Hodgepodge Brought To You By the Letter O

 Afternoon coffee and scones with Mr. C.

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1. What's the last thing you did that someone else thought was super? 

My memory doesn't go back that far.

2. The last thing you ate that tasted superb? 

The scones, pictured in the opening photo. I did buy some really nice lemons and am thinking about making lemon bars. I'll post my gluten-free recipe if I make them. It's not like I need a lemon bar, but the days are getting longer and somehow that triggers a lemon craving.

3. Supersensitive, superstitious, superwoman, superambitious, supercilious, supervisor, superficial...pick a super word from the list and tell us how it relates to your life in some way recently or currently. 

 Brought to you by the letter O

Superambitious (while my energy lasts), because I've been bitten by the downsizing, cleaning, pitching, and organizing bug. The Complete Book of Home Organization by Toni Hammersley is what started it. The book is full of beautifully organized photos, well-organized chapters, and great tips on organization, including storage containers for organization, and is laid out in a very organized format to help organize your brain and get one in the organizational mood. I'm hoping I don't run out of steam before I'm finished organizing.

I would post AFTER photos of all the areas I've tackled, but I'm pretty sure that most of you would insist that they are the BEFORE photos...

4. Do you love easily? If you're comfortable doing so, explain why you think that is.

You betcha.

Wouldn't you?

5. Valentine's Day lands on a Tuesday this year. Will you mark the day in some way? If you're celebrating with a dinner out somewhere will it be on Tuesday or will you celebrate over the weekend? 

I will mark a few days beforehand on the calendar so that I don't forget to send the grandkids their Valentines. And we have some things going on, but not Valentines related.

6. What's something you are loving right now?

 Time with Mr. C.

A cold winter's day walk - 
And I have earmuffs on too!

Plus fleece Cuddl Duds (long-johns and shirt)

Plus jeans and sweater

Plus insulated boots

Plus down-filled jacket

Plus thick fleece hat

Plus lined gloves

Plus heavy knit scarf

Mr. C. is wearing

jeans, shirt, hooded vest, jacket

gloves, shoes

I'm loving it that Mr. C. is around more (this is his slow season for work); that an Instagram friend gave me a code for the Emma Bridgewater mugs, which saved me a ton (otherwise, they're ridiculously expensive), also love it that Mr. C. and I are going to go to have a day out in Minneapolis soon, AND I love it that he and I actually got outdoors for a walk because the air temperature rose to a balmy 20 degrees F. I also love it that we are nearly finished with the book, The Day The Revolution Began by N.T. Wright. Life-changing. I keep wanting to call it 'The Day the Universe Changed.' 

7 Write a three word (or less) phrase you'd like to see on a Valentine candy heart.  

'I'm sugar-free'

8.  Insert your own random thought here. 

I don't have random thoughts anymore. My brain is a well-organized machine, incapable of thinking anything but rational, organized thoughts, contained in clear, plastic storage bins - labeled, of course. (See above)

 Barn north of Barron, WI

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Gluten-free Scones Recipe, Crashed Ice Update, Cathedral of Saint Paul

These are delicious and not too sweet

There's something about winter that makes me want to bake something (and eat something.) Here in The North we're still trying to stay warm. We burn wood, and although it's a great source of heat, we have a lot of house to heat and not all of it feels toasty, especially since we're now into the wood that could have used more drying time. Oh well.  Only two more months of this and then it should start to warm up and I can get out of this mood. I hope. In the meantime, I thought I'd share this recipe with you. I used Krusteaz GF flour, but I also have Bob's Red Mill GF flour, which I've not yet tried, but I'm sure will work just as well. These scones are a real treat, especially with a cup of good coffee.

Gluten-Free Blueberry Chocolate Chip Scones Recipe 

This recipe makes a dozen scones 3" in diameter.

2 c. any gluten-free flour, one that can be used cup for cup like regular flour

(or, if you don't want gluten-free, just use regular flour)

1/3 c. white sugar

2 1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1/2 c. butter, soft but not too soft

1 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 package dried blueberries, tossed in just a bit of flour so they separate.

2/3 c. Half n Half (I've also used heavy whipping cream or evaporated milk)

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 t. almond extract

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Cut butter into flour mixture until it's very fine. I use the food processor and pulse about 20 times.

In another bowl, beat egg, liquid, and extract. Add chocolate chips and blueberries. 

Mix flour mixture with the egg mixture until everything is evenly moist. Don't overstir.

Drop by large spoonfuls onto a greased jellyroll pan

Place in 375 degree oven for 15-18 minutes.

Remove jellyroll pan from oven and place on rack. Let scones cool, then remove.

I don't like to keep them in a sealed container because I like the exterior to stay crispy. I simply cover them with a tea towel. They won't be around too long anyway.

Linking to Bloggy Brunch
and Cooking & Crafting with JJ

Catch a glimpse of Crashed Ice in action at the Cathedral of St. Paul
on Saturday night, February 4. You can read about it in last Friday's post
 and see interior photos of the cathedral as well.

After Friday's post, someone asked why this event is held at the cathedral. I suspect it is because the location of the cathedral gives the event the height, drop, and space necessary for the track and viewers, plus the attraction of the beautiful, majestic cathedral. Also, the church does make money from the event, which is part of the Winter Carnival which draws thousands to St. Paul. I'm making this up, but it seems reasonable to me.

For those of you who like history, here's a link to the history of the Cathedral of Saint Paul. You might find it interesting.

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 Smokey and her favorite new toy

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Blueberry Lavender Scones Recipe

 Blueberry/Lavender Scone
and London souvenir mug

As some of you may remember, Mr. C. and our oldest son recently took a whirlwind trip to England. While there, he bought me a few souvenirs, the kind of thing I like, one of which was this pretty phone box coffee cup. (You can't go wrong with a red phone box, in my opinion.)

While they were gone, my granddaughter stayed with me, and one of the things we did was to go to the local coffee shop where they have the most delicious blueberry/lavender scones with a lemon/lavender glaze. So after we got home, I decided to try to replicate them. In case you're interested, here's the recipe:

BLUEBERRY/LAVENDER SCONES RECIPE:

2 c. flour

1/3 c. sugar

2 1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1 stick (1/2 c.) butter

1/2+ c. dried blueberries, tossed in a bit of flour, just to coat them.

3/4 c. heavy whipping cream

1 t. almond extract

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 T. fresh lavender (leaves or leaves and flowers) extremely finely chopped (E. did this job and got it just perfect) Next time I would use 2 T. lavender because I want the lavender flavor to be more predominant, but you can decide whether you want the lavender to whisper, speak loudly, or shout.

Glaze:

Juice of 1 large lemon

Whisk in enough confectioner's sugar to give it the right consistency,

Finely chopped fresh lavender (leaves and flowers), maybe about 1 T.

1/2 t. almond extract (optional)

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter. (I use my food processor to do this, after mixing all but the butter, I then add the butter and pulse it about 20 times. It works great for this (and also pie crusts, by the way.)

In a small bowl, beat the egg, heavy whipping cream, and extract. Now mix all ingredients (including the floured blueberries) together, stirring just until the mixture is evenly moistened. It will be very sticky. Drop by 2 1/2 to 3"  glumps onto greased jelly roll pan. I think we got 8 on one jelly roll pan, the number made by this recipe. Baked, they're about 3 inches by 3/4 or 1 inch. And they're delicious!

Bake at 375 for about 15-18 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool before drizzling the glaze over the tops.

Serve with strong, black coffee.

 My ancient coffee grinder

If you want to make this recipe gluten free, you can try substituting the following flour types and amounts for the flour in the recipe above:

3/4 c. white rice flour

3/4 c. brown rice flour

1/2 c. sorghum flour

1/4 c. tapioca flour

I'm not making any guarantees on the flour substitute, but next time I make this, I will try the gluten-free flours and see how it works out. It would be nice if I'd tried it ahead of time, wouldn't it. But the substitute above is pretty standard, so it should work fine.

NOTE: Your coffee will taste better in a London mug.

Linking to Monday Social 

and Cooking & Crafting With JJ
and Favorite Things Thursday

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...and more! Check out all my handcrafted soaps at
 
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(re-opening October 1)


and at


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