Meyer lemon tea loaf recipe

Meyer lemon tea loaf. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 Pin It

 My love of lemon is well-documented in this blog - lemon pudding, lemon scones, lemon ice cream, and lemon cream cheese pound cake are just a few of my favorites. That fresh citrus scent fills my kitchen and makes my heart happy. 


And just when I thought a lemon was a lemon was a lemon, Meyer lemons appeared (finally!) in my local markets. Meyers are a cross between true lemons and a Mandarin orange - the skin is smoother and the taste is less acidic than the standard Eureka or Lisbon lemons. The can be substituted for regular lemons in recipes to add a subtle orange flavor. Try them.

Meyer Lemon Tea Loaf

Yield: 2 loaves

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened


2 cups sugar

4 eggs

Zest of 2 Meyer lemons

3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

For glaze: ½ cup sugar dissolved in juice of 2 lemons

1. Preheat oven to 350. Prepare two loaf pans using baking spray or greasing with butter.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until fully incorporated. Add lemon rind. Sift together dry ingredients, then add alternately to the batter with milk. Pour batter into prepared baking pans.

3. Place pans in 350 oven and bake for 45 minutes. Bake until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool on wire racks.

4. While cake is cooling, dissolve sugar in the juice of two lemons. Slowly pour glaze over cakes and let cool.



 

Buttermilk scones with cranberries and ginger

Scones with cranberries and ginger. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 Pin It


 Another variation on scones, this time with the dried cranberries and candied ginger sent by Frieda's Specialty Produce.  The scones are especially nice served for a holiday brunch, so practice the recipe a few times and turn them out for family and friends at Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Buttermilk scones with dried cranberries and candied ginger
 
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, frozen
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup candied ginger, diced
Milk or cream for glazing
Turbinado, demerara or sparkle sugar for glazing

1. In a batter bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Using a regular grater, shred the chilled butter and with a light hand, gently mix the shavings into the dry ingredients. Using your hands and a gentle, quick touch, make sure the butter is evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture.

2. Pour in the buttermilk and stir gently with either a wooden spoon or my instrument of choice, a silicone spatula. If mixture seems dry, add additional buttermilk until a cohesive dough forms. The dough should be slightly wet and sticky, but not overly so.

3. On a floured countertop, press dough into a rough 12 X 6 inch rectangle (helpful shaping instruction visuals may be found on my basic scone post here). Spread dried cranberries and candied ginger onto dough, using your hands to press the fruit into the dough. Fold into thirds, letter-style. Press into 12 X 6 rectangle again and fold letter-style again. If any little fruits pop out, just press them back into the dough. Press again into a 12 X 6 rectangle and cut into 16 triangles. Place scones on a lined baking sheet. The scones can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 24 hours.

4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Carefully brush each wedge with buttermilk or cream and sprinkle turbinado sugar over the top. Bake at 400 for at least 15 minutes. They may need a bit more time, depending on your oven, convection, etc. Scones are ready when they are golden brown on top and bounce back when touched lightly in the center.

Meyer lemon scones with dried blueberries

Scones with Meyer lemon and blueberries. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Pin It

Lemons and blueberries are a natural pairing, and the winter version of this is Meyer lemons, the lemon-orange hybrid available for just a short while, and dried blueberries. Frieda's Specialty Produce sent me a package that included dried blueberries, just as sweet as mid-summer berries at the u-pick orchard. I folded the berries into my favorite buttermilk scone recipe, and freshened the dough with Meyer lemon zest and a glaze made with the juice.

Meyer lemon scones with dried blueberries
My favorite tip for tender scones is to shred chilled butter into the dry ingredients. I just use an ordinary grater, the kind I use for shredding cheddar cheese, and run the chilled stick of butter across it. The resulting butter curls are uniform and perfect for blending into the flour mixture.

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, frozen
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
Zest of one Meyer (or other) lemon
Juice of one-half Meyer (or other) lemon
1/2 cup dried blueberries
Milk or cream for glazing
Turbinado, demerara or sparkle sugar for glazing

1. In a batter bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Using a regular grater, shred the chilled butter and with a light hand, gently mix the shavings into the dry ingredients. Using your hands and a gentle, quick touch, make sure the butter is evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture.

2. Pour in the buttermilk and stir gently with either a wooden spoon or my instrument of choice, a silicone spatula. Add lemon juice and zest. If mixture seems dry, add additional buttermilk until a cohesive dough forms. The dough should be slightly wet and sticky, but not overly so.

3. On a floured countertop, press dough into a rough 12 X 6 inch rectangle (helpful shaping instruction visuals may be found on my basic scone post  here). Spread dried blueberries onto dough, using your hands to press the fruit into the dough. Fold into thirds, letter-style. Press into 12 X 6 rectangle again and fold letter-style again. If any little fruits pop out, just press them back into the dough. Press again into a 12 X 6 rectangle and cut into 16 triangles. Place scones on a lined baking sheet. The scones can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 24 hours.

4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Carefully brush each wedge with buttermilk or cream and sprinkle turbinado sugar over the top. Bake at 400 for at least 15 minutes. They may need a bit more time, depending on your oven, convection, etc. Scones are ready when they are golden brown on top and bounce back when touched lightly in the center.

Candied kumquats

Candied kumquats. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Each winter, just after New Year's, I find a special treat tucked in my grocer's produce case - pints of kumquats, the tart orange min-football-shaped fruits that can be eaten peel and all. Kumquats are an acquired taste - the pucker makes my eyes pop and there's a faint bitterness to the pith. But like the first asparagus of spring, or the Pink Lady apples arriving in fall, I look forward to them each year.

This winter, I didn't have to peek and poke around the produce case, I mentioned my kumquat fixation to Alex at Frieda's Produce, and she sent me a container of the cutest kumquats I ever did see. According to Alex, these kumquats were grown in the California Desert, but the fruit will be coming out of San Diego now. Kumquat season is October through July.

Frieda's kumquats. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

After eating a few out of hand, I decided to make Candied Kumquats, my way of preserving the harvest. With a little bit of sugar and water, these little fruits can be turned into a sort of marmalade that is just right for topping lemon curd shortbread (coming soon!) or your breakfast toast.

Kumquats. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

I began by washing, then slicing the little guys. The fruit is entirely edible, but removing the seeds makes for a prettier presentation.

Slice kumquats and pop out the seed for a prettier presentation. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 The cleaned kumquats go in a bubbling sugar bath.

Kumquats in syrup. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

The cooked kumquats can be sealed in a jar.

Kumquats in syrup. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

A bright orange bowl of candied kumquats makes a lovely addition to the breakfast or brunch table.

Candied kumquats. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Candied kumquats

11 ounces kumquats
1 cup water
1 cup sugar

1. Wash kumquats. Slice each fruit in half and flick out seed.

2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add water and sugar and stir until dissolved. Add kumquats and cook until the fruit is soft, about 30 minutes, stirring frequently.

3. Let cool. Keep in airtight container in refrigerator.

Candied kumquats may be eaten out of the jar, when no one's looking. They're also nice on your breakfast toast, with a shmear of farmer's cheese, or perhaps ricotta, maybe cream cheese.

Candied kumquats on toasted baguette with farmer's cheese. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Thanks to Alex and the lovely folks at Frieda's Produce for the kumquats! (Disclaimer: this was not a sponsored post. I received no compensation for this post, other than the beautiful kumquats.)

Text and images copyright 2012, Lucy Mercer.

Sweet tea peach scones



Scones with tea-soaked peaches by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books


Summer in the South means sweet tea and peaches, at least for this Georgia girl. But two weeks past Labor Day means that the peaches are fading fast. One way to keep the sweet, floral peach flavor in my baked goods is to use dried peaches. I chopped up a package, soaked them in the table wine of the South - sweet tea, and added them to my buttery buttermilk scone recipe. Oh, my heavens, these are good.





Peaches by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 
Sweet tea and peach buttermilk scones

My favorite tip for tender scones is to shred chilled butter into the dry ingredients. I just use an ordinary grater, the kind I use for shredding rat-trap cheddar cheese, and run the chilled stick of butter across it. The resulting butter curls are uniform and perfect for blending into the flour mixture.

1 (6 oz.) package dried peaches
1/2 cup sweet tea
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, frozen
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
Milk or cream for glazing
Turbinado, demerara or sparkle sugar for glazing

1. Dice dried peaches by first slicing them into thin strips, then chopping crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces. Use your sharpest chef's knife. A bit of cooking spray on your knife might also help. Place diced peaches into a microwave safe bowl, add 1/2 cup sweet tea and zap in microwave for 1 minute. Remove from microwave and let cool on counter while preparing the scone dough.

2. In a batter bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Using a regular grater, shred the chilled butter and with a light hand, gently mix the shavings into the dry ingredients. Using your hands and a gentle, quick touch, make sure the butter is evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture.

3. Pour in the buttermilk and stir gently with either a wooden spoon or my instrument of choice, a silicone spatula. If mixture seems dry, add additional buttermilk until a cohesive dough forms. The dough should be slightly wet and sticky, but not overly so.

4. On a floured countertop, press dough into a rough 12 X 6 inch rectangle (helpful shaping instruction visuals may be found on my blueberry scone post here). Spread soaked peaches onto dough, using your hands to press the fruit into the dough. Fold into thirds, letter-style. Press into 12 X 6 rectange again and fold letter-style again. If any little peach guys pop out, just press them back into the dough. Press again into a 12 X 6 rectangle and cut into 16 triangles. Place scones on a lined baking sheet. The scones can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 24 hours.

4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Carefully brush each wedge with buttermilk or cream and sprinkle turbinado sugar over the top. Bake at 400 for at least 15 minutes. They may need a bit more time, depending on your oven, convection, etc. Scones are ready when they are golden brown on top and bounce back when touched lightly in the center.

More variations on the scone theme:

1. Scones for breakfast (1/2 recipe buttermilk scones)
2. Raspberry scones
3. Cream cheese and apricot scones
4. Pineapple and ginger scones
5. Blueberry and lemon scones (includes shaping instructions and pictures!)

Text and images copyright 2011, Lucy Mercer.

Scones, the Raspberry Variation

Raspberry buttermilk scones by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

My buttermilk scone recipe is like gesso on a blank canvas, ready for whatever fruits I fancy. In the winter, raisins and dried cranberries get their turn, folded into the sweet, buttery dough. In summer, fresh, ripe berries take a tumble in the biscuits. I wrote at length about the blueberry version, Blueberry Lemon Buttermilk Scones, including step-by-step instructions for the shaping technique.

I'm pleased to report that the raspberry version is just as luscious as the blueberry version. Buy a pint of red raspberries at the store and let your kids eat a few, putting them on each little finger. Fold the rest into this recipe and enjoy a teatime treat - berry-studded scones, hot from the oven.


Raspberries by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Raspberry Buttermilk Scones


A key to tender scones is to shred frozen butter into the dry ingredients. I store butter in the freezer, so this is usually convenient. In the wintertime, when my house is at 68 degrees, I can get by using butter straight from the refrigerator, but in the summer, when the house is at 78 degrees, frozen butter makes a big difference.

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon. salt

2 1/2 teaspoons. baking powder

1/2 teaspoon. baking soda

3/4 cup unsalted butter, frozen

1 1/4 cups buttermilk, plus extra

1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen

Half and half or milk or cream for glazing, optional

Demerara or sparkle sugar for glazing

1. In a batter bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Using a regular grater, shred the frozen butter and lightly mix the shavings into the dry ingredients. Using your hands and a gentle, quick touch, make sure the butter is evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture.

2. Pour in the buttermilk and stir gently with either a wooden spoon or my instrument of choice, a silicone spatula. If mixture seems dry, add additional buttermilk until a cohesive dough forms. The dough should be slightly wet and sticky, but not overly so.

3. On a floured countertop, press dough into a rough 12 X 6 inch rectangle and follow shaping instructions above. Fold in raspberries, then fold into thirds, letter-style. Press into 12 X 6 rectange again and fold letter-style again. Press again into a 12 X 6 rectangle and cut into 16 triangles. Place scones on a lined baking sheet. The scones can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 24 hours.

4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Carefully brush each wedge with buttermilk or cream and sprinkle sugar over the top. Bake at 400 for at least 15 minutes. They may need a bit more time, depending on your oven, convection, etc. Scones are ready when they are golden brown on top and bounce back when touched lightly in the center.

If this is more scones than you want to bake (all that butter!), check out my half-recipe.

Text and images copyright 2011, Lucy Mercer.

Buttermilk scones for breakfast



Brown-sugar topped buttermilk scones by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 I've made some lovely scones lately, blueberry- and raspberry-filled gems, luscious apricot pastries, another version with ginger and pineapple. These sweet biscuits are always appreciated around my house, but there are times when I don't need 16 buttery treats sitting on my counter, waiting for someone to devour them. This is why I developed the buttermilk scone half recipe, using less than one stick of butter and creating just enough pastries for my family to enjoy and maybe a few to bring to work. This version also takes about half as much time to assemble, so it's easier than ever to whip these up for breakfast.

Here's the recipe and if using fruit, be sure to follow the step-by-step folding technique in the Blueberry Lemon Buttermilk Scone post.

Buttermilk scones ready for the oven by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Buttermilk Scones Half Recipe


Yield: 8 scones
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 (6 tablespoons) stick unsalted butter, chilled or frozen

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk (whole if you can find it)

1. In a batter bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Using a regular grater, shred the cold butter and lightly mix the shavings into the dry ingredients. Using your hands and a gentle, quick touch, make sure the butter is evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture.

2. Pour in the buttermilk and stir gently with either a wooden spoon or my instrument of choice, a silicone spatula. If mixture seems dry, add additional buttermilk until a cohesive dough forms. The dough should be slightly wet and sticky, but not overly so.

3. On a floured countertop, press dough into a rough rectangle and if using fruit, follow shaping instructions here. Cut into 8 triangles. Place scones on a lined baking sheet. The scones can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 24 hours.

4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Carefully brush each wedge with buttermilk or cream and sprinkle sugar over the top. Bake at 400 for at least 15 minutes. They may need a bit more time, depending on your oven, convection, etc. Scones are ready when they are golden brown on top and bounce back when touched lightly in the center.

Blueberry and Lemon Buttermilk Scones

Blueberry and lemon buttermilk scones by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

I was asked last week how I relieved stress and I replied "bubble baths." I really should have said "fantasizing about blueberries," because that's what I do. Not in the "Why Violet, you're turning violet!" way from "Willy Wonka," but in the "when I retire from this rat race, I'm going all Lisa Douglas and I'm going to buy a blueberry farm." An organic blueberry farm, with U-pick days in summer and a little shed where I can sell blueberry fried pies, blueberry ice cream parfaits and my fresh-baked blueberry scones.

I'll wear a blue-checked apron and a bandana in my hair, and let people call me "Miss Lucy, the blueberry  lady," and I'll be famous for my Blueberry Lemon Buttermilk Scones. Just thinking about my blueberry days calms me, but I do find myself with the craving for blueberry scones.

My blueberry scones are pretty much the bee's knees, tender and flaky, buttery and just sweet enough. I use my standard buttermilk scone dough, folding in frozen berries from last summer (I use fresh when I have them) and the zest of a lemon, laminating the berries in the dough. I brush them with a buttermilk wash and sprinkle demerara sugar over the tops, for a little bit of sweet crunch as you bite into the tender scone.

Here is my scone shaping method:

1.  I begin by pressing the dough into a rectangle roughly 12 X 6 inches. (I used to have ruler in my kitchen drawer that was quite useful in these situations, but it was used for a homework project and never returned. I'm sure this never happens to you. A chopstick, conveniently, makes an adequate stand-in.)

Buttermilk scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

2. I scatter a cup of frozen blueberries over the dough, followed by the zest of a lemon.

Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 3. I use my hands to firmly press the berries into the dough.



Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 4.  Fold the dough into thirds, letter-style, over the middle third.



Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer//A Cook and Her Books

5. Fold the remaining third over the middle.

Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books



 6. Turn the dough and press into a rough rectangle approximately 12 X 6 inches.


Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 7. Repeat the letter-folding. One-third over middle third.


Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

8. Final third over middle third. Just push any errant berries firmly back into the dough.


Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 9. And press back into the familiar 12 X 6 inch rectangle.

Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 10. Preheat oven to 400 and have a lined baking sheet nearby. I use Silpat liners, but parchment paper will work, too. Using a sharp knife, cut dough in half cross-wise.

Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 11. Then half each half. In other words, you want four equal sections of dough.

Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 
12. Cut each fourth lengthwise, for a total of eight sections.


Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 13. Cut each eighth diagonally in half, for a total of 16 scones.



Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

14. Enter the helper, looking for a job. In addition to cracking eggs, she is quite skilled at "painting dough."

Kitchen helper by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books


15. Brush the scones with buttermilk. You may also use cream or half-n-half or make even make an egg wash.



Painting the scones by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 16. Sprinkle demerara sugar over the tops of scones. Granulated sugar will work, too.

Sprinkling the sugar by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

17. Bake scones at 400 for 15 minutes.

Blueberry lemon scones fresh from the oven by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

   Blueberry Lemon Buttermilk Scones
A key to tender scones is to shred frozen butter into the dry ingredients. I store butter in the freezer, so this is usually convenient. In the wintertime, when my house is at 68 degrees, I can by using butter straight from the refrigerator, but in the summer, when the house is at 78 degrees, frozen butter makes a big difference.


3 cups  unbleached all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon. salt

2 1/2 teaspoons. baking powder

1/2 teaspoon. baking soda

3/4 cup unsalted butter, frozen

1 1/4 cups buttermilk, plus extra

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Zest of 1 lemon

Half and half or milk or cream for glazing, optional

Demerara or sparkle sugar for glazing

1. In a batter bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Using a regular grater, shred the frozen butter and lightly mix the shavings into the dry ingredients. Using your hands and a gentle, quick touch, make sure the butter is evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture.

2. Pour in the buttermilk and stir gently with either a wooden spoon or my instrument of choice, a silicone spatula. If mixture seems dry, add additional buttermilk until a cohesive dough forms. The dough should be slightly wet and sticky, but not overly so.

3. On a floured countertop, press dough into a rough 12 X 6 inch rectangle and follow shaping instructions above. Fold in 1 cup blueberries and lemon zest, then fold into thirds, letter-style. Press into 12 X 6 rectange again and fold letter-style again. Press again into a 12 X 6 rectangle and cut into 16 triangles. Place scones on a lined baking sheet. The scones can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 24 hours.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Carefully brush each wedge with buttermilk or cream and sprinkle sugar over the top. Bake at 400 for at least 15 minutes. They may need a bit more time, depending on your oven, convection, etc. Scones are ready when they are golden brown on top and bounce back when touched lightly in the center.

Blueberry Lemon Buttermilk Scones by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Text and images copyright 2011, Lucy Mercer.

I want candy (bacon)

Candied bacon by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Breakfast during the week is usually a filling bowl of oatmeal, or maybe vanilla yogurt with my homemade granola, some mornings a whole wheat bagel with a shmear. On the weekends, though, I'll put together a bigger breakfast, and have it ready for my sleepyheads when they wander downstairs. Crispy, yeast-raised waffles, or buttermilk pancakes, sometimes with ham, sometimes with this decadent bacon, baked in the oven with brown sugar. This is the sinful salt, sugar and bacon fat matrix - you can't stop at just one piece, so save it for a sometimes treat for your family.

I gave up frying bacon on the stovetop a long time ago. I bake it in the oven now and I have a system that guarantees easy clean-up and crispy bacon.

Candied Bacon
1 pound thick-cut bacon (I use Oscar Mayer hearty thick cut, but other brands will work)

2 tablespoons brown sugar (light or dark will work, I favor dark)

Cayenne pepper, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Take a half-sheet pan or rimmed baking sheet and cover it with foil, making sure to push the edges of the foil against the sides of the pan. Place a nonstick baking grid on top of the foil (if you don't have one, it's ok, but the baking grid will keep the bacon out of the grease).

2. Place the strips of bacon on the baking grid. Sprinkle the strips with brown sugar and a bit of cayenne, if using. Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes, or until desired level of crispiness is reached. Remove from oven and drain on paper towels.

Text and images copyright 2011, Lucy Mercer.

Weekend breakfast with my kitchen helper

Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 I wrote this story almost exactly a year ago. It was my first winning entry in the Salon Kitchen Challenge, and it's still a favorite story and recipe. I just completed a year's worth of challenges - turning around stories on a given food subject in less than a week. An exhausting, but exhilarating year. I'm looking forward to the challenges of 2011!


Our New Year’s breakfast is a week late, because the girls were visiting friends last weekend. I was at home, working and worrying in a too-quiet house. The memory is a bit hazy now, but I think I welcomed the end of the aughts with a whole wheat bagel with a schmear, and my usual two cups of coffee. So, today, we mark a new year with a breakfast menu of yeast-raised waffles, warm fruit salad and brown sugar bacon. I'm a conscientious cook and want to be sure that all food groups are covered: sweet, salty, fruity and porky. Yes, it’s going to be a good year.

The yeast-raised waffles are intensely buttery, but not greasy. The recipe is from the "America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook," an orange ring-bound bible that’s never far from my kitchen counter. The advantage of this recipe is mixing the batter in the evening and letting it ferment in the fridge overnight, bubbling into a smooth vanilla-scented batter. And speaking of vanilla, I triple the amount called for in the recipe - everything is better with vanilla.

Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Brown sugar bacon, aka candied bacon, has been embraced by the masses. At least the masses at my house. As if bacon needs anything to make it taste better or be worse for your health, let’s just coat it in brown sugar and bake it. The result is crispy and sweet, but offset by the bacon's saltiness. If you're feeling bold, and not serving children, shake a little cayenne on strips before they go in the oven.

The warm fruit compote, oh, I mean salad, is my attempt to add some nutrition to this meal. A warning to all food snobs: I am a heathen, I know, because the recipe calls for canned fruit. I suppose I could summon the energy to peel pears and oranges and pineapple this morning, but in the spirit of these lean economic times, I whip out the can opener and go to town.
Despite my hopes that my youngest will sleep in this morning, (my first Saturday off since before Thanksgiving), Lindsey is awake and full of energy. She’s a helper, constantly reminding me that she wants to do and try everything. Especially if it’s electric and has a button. ("Ooooh, the waffle maker! Does it have a button?“) We’ve taken to hiding flashlights from her, because she plays with them, leaving them upside down, turned on. During a recent power failure, we managed to find a dozen flashlights, but not a one worked.

This morning, she stirs the waffle batter, beating out the bubbles to a smooth consistency. Then it’s time for the bacon, a task that I’m not too sad about handing over.

“Let me do it!”

“But do you really want to touch cold, slimy bacon?”

“Yes, I want to do it!” Well, if you insist…

And so she does, stretching each piece in the pound to fit on the rack suspended over a foil-covered baking sheet. I pull out the brown sugar. “Let me do it! Give me a spoon!“ And so the brown sugar is liberally poured over the bacon before I slide it into the oven for a half hour’s crisping and baking. Thirty minutes filled with pleas to be the one to pull the hot pan out of the oven. “But Lindsey, the pan is hot. And heavy. Let Mommy.”

“Let me do it!” No, I don’t think so.

I distract her with the next step, opening the cans of fruit for the warm fruit salad. (I know: can opener in the hands of a four year old! Get DFACS on the line.) We’ve been at this game for awhile, and she gives up the job early in the attempt, settling for emptying the fruit into the strainer suspended over a bowl. And she wants to be the first to sample the fruit juice. I catch her later, dipping her cup directly into the bowl of leftover juice. Blind eye, I think, blind eye. Then I hear, “Mommy, mommy, mommy.”

And probably again, “mommy, mommy, mommy.”

“What do you need, sweetpea?”

“Mommy, I love you.”

And I could end this story here, with a halcyon glow of promise and hope. But later, when I pull out the breakfast plates, she says, “I don’t want a plate.”

“But you need to eat on a plate. Waffles with syrup are messy. “

“I don’t want waffles. I want to dip my bacon in the syrup.”

“What about fruit?”

“No fruit. Just juice.”

So, here’s to 2010, a year of promise and hope, and in September, a five year old.

And later,

“Mommy, mommy, mommy.”

“What?”

"Is Christmas over?"

"Yes, it is, sweetpea."

"Because I love it."

Warm Fruit Salad

This is a dump and do recipe.

29 oz. can peaches20 oz. can pineapple tidbits15.25 oz. can sliced pears8.75 oz. apricot halves
11 oz. can mandarin oranges
one small jar of maraschino cherries

Set up a large bowl and a strainer and grab your can opener. Put a casserole dish alongside. Open each can, drain into the strainer, the place fruit in casserole dish.

In a small saucepan, combine:

½ stick butter½ cup orange juice¾ cup light brown sugar½ teaspoon cinnamon¼ teaspoon cloves

Melt butter in saucepan, heat o.j. in microwave for 30 seconds. Add sugar to butter, followed by warm orange juice. Heat until bubbly then add spices. Pour over fruit in casserole. Place in moderate (350 oven) until ready to serve.

French toast with a funny name: Bostock

Pumpkin bostock. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 I’m a half-hearted gardener at best - each spring, I clear out the weeds from the flower bed by the driveway and hand the girls seed packets and let them go to town. This year, we planted zinnias and daisies for the bright flowers, pumpkins and watermelons for the kid-pleasing factor (note: Burpee's Cut and Come Again Zinnia is always a winner). They all combined to yield a crazy quilt of blooms and vines in the garden. We faithfully watered through the summer, and in August, the vines got serious and shot out like Audrey II, taking over the garden bed and sending forth  blooms. I wondered if pumpkin blossoms could be stuffed like squash blossoms, with goat cheese, then battered and fried. (and indeed they can, here's a visit to the future: Stuffed Pumpkin Blossoms)

In September, a fruit formed, and here she is, our own little pumpkin buddy:

 Pumpkin is the flavor of fall and I use it to flavor Bostock, the French toast with the funny name. Using Francis Lam’s formula, I infused Challah slices with maple syrup, slathered them with seasoned pumpkin butter, broiled them and topped them with snappy crystallized ginger.

I didn't harvest our homegrown fruit for this treat, instead using canned pumpkin.

Pumpkin Butter

This makes quite a large amount. You may halve this quantity, or make the whole and freeze it until Christmas - a jar of pumpkin butter is a coveted gift.
1 cup apple cider or apple juice

1 ½ teaspoons ginger

1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon

¼ teaspoon cloves

1 tablespoon orange zest

2 tablespoons orange juice

1 ¼ cup sugar

Pinch salt

2 (15 oz.) cans pumpkin puree

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine apple cider, flavorings and sugar. Stir and let come to a boil. Lower heat and stir in pumpkin puree. Let cool. Place in plastic container and keep in refrigerator.

Maple Glaze

½ cup maple syrup

½ cup water

½ teaspoon vanilla

Pinch salt

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and let cool.

Pumpkin bostock with maple and ginger. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Pumpkin Bostock with Maple and Ginger
Makes 6 sevings

1 recipe Maple Glaze

½ cup Pumpkin Butter

6 slices Challah bread, 1 ½ inches thick, stale or left at room temperature for a couple hours

1 tablespoon crystallized ginger, finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare a sheet pan with foil and a nonstick grid, if you have one. Dip bread slices in maple glaze and squeeze out extra liquid. Place on grid-covered baking sheet.

2. Spread each toast with pumpkin butter. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Your kitchen will be unbelievably fragrant at this point.

3. Remove toasts from ovens and sprinkle with chopped crystallized ginger. Serve with hot, black coffee.

Text and images © 2010, Lucy Mercer.

Heaven is a gingery pineapple scone for breakfast

I made these scones this morning, on a whim and a prayer. I intended to make apricot scones, but found only dried pineapple. Turns out, pineapple and ginger are a luscious scone combination. This recipe is limited only by the dried fruit in your pantry. What combination strikes your fancy? Cranberry and orange? Apricot and almond? Dried cherry and chocolate? Let me know in the comments. All reasonable requests will be honored.

Gingery Pineapple Scones

1/ 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional, but quite nice)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, and grated on the coarse side of a shredder

4 ounces dried pineapple, chopped

2 ounces crystallized ginger, chopped

1 egg

1/2 cup buttermilk (whole, if you can find it)

Extra buttermilk, or cream, for brushing the tops

Demerara or sparkle sugar, for tops

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 425. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Pour in the grated butter and using your fingers, smush until the butter is incorporated, forming coarse crumbs with some the size of peas. Add in dried pineapple and ginger.

3. In a mixing cup, stir together egg and buttermilk. Add to the dry ingredients and using a spatula, stir just until combined.

4. Lightly flour the counter and turn dough out. Shape into a an 8-inch round and use a knife to cut out 8 wedges. Place the wedges on the baking sheet. Brush with cream or buttermilk and sprinkle with sugar.

5. Bake in oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, let cool and serve warm.

Text and images copyright 2010, Lucy Mercer.

Blue ribbon dreams

For the past few years, my family has made an annual trip the last weekend in September to the North Georgia State Fair in Marietta. My girls love the rides, the smoked turkey legs, roasted ears of corn, and cotton candy. Each year, we walk through the exhibit halls and admire the livestock, and the late summer produce and flowers. There's also artwork, and quilts and Christmas crafts. One thing that I've always wanted to see is the baked goods - I've heard stories of blue ribbon-winning pies and cakes, but by the time I've gotten to the fair, the winners are gone.

I figured out the scheduling this year - the baked goods are judged before the fair, ribbons attached to pictures of the foods, and the food either picked up by the cook or donated to a local food ministry. I understand the rules this year because for the first time, I entered three items in competition. Sure there was cash for the winners, but I was in it for the ribbon.

About a month ago, I checked out the fair's website and the categories of baked goods - a dozen categories from bar cookies and biscuits to Bundt cakes and pound cakes and fried pies. At first, I intended to enter a half-dozen categories, but the pressure to bake everything over two days and then have it sit for overnight before judging, led me to settle on three products:

Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake

Glazed Lemon Thin Cookies

Morning Glory Muffins

We visited the fair Friday night and my daughter and I raced to the exhibit hall to see if we'd won - she entered a friendship bracelet display in the Youth Jewelry division. Laura came running up to me with the news - a red ribbon for second place and a premium of $3!

I looked through the photographs of the winning food entries and found a picture of muffins with a blue ribbon! That's a $5 premium and a coveted blue ribbon!

I may sleep with the ribbon under my pillow, to dream dreams of the sweet treats I can make for next year's fair. Once blue ribbon fever gets a hold of you, it won't ever let go.

If you're not familiar with Morning Glory Muffins, they're only the best muffin ever created. They are loaded with chopped apple, dried cranberries, raisins, pineapple, shredded carrot and coconut, all in a cinnamon-scented batter. They are moist and tasty and totally unlike the cake-y dessert-type muffins that you see in coffee shops.

Blue Ribbon Morning Glory Muffins

1 cup packed Craisins (sweetened, dried cranberries)

1 cup crushed fresh or canned pineapple, drained

1 Fuji or Gala apple, peeled, cored, chopped

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

4 large carrots, peeled and grated to yield 2 cups

3 large eggs, at room temp

1 cup canola oil

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Demerara or sparkling sugar for topping

1. Preheat oven to 350 and coat muffin tins with baking spray or use paper liners.

2. In a large bowl, combine all the fruits, coconut and carrots. In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla. Place the sifter over this bowl, measure into it the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, then all at once sift these ingredients directly onto the wet mixture. Stir everything together until just blended; do not overbeat. Stir in the fruit mixture.

3. Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling almost to the top. Sprinkle the topping sugar on each muffin. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the muffins rise, are crusty brown on top, and the top of the muffin springs back when touched. Remove the muffins from the oven and let cool in the pan for five minutes or so, then remove to a wire rack. Try to keep your mitts off the muffins for at least another 10 minutes - hot fruit can burn your mouth (voice of experience). Totally optional, yet heavenly: a dab of softened cream cheese on a warm muffin half.

Text & images copyright 2010, Lucy Mercer.