Merry Berry Scones

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Have you ever loved Christmas so much you wish you could eat it? Is that weird to say? Gingerbread, peppermint, hot chocolate etc. all remind you of Christmas, but these scones taste like a Christmas tree wrapped in a sweater, with a santa hat on, drinking hot cider while watching a Christmas movie. Short version, they taste like a bottled up edible version of Christmas. 

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It's sure to be a Very Merry Berry Christmas with these cranberry and rosemary scones. I'm a scone person when it comes to breakfast pastries. My parents and I had this conversation the other day when I brought them some scones to try. My mom claims she is a muffin person, my dad and I are team scone. I like the crumbly texture of a scone compared to the cupcake wannabe that you get from a muffin. Are you team muffin or scone? 

Merry Berry Scones
yields 8 scones

Ingredients:
2½ cups flour
6 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
2 Tbsp. dried cranberries, chopped small
4 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled and diced
1 cup milk of choice (I used almond milk), plus 2 tablespoons more for brushing on top
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 to 3 Tbsp. water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, dried cranberries, and rosemary in a large bowl.

Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, using two butter knives, or your hands until it looks like coarse meal. Whisk together the milk and vanilla extract, and stir it into the flour mixture. The dough will be a little sticky, but not too wet.

Shape the dough into a ball, then flatten it into a disk; wrap it in plastic wrap and chill 10 minutes in the freezer.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Form the dough into a circle about 7 to 8 inches in diameter and ¾ inch thick. Cut the circle of dough into 8 equal wedges.

Transfer the scones to the prepared baking sheet, lightly brush the tops with a little milk, and bake until puffed and light golden brown on top and bottom, about 14 to 16 minutes. Cool completely.

Once cooled, whisk together all ingredients for the glaze, adding the water a little at a time until it reaches your desired consistency. Dip the tops of the scones into the glaze, letting it run down the sides; decorate with a few cranberries and sprigs of rosemary. Place the scones onto a wire rack and let the glaze set completely before serving.

Have a Merry Berry Christmas!

Annie

It's Getting Chili

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Once the temperature drops I pretty much crave chili for every single meal. It's the ultimate cold weather, warm you up meal. Chili is easily one of my favorite foods. I've attended too many chili cook-offs to count, made several pots myself and eaten an unhealthy amount of Fritos all for the sake of an excellent bowl of chili.

I've rounded up a pretty stocked list of different kinds of chili. Turkey chili, white chicken chili, veggie chili, etc. I adore all kinds of chili, buuuuut if you ask me nothing beats my momma's. I know everyone says that, but I'll fight you on it that her's really is the best. It even won my high school chili contest back in the day. No beans, ground beef, lots of spices, and tons of Fritos. Scroll through for some pin worthy chili recipes, but keep scrolling for momma Tucker's chili recipe!

1) Quick Bison Chili

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8) Salsa Verde Turkey Chili, made by me here.

11) And now, the only chili recipe you need.

Mom's Chili

Ingredients:
2 lbs. lean chili meat
1/2 lb. lean ground chuck
1 onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 heaping Tbsp. chili powder
1 heaping Tbsp. cumin
3/4 heaping tsp. oregano
1/2 heaping tsp. sage
2 heaping Tbsp. cornmeal
1-1 oz. Williams chili seasoning
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup Heinz chili sauce
1-6 oz. tomato paste
1-1 lb. can fire-roasted tomatoes
Fritos, sour cream, cheese, green onions to garnish

Directions:
Over medium heat, add a little bit of olive oil to a large stockpot or dutch oven. Sauté ground meats, onion, green pepper, and garlic until veggies are tender and the meat is almost cooked through. Add remaining ingredients, combining well. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover your pot, and simmer for 2 hours. Add more seasoning if desired. It's all up to your taste buds. Garnish with lots of cheese and Fritos. I like to do a bottom layer of Fritos, then a big helping of chili then lots of cheese, sour cream, green onions, and more Fritos!

Annie

Chocolate Chip Cookies Round 2

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I mentioned a few weeks ago how I am on a quest to find my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. First attempt I made these pillow-like cookies. I kept testing and recently made another batch of cookies. This recipe was sent to me form Molly. She saw my mission and passed along her family's favorite recipe. 

With a few alterations they came out nice! Thin, lots of chocolate and and just a good ole cookie.

This recipe uses two different kinds of flour and requires you to chill the dough. I made mine with mini chocolate chips to ensure a piece of chocolate in every bite.

Chocolate Chip Cookies Round 2

Ingredients:
2 cups cakes flour
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. coarse salt
2 1/2  sticks unsalted butter, room temp (1 1/4 cups)
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
12 oz. mini semi-sweet chocolate chip cookies

Directions:
Combine flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour.

When time to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop 2 Tbsp. sized cookies onto sheet, 2-inches apart so they have enough room to spread out.  Bake for 10 minutes. 

My first batch burned, but only because we had a little spillage from the night before's dinner and it caused a big smokey mess. Once I got that cleaned up the cookies turned out great, but still on the hunt for my go-to CCC recipe. Fortunately that means more chocolate chip cookies to come.

A fine recipe indeed but still working on finding my go-to. More testing to come!

Annie

Let's Jam

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Bring on the soup, stew, chili and now, jambalayaaaa! My favorite kind of foods. I tried to convince my family to let me make this jambalaya back when it was still hitting 100, they didn't go for it.  Now that it's relatively chilly most days, I jumped on my chance again. 

Alana from Eating From The Ground Up is the mind behind my new cookbook, The Homemade Kitchen. The book is stocked with recipes using fresh and delicious ingredients. This is one of my favorite Blogging for Books cookbooks I have received. I love how real the recipes are. No crazy ingredients, nothing too fussy. Alana has specific mantras she lives by while in the kitchen. Feed yourself, eat outside, start where you are, be a beginner, and more. My favorite is "do your best and then let go."

Jambalaya from The Homemade Kitchen
serves 6-8

Ingredients:
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 Tbsp. paprika
1 tsp. salt
6 oz. chopped bacon
2-3 leeks, cut in half and thinly sliced
3/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion (1 small onion)
2 large red bell peppers, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
2 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic
3 cups hot chicken stock
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 cup uncooked rice
12 oz cooked, andouille sausage, cut and cooked into 1/2-inch rounds
1 lb. fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions:
Toss the chicken with the paprika and salt and set aside. heat a large heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook, stiffing often until crispy about 10 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a medium bowl, leaving the bacon fat in the pot. Cook the chicken in the fat, stirring occasionally until brown, about 5 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pot and add to the bacon bowl. 

If you don't have enough bacon grease leftover, add oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Add the leeks and onion to the pot and cook, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add the red peppers, jalapeno, garlic and cook over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the whole mixture is cooked down, slightly brown and smells delicious.

Heat your stock in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add the bay leaves, rice and sausage and continue to cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes.  Add the hot stock as well as the reserved bacon and chicken, bring to a boil, lower the heat and cover the pot. Cook undisturbed until the rice is tinder and the stock is mostly absorbed, about 30 to 45 minutes. It may take longer depending on your rice. If you are using shrimp, add it during the last 5 minutes of cooking. Once the shrimp is pink, remove the bay leaves, top with scallions and parsley and serve immediately. Best with with a little hot sauce and some cornbread!

I got a little frustrated while I was cooking this dish because the rice wasn't cooking, and it was taking much longer. I tend to get flustered when I'm cooking for others. With a little patience I finally got it finished. I wish I had Alana with me saying, "do your best and then let go." Once the dish got to the table everyone loved it. 

You can purchase The Homemade Kitchen here and make sure to check out Alana's blog for more of her recipes!

Annie

I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review. If you are a also a blogger make sure to check out their site on how you too can start Blogging for Books!

Upside Down Pumpkin Crumb Cake

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Between all of our back and forth emails and texts about implementing MailChimp, importing Disquis, editing URLs and formatting posts, Peyton and I exchanged a few non-blog related conversations. She told me she had a great recipe for me if I wasn't pumpkin-ed out yet. Pumpkin-ed out, ha never. This recipe is decades old and comes from an old church cookbook of her mom's. All good recipes derive from some old church pot-luck party.

I made this cake to pair with Sunday night dinner. And it's just like oh so dang amazing. I think it even converted my brother-in-law into a pumpkin fan. He says he doesn't like "orange food"... we don't claim him sometimes. Pumpkin, sweet potatoes and butternut squash are all very important foods in my life. 

The whole cake gets flipped over making the buttery pecan crumb layer the base. The pumpkin cake layer gets sandwiched in the middle and is almost like a layer of pumpkin pie. Slap on cream cheese whipped frosting and you've got a cherry on top. This cake is getting put in the repeat recipe box ASAP.

Upside Down Pumpkin Crumb Cake
yields 1 9x13 cake

Ingredients:
1 can of pumpkin puree
1 can of evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
1/s tsp. cinnamon
3 eggs
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans, plus more for decoration
2 sticks melted butter, cooled

Frosting:
1 8oz stick of cream cheese, room temp
3/4 cup Cool Whip, thawed
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13 dish with wax paper. Melt your butter and set aside to let cool. Whisk the first five ingredients together and pour into your dish. Evenly distribute the dry cake mix over the pumpkin mixture. Sprinkle in the chopped pecans and lightly pat them into the cake mix. Pour your cooled butter over the nuts then bake for 50-60 minutes. Let cool. 

Using an electric mixer combine the frosting ingredients. Once the cake is cooled, run a knife along the edges. Invert on to a tray and remove the wax paper. The crumb part will now be on the bottom. Frost and decorate with pecans!

Thumbs up to upside down pumpkin crumb cake!

Annie