – be careful to use pumpkin and not pumpkin pie mix

Directions: Stir all the dry ingredients together thoroughly in a large bowl. Cut in butter. Crack eggs individually into a separate bowl if both are fine, stir together and add to dry ingredients and stir thoroughly. Add cream to above mixture and stir. Add pumpkin and stir thoroughly. Grease and flour a 9.5-inch diameter, deep-dish pie pan. Pour mixture into pie pan. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes. Test scone with table knife. If dough is sticky return scone to oven for another 10 to 15 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Pumpkin is dense and the baking time is longer than for a white flour and cream scone.

Icing

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup sifted powdered sugar

1+ Tablespoon heavy cream

Directions: Melt butter in small sauce pan. Add vanilla. Sift in powdered sugar. Icing should be runny. If it is thick, add 1 Tablespoon cream. Stir. Spoon carefully all over scone; one may poke holes in scone so icing will run inside.

Serve scone while warm.

Serves 6 - 8 people.

Notes: Pumpkin scone with whole wheat flour variation 2

Cherry Cobbler

 

4 cups frozen, mixed sweet and tart cherries, pitted before freezing

1 cup flour

½ cup sugar

½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

1/16 teaspoon lavender salt

Directions: To make the topping: cream together butter and sugar; add salt and cream; add flour and cream. Place 4 cups of frozen, mixed cherries in a well-greased deep dish pie pan. Distribute the topping evenly over the cherries. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes.

Serves 8 people.

Notes: Many thanks to Wanda Dietz for the initial gift of lavender salt.

Lavender was grown in Palisade, Colorado: https://www.nielsenvillage.com/products

 

 

Guacamole with Cara Cara Orange

 

1 Anaheim chile

1 Cara Cara orange

1 large avocado

Directions: Wash and dry all ingredients, even though they will all be peeled.

Using medium heat, roast chile on stove top to blacken the tough exterior layer. Turn to ensure even blackness. Remove chile using tongs. Place on cutting board and cover with medium sized bowl for 5 minutes and allow to steam.

Under cold running water peel the blackened exterior layer of the chile. It should slide off, leaving the green fruit. On a cutting board, remove seeds and veins. Dice chile and put in a bowl.

Peel orange including the white membrane between the skin and the fruit. Slice and dice the orange into small pieces and place in the bowl with the chiles.

On a cutting board slice the avocado in half. Wash the knife. Remove the pit. Score the fruit in each half vertically and horizontally. Using a spoon, scoop the fruit out of each half shell and add to the bowl with the chile and orange. Smash avocado with a fork and mix the three ingredients together.

Serve with chips or as a topping on quesadillas and tacos.

Serves 4 people.

Notes: An easy and tasty appetizer, the pink inner fruit of the Cara Cara orange and the greens of the avocado and chile, make for a bright and delicious guacamole.

Guacamole Variation 3

Snowman with Cherry Branches

 

Warm Cherries for Chilly Mornings

 

2 cups frozen sweet cherries

1 teaspoon or less butter

1/16 teaspoon – actually just a dash of nutmeg

Directions: Generously grease small Pyrex pie pan or small casserole dish with butter. Spread sweet cherries in pan. Sprinkle the smallest amount of nutmeg on the cherries. Bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 30 minutes, using care not to burn the juices.

Serves 2 people.

Notes: On exceptionally cold winter days, heated fruit warms the body and tastes surprisingly good.