lemon cream scones

Hi friends! I'm in Fredricksburg right now for a school conference, but I'm super thrilled to have lovely Elizabeth guest posting here today. I adore this girl! Elizabeth blogs over at In the Loop, where she shares recipes, music, and lots of pretty things. She's my soul sister who loves books, Ina, and cheesy jalapeno things as much as I do. And she made you some scones, so... now you adore her too.

Hello there! I'm over the moon that Marie asked me to guest post for her. I'm not going to lie, I was also a little nervous - I have never guest posted before, have a major blog crush on Little Kitchie and also had no idea what I was going to make. I knew I wanted to make something akin to a recipe Marie would post - something elegant, simple, fresh and delicious all at once.

I found exactly what I was looking for in these scones - they're easy to make, taste like spring and would make an excellent debut at your next brunch. The recipe called for roasted strawberries to be placed on top, but I found them absolutely delicious on their own.

Grab your apron, play this album and let's have a spring scone-making session, shall we?

Lemon Cream Scones (adapted from here)
makes 10 scones

ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
finely grated zest of one large lemon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest and salt for at least 20 seconds, or until lemon zest is scattered throughout.

Using your fingertips, pinch the butter into the flour mixture until most of it is broken down.

In a separate bowl, combine egg, egg yolk, and the whipping cream.

Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour the egg mixture into the well. Carefully incorporate the mixtures together, working from the inside out until it is just combined. Be sure not to overmix.

Gently form the batter into 10 disks and place the scones about 1 inch apart on two lined cookie sheets. Lightly sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until light golden. Cool on a wire rack.

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compost cookies

I'm totally aware that anything I say here will be completely ignored because of the insanely delicious photo above. But, if you can peel your eyes away from that goodness, let me just say that I'm so happy to have Jen from Milk and Honey in this space today. Not only is Jen a super talented cook, baker, and photographer, she's also just a gem of a person. Oh, and did I mention she's coming to you all the way from Australia? Oh, you want me to stop talking now so you can focus on cookies? Fine...

I’m stoked that Marie has asked me to guest post on her fabulous blog. When she kindly invited me, I immediately started to think about what I might cook for you.  My mind raced from something virtuous like a light salad or something elegant like a pastry treat. But my evil twin took over and found these Compost Cookies in Gourmet Traveller and MADE ME DO IT. 

Call them Compost Cookies, or Kitchen Sink Cookies, or Everything Goes Cookies, or Fairground Cookies, or What Dreams Are Made of Cookies, or I-Just-Worked-Out,-Don’t look-At-Me-Like-That Cookies, or I’m-Having-A-Bad-Day-And-I-NEED-A-Cookie Cookies. But, seeing as how they have oats and coffee in them, I actually like to call them Breakfast Cookies… *wink*.

Thanks Marie, for the chance to show-off in your blog-space and for the excuse to make these over-the-top cookies.

Compost Cookies (from Gourmet Traveller)

yields 20 cookies

225g (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature

200g (1 cup) caster sugar (super fine sugar)

150g (3/4 cup) light brown sugar

50g (1/4 cup) liquid glucose

1 egg

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

225g (1 cup) bread flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

150g (3/4 cup) mini chocolate chips

100g (1/2 cup) mini butterscotch chips

40g (1/4 cup) rolled oats

2½ teaspoons ground coffee

50g (1/4 cup) each potato chips and mini pretzels

Graham crust

80g (2/3 cup) crushed digestive biscuits (Graham cracker crumbs)

10g (5 teaspoons) milk powder

15g (2 tablespoons) caster sugar (super fine sugar)

15g (1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, melted

30ml (1 oz.) cream

For the graham crust, toss cracker crumbs, milk powder, sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt with your hands in a bowl to evenly distribute your dry ingredients. Whisk butter and cream in a small bowl to combine, add to dry ingredients, toss until small clusters form and set aside.

Beat butter, sugars and liquid glucose in an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes, scrape down sides of bowl, add egg and vanilla and beat until very pale and fluffy (7-8 minutes). Reduce speed to low and add the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes. Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute (don’t overmix). Mixing on low speed, add the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, Graham crust, oats and coffee and mix just until incorporated (30 seconds). Add chips and pretzels and beat on low speed until just incorporated. Be careful not to overmix or break too many of the pretzels or potato crisps. Don’t, whatever you do, at this stage, taste any of the batter. Because if you do, and happened to get a potato chip and a chocolate chip in the same sample batch, you will end up eating cookie dough for lunch (not that I know anything about that.)

Scoop portions of cookie dough with an ice-cream scoop onto trays lined with baking paper. Pat tops of cookie dough domes flat. Top each cookie with a piece of pretzel and chip and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to a week. Do not bake your cookies from room temperature – they will not bake properly.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F). Arrange the portions of chilled dough on oven trays lined with baking paper and bake until faintly browned on the edges yet still bright yellow in the center (18 minutes). The cookies will puff, crackle and spread. Cool completely on trays. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

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oreo parfait

Today's guest post comes from one of the sweetest bloggers I know, Colleen from Souffle Bombay, whose site is full of amazing recipes that she (and her kiddos!) cook up. Colleen also happens to be one of my husband's favorite food bloggers as well, ever since she sent us a jar of her Sweet & Spicy Pecans, which he LOVED. Thank you so much, Colleen, for sharing this delicious treat over here today! xoxo

Hi I'm Colleen from Souffle Bombay!  I was thrilled when Marie, who I was lucky enough to meet through the food blogging world, asked me to do a guest post for her while she is on vacation and I thought a fun, cool & refreshing dessert that kids 2-102 can enjoy this summer would be just the thing! 

I think this dessert is almost as cute as Marie...almost!

Did you know that last year both the Oreo & my grandmom turned 100?  Yup it's true!  Now, they are both a very young & spry 101!  

My grandmom has an edge over the Oreo - her birthday is on Leap Day...so technically she is only 25 and she will stay that way until 2015!  THAT right there must be the secret to the incredible health she has had her whole life (she says she's never even had a cold).  That and the fact she pretty much grew a lot of what she ate (my Babci did as well).  She never really eats what many of us probably have in our pantries right this moment unless it was at a party or something like that, I don't know if she ever even tasted soda other than ginger ale.  She's cut from a different cloth, she just always made everything, reused everything as thought about anything she would buy before she did it.  I swear she has never paid money for a trash bag - ever.  She says why would you pay money for something then throw it away??   Funny how "today" the way she lived has become the way many are beginning to strive to live.

When it comes to food she tastes everything at parties and gatherings - she loves to taste new things, but she has always been a simple, natural eater.  Many times my gift to her on Christmas has been a basket full of oysters, a lobster tail, fillet mignon, shrimp, and high end dried fruits - things she adores but won't necessarily buy just for herself.  One thing I will always remember about her is her love of good food.

At the "100"party that 5 grandkids put together, one of my brothers included in the decorations packs of Oreo's.  He's smart like that - he scattered around the rooms any products he could find that were her age! Loved that! I thought to myself throughout the day...I wonder if she ever ate an Oreo?? I had totally planned on getting her to take a bite of one to see what she thought, but time got away from me, so instead I am bringing her a couple of these next week. 

I thought I want to make her something fun with Oreo's and I want to put it in a jar for easy travel (she's an 1 1/2 hours from me).  I did a test run a little over a week ago and bought 3 dozen 4 oz and 8 oz mason jars full to a  BBQ I went tt and they went SO fast that I didn't even get to taste one!  I don't know who was worse...all the dad's or the kids, scarfing them down...I guess they were good!  This is all that was left, scattered about the home we were at - almost no trace of what was once in those jars!

Treats like these are spectacular on a hot day - they go down easy and are incredibly refreshing since they are served cold and hey, if you have a bunch of mason jar's sitting around - fill 'em up!! 

Oreo Parfait

1 1/2 packages of Double Stuffed Oreo's

1 large 5.9 oz  package of Jello Chocolate Pudding

3 1/4 cups milk

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

2 - 8 oz containers of Cool Whip

Crush your Oreo's in your food processor in 2 batches, place crumbs in a bowl and reserve.  In your mixer, combine the box of pudding mix and the milk and mix until for 2-3 minutes or until it thickens up.  Place the pudding into a large "Ziploc" baggie and place in the refrigerator for at 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, clean your mixer then use it again to combine the cream cheese, 8 oz of Cool Whip and the powdered sugar.  Mix for 2 minutes on medium-high until the mixture is completely incorporated.  Place mixture in a large "Ziplock" bag.  Place that bag in your refrigerator until you are ready to assemble the jars.

Line you jars up, using a tablespoon, cover the bottom of each 4 or 8 oz jar with crumbs - about 1/8 of the jars worth (depends on the size jar you use).  Next, grab your cream cheese mixture, snip off a corner and gently squeeze filling into each jar.  Use a small spoon - or better yet a muddler if you have one - to pat down the filling.  Next grab your pudding bag, snip off one corner and repeat the process.  Scrape your second container of Cool Whip in another "Ziploc" bag and repeat the process.  Cover the top of each jar with your remaining Oreo crumbs, screw on the lids and store in the fridge until you use them.

Colleen's Notes: If you don't have a food processor, smash the Oreo's up in a double lined resealable baggie using a rolling pin or rubber mallet.  You also do not have to use mason jars for this - you can make one big one instead - a see through bowl would be best. For easy transport, place your jars in a box, a few shoe boxes or a big shallow container with a lid.  I like to keep these cold until serving - if refrigerator space is an is an issue where you are going, bring a big bowl or rectangular container, fill it with ice and plunk these bad-boys in it!  

I like to use Double Stuffed Oreo's and Cool Whip Extra Creamy for this - Hey...if your gonna do it...do it!  That's where the 4 oz jars come in for portion control, lol!

Thanks for letting me take over your blog for a day Marie - I hope everyone enjoys this! 

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cane syrup pulled pork sandwiches

Today's guest post comes from one of my biggest blog crushes, Erika of Southern Souffle. This gal is legit. Not only is she hilarious, but she cooks up some serious Southern comfort food like pecan pie granola, andouille slider burgers, and, omg y'all, spiked Arnold Palmer pops. Do you see why I adore her? So I'm pretty happy to have her today, and you should be too... I mean, check out these sandwiches...

Well Hellloooo there!

Let me start off with a big thanks to Marie for allowing me to bring my ridiculousness to her lovely blog!  This is my first guest post and I'm at a complete loss over what to say. Before that, I was at a complete loss over what to make. Fortunately but unfortunately, I made these pulled pork sandwiches yesterday. This is fortunate, because it gave me something delicious to use for this post. This is unfortunate, because in the process of devouring my sandwich, there was an incident, a mishap of spilled BBQ sauce on my favorite light blue dress.

My favorite light blue dress that I purchased at full price from Anthropologie during a moment of insanity.  At the time the purchase didn't seem crazy... No, no.. American Express gives you 30 days to come to that realization. So now I have a cute little blue dress with an abstract painting of BBQ sauce on it. But the tender, juicy, tangy-sweet tastes of these sandwiches were so worth it.

These pulled pork sandwiches, are everything that I love about food and BBQ... minus Bourbon. There should have been Bourbon.

Instead, there is Cane syrup mixed in with your basic ingredients for BBQ sauce, and what you have is a succulent piece of pulled pork that can barely be contained by 2 pieces of bread.

Cane Syrup is a sweetener, made from the concentration of cane juice that's been cooked in open kettles. It was often incorporated into a lot of dishes growing up. For as long as my memory serves me, the distinctive yellow Steen Brothers label was constantly sitting on the counter. Waiting its turn to be poured into the marinades, the cake mixes, the gingerbreads and sometimes even the cocktails.

It's truly a southern staple... sorta like Duke's mayo.

With Marie being in Texas and I in the great state of Georgia, we share a love of BBQ. So let's have a cookout, a backyard soiree. I'll bring these little beauties, Marie will bring her Coconut Banana Cream Pie, and y'all bring some napkins. Better yet -- bibs, cause this could get messy.

Cane Syrup Pulled Pork Sandwiches 

Prep Time- 20 mins Cook Time- 6 hours Yield- 12 servings 

Ingredients: 

1 pork roast, preferably shoulder or Boston butt

2 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp light brown sugar

1 tbsp dry mustard

2 tbsp kosher salt

Cane Syrup BBQ Sauce:

½ cup cane syrup (I use Steen Brothers)

3 cup ketchup

2 tbsp yellow mustard

1tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp hot sauce

2 garlic cloves, smashed

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cayenne

½ tsp freshly ground pepper

Hamburger buns

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix paprika, garlic powder, brown sugar, dry mustard, and salt.  Rub spice blend all over pork roast. Place roast in bowl or container, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.

When ready to cook, whisk together all ingredients for the sauce in a separate bowl until well combined. Place pork roast in slow cooker. Pour prepared sauce over the meat, set slow cooker to high and cook for about 6 hours.

Remove the roast from slow cooker and shred with a fork. Return the shredded meat to the slow cooker mixing in with the sauce. Let sit in slow cooker on low until ready to serve.

Serve piled on a bun topped with slaw if you like.

Adapted from Food Network

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lemon-scented spelt flour crepes

I'm so excited to share this first guest post with y'all, coming from sweet Cassie of The Clean Sheep, who I'm blessed to know from our time at Baylor, where we were sorority sisters. Now as a Certified Holistic Health Coach, Cassie blogs her fantastic recipes, wellness tips, and encouragement on her beautiful site. Her food is gorgeous and creative (dark chocolate granola or coconut curry popcorn, anyone?), and she's just a gem herself. Thank you, Cassie, for sharing your goodness here today!

Hello from The Clean Sheep kitchen!  I’m over the moon to be guesting here, and have been channeling my inner-Little Kitchie to bring you something worthy.  In honor of our special someone’s trip to France, and my bi-monthly French cooking classes coming to a wrap, I’ve conquered the seemingly-intimidating and delicate French pastry – The Crepe.

Is it the lacy-thinness of a crepe that makes it appear a daunting task? Or the idea that we need a fancy crepe pan to make it work? After trying several recipe combinations and adjusting to my desires for a healthful and fail-proof product, all fears were overcome with this method - no special equipment or magic from a trained pastry chef required.

This crepe is the perfect balance of hearty and supple. It has a nuttier flavor than the standard due to the spelt flour used in replace of white-flour (Check out the nutritional benefits of spelt flour here.) The batter will last a couple days in the fridge, as will the cooked crepes, so you can prepare these for your family or guests ahead of time and warm when ready to use.

Bon appetit & visit me at The Clean Sheep soon!

Lemon-Scented Spelt Flour Crepes
makes 8 large crepes

for crepes you’ll need:

• 1 1/3 cups spelt flour
• zest of 1 lemon
• 2 eggs
• 1 ¼ cup milk (I used almond, dairy works as well)
• ½ cup water
• 2 tablespoons melted butter or coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon honey
• small pinch of salt

for filling you’ll need:

• 2 cups fruit of choice (I used frozen blueberries)
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup
• juice of half a lemon

Directions:

Combine all crepe ingredients with a wire whisk and let stand for 5 minutes.

Heat a large, non-stick pan to slightly warmer than medium heat. Pour a small amount of batter into pan, quickly tilting the pan in a circular motion to spread the batter as thin as possible. When the bottom of the crepe is golden and the edges begin to pull away from pan, flip to cook the other side for an additional minute. *For an even thinner crepe, adjust batter by incorporating 1 tablespoon of liquid at a time.

The crepes keep nicely stacked together on a plate, steaming & staying pliable as they sit.

Warm all filling ingredients in a small sauce pan, and serve inside your rolled or folded crepes.

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