Scones, making the morning brighter!

In our house, rarely a day ends before one of my monkeys asks me, “What’s for breakfast tomorrow?” The dishes are piled high in the kitchen, and they want to talk about their next meal! Some days we plan our menu based on what they think they might crave, and some days it’s based on what the weather might bring our way, and some days it is a combination of both. Now, I don’t know how the weather has been where you are, but here in New York it has been dreary to the third power! So scones have been making multiple appearances in our home this winter. There is something so comforting and uplifting about breaking off a bite of a warm sugar topped scone, savoring it for a moment on your tongue before chasing it with a sip of tea or coffee. Now, scones take a bit of time, which we are sorely short of during the week, as I am sure are you, but I have a trick, or a tip, that I can share with you so that you too might make freshly baked scones a part of your mornings as well. I make my scone dough the night before, and sometimes days before. I make the dough, roll it out, cut it, top it with cream & sugar and wrap it in parchment or wax paper, drop them into a plastic bag and stash them in the refrigerator* for another day. When that day comes, and those scones call to us on those rushed mornings, I remove as many as I need from the fridge and place them on a silicone covered cookie sheet, and set the oven to 415f. On most mornings, save those that make the kitchen frightfully cold, the scones come to room temp at about the time that the oven comes to temp. I place the scones into the oven and bake them off (16-18 minutes) while we are readying for our day. By the time we have finished with our buttons, zippers, snaps and laces, our scones are ready to be gobbled. And we oblige. *Keep one week in the refrigerator, and 4 weeks in the freezer. If kept in the freezer, place the frozen scones into the fridge the night before.

Polly put the kettle on, the SugarliciousNY site is once again open for business!!

Where On Earth Have You Been?!!!

I know, I know, it's been a while. I know you have all missed me terribly. At least my Aunt M has. I'll make it quick and painless. Biz was slow, tried my hand at running a cafe in my ex's restaurant in the a.m. hours (they did lunch and dinner service). That was a comedy of errors, but while there, a man walked in off of the street, sampled some of my baked goods, and hired me to work at his cafe around the corner. Here's proof if ya want it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/dining/25off.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/C/Coffee

So, anyway, that's where I've been toiling and playing. But now it seems fate has another twist for me. This time last year I delivered 300 brownies to the Rachael Ray Show to be featured in their Snack of the Day segment. I prayed and prayed and prayed all summer long (well, whined really, and begged more than that) for the segment to air as my biz was sucking air from a plastic baggie. Well, life has been restored it seems. The segment aired this week, and the response has been astonishing indeed.

Now that I am 'back', I'll do my best to keep up to date with these posts, as well as fill you all in on the past months, if only to post pics of things that bring me joy.

best,
tenacious m

It Ain't Over Yet

The sky is dark as pitch right now, beastly clouds chasing out what is left of Summer, and my camera is busted (a curse upon you oh techno Gods), but I can still take a nostalgic stroll to where the sky was once dotted with dancing bunnies and three headed dragons, and America was taking its turn on my play list (c'mon, I spent my kid years in Cali, cut me some slack, you muskrat you!). Just back from the Farmers Market with my kids; a Summer's heist, bags full of treats--berries, apricots, chewy bread, basil, free-range chicken...


I made pesto and more pesto and more pesto...but here, just for you, is a good start.

Into the Cuisinart went:
2+ very large handfuls of very well rinsed basil
5 juicy cloves of garlic
a generous handful of walnuts
1/3+ c. freshly grated parmesan
1/4+ c. virgin olive or grape seed oil
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Begin to pulse, and add oil in a slow stream (I used grape seed oil cuz it's what I had on hand) and keep going until a nice wet paste is created. Taste and season as preferred with s&p and more parmesan if you like; learn what makes you happy, and do it.

Fantastic--the smell, the color, the taste.

On peasant bread with heirloom tomatoes and some slices of parmesan on top--killer...
oh, and if you get some ham in there too...a massacre!



to store: place in a jar or other 'liddable' container and top off with oil to keep it from discolouring (even if it does, it's not gonna kill you), and tuck it in the fridge, will keep for about a week.

A Tart Grows in Brooklyn

This my friends, is a no brainer. It's a fruit tart I made with some apricots that my friend E gave me from her overly bountiful trip to the Farmers Market. From time to time, I like to use, ahem, frozen Pillsbury pie dough (usually for my chicken pot pies more so than anything else). For the purists out there, forgive me, but I have to tell you that they bake up very nicely, and will do in a (single mom) pinch.

You need:
a cookie sheet, covered in parchment or a silicon matt
1/2 of a Pillsburry pie crust
7-8 apricots, washed, halved and stoned (I mean take the pits out Amelia)
turbinado sugar
butter

Pre-heat your oven to 375f. Roll the dough as well as you can into a rectangle. Yes, it's a half circle, it CAN be done, do you have to be so literal all of the time. Roll up the edges and press them down gently, just until they stay put and form a nice barrier to hold in the juices. Lay in the apricot halves. I place them with the stone side, or the pit side up, which makes for a rustic look. If you want something more refined, flip those babies over. I placed about a Tablespoon worth of butter, in bits and sprinkled it on top. I then sprinkled a very generous amount of turbinado sugar, about a 1/4 c. over the fruit.
Into the oven it went for about 20 minutes so the fruit would soften, and the juices would render and mix with the sugar and the butter.

I served this up plain, but dang it if I wasn't wishing that I had had some ginger ice cream to go along with it!

Sentimental Journey

These are my Grandparents, Mary and Hugh, or Baba and Gogo as they liked to be called; the only ones I was fortunate enough to have met. When I was very young, they were with the Foreign Service in Europe, and my family was living in California. We communicated primarily via cassette tapes which we sent back and forth 'par avion'. They would record stories, and Gogo would play us a tune on his piano. My brother and I would blurt "hello, cheeseburger" into the mic, and fall over in peels of laughter, rendering us useless to the rest of the dialog.

Sometimes, during the summer months, while we were off from school, we would meet halfway, in rural Pennsylvania. While there, Gogo taught me how to play 'Over The Rainbow' (with two fingers!!) and would take me on long twilight walks after supper. Baba attempted to teach my brother and me The Lord's Prayer, "...forgive u(snot) our trespasses..." (yes, my brother and I were cheeky twits), and would give my little hands manicures with lovely clear orangey pink iridescent polish.

Summer is on the cusp, as it was then, and as I think of them, right now, I know what a gift it is to have had these experiences with two of the most remarkable people I have known.

Funfetti?!!!

My daughter just turned 8. The weather was delicious and we had a picnic here in Greenpoint; tasty finger sandwiches, perfectly ripened fruit--cherries, mangoes, melon, berries, water balloons, silly hats and the most perfect climbing tree. My friend M was all over my "martha-ness" (how did that old bird get to take the credit for any one's gift of style anyway?). The kids were drooling over the cupcakes, busily predetermining which one they would get (riiiight) when one of the carriers toppled over,"wasn't me!!!" they all yelped in unison, hands in the air. A little rescuing, and only one casualty, which really was only a cupcake stripped of its liner cup. M saw this cupcake, her eyes widened with surprise, and with her subtle sarcasm uttered, "Funfetti!? You're this amazing baker and you made Funfetti cupcakes!?!"


Absolutely. I got my start in baking with box mixes. My first cakes where Jiffy brand, way back when they even had a frosting that you could make by just adding water. It may seem sacrilegious for some for a baker to use a box mix, but let's get real here. It's just mama pulling together this birthday party. That means the planning and the shopping and the fixin' and the carting over to the park and the setting up, and the and the and the. . .and ya know, I frost them with the real sh*t, two different flavors in fact-- a mocha ganache and a coconut butter cream.

Chocolate Ganache:
melt over low flame:
1/4 lb unsalted butter
1 lb. semi-sweet chocolate

mix in bowl:
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup extra extra extra strong coffee

Add chocolate to cream mixture, mixing well. Allow to set at room temp at least 3 hours before using.


Coconut Butter Cream:
1 lb. confectioners sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter. softened
salt to taste
1/4 cup cream of coconut
1 tsp vanilla

Cream butter, add sugar and continue to blend in mixer at slow speed. Add cream of coconut, vanilla and salt. Beat at medium speed 1-2 minutes until creamy. Add more cream of coconut as needed until desired consistency is reached.





Suffice it to say, there is no shame here.