Blueberry Scones...Part 1, and Awards!

All right class...I hope you've done your homework, because I'm going to quiz you on it! I made these amazing and yummy scones, based on a recipe by my dear friend Emma, from Australia,@ Sunflower Days.

On her recent previous post, she made these incredible rustic raspberry scones, that caught my eye, and I simply fell in love with it. I mention to her on my comment, that I would like to make the scones, but I don't have raspberries, so she encouraged me to make it, even though I have blueberries...and mind you I had tons, and tons of it. If you shop it Costco, you know exactly the sizes their product come in. Well, the blueberries came in a huge plastic container that was 908 grams=32 ounces...how do I know how many ounces? ...it was written on the package, but I did my homework, knowing I have to do some converting the Metric measurement on
Emma's recipe. Click here, for the recipe, and click back to my blog for the measurement conversion.
I did the multiplication, just to prove a point, 908g. x .0353, and it's exactly 32 ozs.

Just when you thought you've seen really nice blueberry recipes...check out my friends, Brenda's and Kathy's amazing...
 Blueberry Lemon Pound Cake ...@Brenda's Canadian Kitchen
 Blueberry Pound Cake... @ Bakeaway With Me

Here's the Conversion list again, just in case you need it!

ounces to grams: multiply ounce figure by 28.3 to get number of grams
grams to ounces: multiply gram figure by .0353 to get number of ounces
pounds to grams: multiply pound figure by 453.59 to get number of grams
pounds to kilograms: multiply pound figure by 045 to get number of kilograms
ounces to milliliters: multiply ounce figure by 30 to get number of milliliters.
cups to liters: multiply cup figure by 0.24 to get number of liters

In one day, I made three different recipes with my beloved blueberries, which is in the same group of my favorites of the berries, as strawberry, on top of the list, and blueberries close second, and of course raspberries, which are equally as good, but they are ever so expensive, just as the blackberries. I love them all, but I will stay with my first two choices to combine them in a wonderful dessert. Notice how flaky they are? I followed Emma's recipe to a "T" and wouldn't you know?...I actually added one egg, to 1 cup of the buttermilk, to have enough to brush this beautiful egg wash glaze on it!

Have you ever seen such perfect, gorgeous, huge, and juicy blueberries?...Costco has them, and then some!!!
Getting off the subject, now...the time has come once again, as in every year at this time; some of us get to go on vacations, while some of us stay here, now for the third year...boo, hoo...almost crying...well not exactly! I am so fortunate to be living in one of the most beautiful, tropical, and most desirable place in the world!!! We have sunshine every single day, have the most beautiful beaches, in-ground swimming pools, just about every one has a pool, all the best local eateries, that won't put a "hole" in your pocket...very affordable, the local fun outdoor restaurants that are right on the water, live outdoor theaters, most of them free, we have City Place, right here in West Palm Beach, where you can spend an hour, or spend the entire day...an outdoor mall, but of course better than
a mall, so leisurely, so magical, I've already posted several photos of it in my previous posts!

I mentioned about paying my awards forward on my last post, but as you all know, it takes such a long time to be linking the names of the blogger, and their blog to do all this. I came up with the perfect solution...since I've been
"milking" this last post...not so much for the attention and for more comments, although I must confess I do love all the comments...it certainly brightens my day to know that there are blogger friends out there who care. I try to do the same, as much as I can to keep commenting. So, I will not drag this on any longer.

Please collect your awards all of you lovely people...friends...from my previous post! All 30, which is perfect. You have two awards to take, copy, paste, or upload from the link and you know what to do...pass it on...pay it forward to whoever you wish to that are deserving of it. Thank you, thank you...from the bottom of my heart!!! Your names are all linked into the previous post, and I will remind you also, to let you know that I have an award for you! Now, wasn't this easy?

Please accept the awards...the first 30 commenter friends!!! 


...Gotta run back to my daughter's house to feed the doggies... since family is off to Italy...they just called to let me know they got there safely...yeayy...and of course I "broke down crying like a baby on the phone"...Bye!

Here's my little "misen plaz"...like I said, I added one egg to the buttermilk, which was abt. 1 cup, beat it with a small whisk, and added it to the flour, that had the sugar, and salt.

First, you add the little pea size pieces of cold butter, which in conversion is 2 ounces=half a stick of unsalted butter. Carefully crumble it in with a pastry blender, then blend in the liquid, but don't mix it too much. At the end, fold in the berries real carefully.

Make sure you use a large piece of parchment paper to lay your dough on. You don't need a rolling pin, just add a little more flour on the top of the dough, and form it into a circle, brush the remaining buttermilk with the egg on the top (opt.) ...slice it all the way through into eight equal slices...as you can see, I sliced two piece of blueberries right through and squished it, but that's OK.
I baked it in a preheated 425 degree F. oven for approx 25 minutes.

Just "feast" your eyes at these gorgeous scones. Bet it won't last you more than one day:DDD

Chicken Piccata...Restaurant Review, and Awards!

I only have this one photo of the Chicken Piccata, because I was not going to post this, because it was one of those simple dinners that I did not even feel like making a side dish with it other than the sauteed Broccoli Rabe, with browned garlic.

For the recipe click on the link from one year ago! Chicken Piccata

Yesterday, I shared a leftover feast with another friend of mine...which was Paella that my son-in-law, Chef Fabrizio made for dinner on his day off, for their dear friends, from next door...Dr. Eric, and his wife, children and in-laws. I did not join them, sometimes it's nice to be alone, and just chill, but I regret now, because I missed the lobster too, which I haven't eaten in such a long time! This was an incredible Paella, chicken and sausage was mostly missing, but there were plenty of mussels, and shrimp!

Last Saturday, early evening, my son took us to a favorite neighborhood bistro...the Rhythm Cafe  in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Such a fun and eclectic place with totally 50's and sixties style, original soda fountain booths from the 50's, when it was a drugstore with soda fountains and booths.
My son Joe and wife Cara frequent this little place, knowing that their neighbor/friend Bob, who is a waiter there will be attentive to them, as he is to other guests.
Chef/owner Ken makes sure that all the entrees come out perfect, fresh, and delicious!

We arrived there, at 6:00PM sharp, and by 7:30 the place was quite full. Reservations are suggested during the weekend

We got the booth in the back of the cafe, and you could see the cool eclectic artistic decor on the black walls. the ambiance was very laid back and relaxing. My son Joe and little  granddaughter Mattia, sharing a fun conversation.

My two (of 4) loves, my sweet and perfect little young ladies, so well behaved granddaughters...patiently waiting for their order.

What I thought was very interesting and unique was a wall of "prom couples" from the fifties and  sixties donated by friends, and customers.

Some favorite, and delicious tapas, chili crusted shrimps, with a mango chutney.

Another great tapas...homemade mushroom filled ravioli, with baby spinach and roasted red pepper strips, in a delightful cream sauce.

My choice of entree was the Florida-Indian inspired fish of the choice, which was a delicate white fish called Cordova.

The fish was an absolute perfection, served with coconut combined rice, and coconut sauce was amazing!

My son ordered the seared duck breast with garnished with a beautiful wine sauce, smashed potatoes and glazed carrots. The duck breast was so tender and very tasty...I tasted it, and loved it, as well!

I must confess that this is the best ever...I mean, ever Key Lime Pie I have ever ate...(next to mine, when it turns out like this, LOL) Seriously, this Key Lime Pie is homemade at the restaurant, and just look at the huge swirl of real whipped cream. I topped it off with a cup of American brewed coffee, which was equally awesome, considering I only drink, Italian, or Cuban coffee with milk.

I'm linking the Rhythm Cafe's Key Lime Pie to:

Foodie Friday # 12 @Little Brick Ranch

...and now, on to my Awards, which I'm always grateful for, it's such an honor to receive awards from your peers. I have a couple food blogger friends to thank for!  I will link a list of bloggers to pay it forward to, ASAP...tomorrow!

This beautiful  Hundred Hearts award was given to my by my dear friend Mina,

@Angellove's Cooking. Such a talented cook, and baker, she make such beautiful cakes, yeast breads...also unusual, colorful and delicious entrees, and salads. Thank you Mina, I really appreciate it!

 

I would like to thank my dear friends Nancy, and Veejay, from Kitchen Gypsies  for this Lovely Blog Award...it's way overdue to mention it! They have a beautiful blog, mostly Indian inspired cuisines, with various other American yummy dishes, and  wonderful desserts.
It's vegetarian, and truly inspiring! I truly appreciate this award...thank you for honoring me with it!

Homemade Garlic Rolls, and Conversions!

I finally made the long awaited garlic rolls Sunday morning, and shared it with my family...only to get complaints by the little guys...my 4 little grandchildren. "What's all the green stuff?"...and too much garlic! Although, it was a hit by everyone else...meaning, the adults. Well, at least, all the rolls were gone, in one sitting....and as you notice, they are not tall, but at least they are fluffy, but short, packed full of chopped fresh garlic, Italian parsley, and rosemary.
The reason they are "little short guys" ...no excuses...but one. I used my Le Creuset large lasagna pan to bake the rolls in, and instead of 8 rolls, I had enough for practically double at least 14, so I sliced them thinner.
So thank you Suhaina for the amazing dry yeast from Singapore, and thank you, for the inspiration. Now, I can make this again, with less garlic, and omit the herbs, so my grandchildren will not complain...and make them taller,
using a smaller bake pan.
For the recipe, click on to Suhaina's My Singapore Kitchen

I didn't have cilantro, or sesame seeds, but I did have the parsley and rosemary, which I used, and also sprinkled grated Romano cheese on the top before I baked it. Also, the baking time took a little longer, because 350 degrees F. was not high enough for the heavy duty bake pan, so I raised the temperature to 375 degrees F. for a total of 35 minutes, instead of 25 minutes.

I must confess, I have never made these type of rolls before, so I have to pat myself on the shoulders that because of the fantastic yeast, and the step-by-step instructions, I did OK! I'm always marveling at Roxana's beautiful yeast rolls, and bread that make it to the Foodbuzz Top 9... Mina's amazing sweet breads, and rolls, and just recently, Mari's gorgeous 4 braided Challah bread, and Swathi's beautiful  whole grain and rye breads...it's a shame for me not to pursue more yeast dough baking. My daughter Lora makes quite a lot of delicious yeast breads, and perfect pizza dough, so I do have a good excuse to be lazy about my own yeast baking. Enough of that!

I'm linking this to Hearth and Soul Hop #51

I always had a bit of shying away from Metric measures, but I have a real helpful hint from the back of my New Basics Cookbook....so get your little calculator out, and start multiplying, and dividing!

ounces to grams: multiply ounce figure by 28.3 to get number of grams
grams to ounces: multiply gram figure by .0353 to get number of ounces
pounds to grams: multiply pound figure by 453.59 to get number of grams
pounds to kilograms: multiply pound figure by 045 to get number of kilograms
ounces to milliliters: multiply ounce figure by 30 to get number of milliliters.
cups to liters: multiply cup figure by 0.24 to get number of liters


There are more conversions and equivalents, but these are the most important ones to remember when you need to convert from Metric to the American system, and vica-versa.

Here's the Active Dried Yeast I received from Suhaiana.
So let's do the conversion: 125 grams x .0353 = 4.41ounces

Just look at the tiny pearl like pieces of this fabulous yeast...the minute you pop open the little canister, the aroma of fresh yeast hits you! Not so, with our powdered dry yeast in the little packets.

So here's the little science experiment. ! tablespoon of the dried activated yeast dropped into 1 cup of warm water, (water heated in the microwave for 45 seconds)

As soon as yeast was dropped into the warm water, it started to bubble up, even without stirring.

After about 1 minute, yeast bubbled up like this!

After a few minutes, while I was getting my ingredients together for the dough...it practically overflowed...Wow!...this kind of result never happened with dry yeast before...now I know, I'm on the right track!

This is after 45 minutes, covered in a greased bowl.

I have my Le Creuset pan...btw...this was too large for the amount of rolls, but I already had it prepared, and greased, so next time I will use a smaller bake pan with a rim...even a round one perhaps. I did add a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, taken off the sprigs, and put all three, garlic, parsley, and rosemary.

In the meantime, I practically made pesto, in the food processor, it's OK to make a lot, just mix it up the amount you need with the extra virgin olive oil, and I will show you what to do with the remainder of the herbs.

Is this a perfect punch mark, or what?...ready to punch down the dough!

Now, you got the nice rectangle, and spread the herbs, with the garlic, and olive oil...I think I added a little too much herbs, garlic, and oil.

In the meantime, I opened up Suhaina's blog to double check on the step-by-step great photo instructions...already printed out recipe, but without the photos, so I made sure to check again...and yeppp...I did add too much herbs, but then again...there are NO TWO COOKS ALIKE...THERE ARE NO TWO BAKERS ALIKE...so every person is an individual, and you cannot expect it to be exactly alike...Let's not be "copy cats"...just be your individual self. That's what makes us unique in our own way!...So, moving on...still have a few more to show you!

I don't know how I ended up with so many rolls, but at last count, I think I had about 15 rolls, resting in the pan, and spooning more herbs and oil, on top, also egg wash, and sprinkling it with shredded Romano cheese. The rolls needed to be proofed another 20 minutes, or so!...(or so, meaning, maybe I didn't proof them long enough?)
Was 20 minutes long enough?

I started it out at 350 degrees F....after 15 minutes, nothing was happening, so I raised the temperature to 375 degrees F. and baked it for an additional 20 minutes.

This is how I save my extra fresh herbs and garlic, in a mason jar, filled with pure vegetable oil, or canola oil, whichever I have on hand.
Basically, this is not pesto, but when you are grinding the herbs with the garlic, the only difference is, you spoon it out, to put into a jar, and add the oil to it, which will keep it fresh for up to 3 wks. in the fridge, but you will use it up a lot faster, because there are many uses for the herbs, and garlic. All you have to do is spoon out the amount you need, and add olive oil, and/or butter to whatever your culinary needs are.

The rolls did turn out light, flaky, garlicky, and a distinct flavor of the parsley, garlic and cheese. What I also did was to drizzle an addition of my fruity extra virgin olive oil on the top, and I, myself ate 3 rolls alone...Delicious!

Salmon Burger...a Winner, and Blogaversary!

First things, first...I have so much to share with you today. !st. is the winner of my giveaway!. On Random.org, the #18 came up which is Lizzy, from That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!!
Congratulations Lizzy! Hope you will enjoy this fabulous book and I know you will find some really nice dishes in there to make. Will contact you for the mailing address.

Just would like to let you all know, that yesterday, on June 3rd, 2011 was my 1st. Blogaversary...my First Anniversary of my blog, which really started out as just a few foods, and more thrift finds.I came a long way since last year, making friends with other food blogger around the world, and locally.

I do appreciate the support and friendship from my fellow blogger friends, and follower who have supported me throughout this past year. Without your support and kindness, I would never have made it this far. It's a lonely place out there in "blogsphere" when you have no one commenting, and for that, I do have the Foodbuzz community to thank for and all the members who have befriended me. So, I just want you to know that I'm planning, and hoping to hang around here for another year longer at least...and who knows how long after that! So just bear with me, I will take you along on more of my food and life adventures.
Love to all! ...
Do check out my first post!
Also, I did want to announce that I am attempting to make my first...ever...homemade garlic rolls, filled with delicious garlic and herbs. This should have been my post, showing of my homemade delicious (hopefully)...garlic rolls, with "dry active yeast" 125 g. that comes in the cutest little canister, sent to me by my new and sweet friend, Suhaina, living in Singapore, and at this moment, on vacation to her homeland in Kerala, India.

I was so inspired by her homemade garlic rolls, that I was so determined to make it... so she sent m the yeast that she uses, all the way from Singapore. I was totally in "awe" but mostly shocked, because not very often do we find such amazing good hearted people who do not know you from "Adam" that would want to do something like this for you. Please check out Suhaina's fabulous Garlic Rolls and be sure to click on the HOME...to get you back to the current page of My Singapore Kitchen. She is such a talented cook, and baker, and she makes the most amazing breads, and rolls, as well.
Truly a blessing from this gracious and beautiful lady, who became my dear friend:DDD

Turkey Burgers with Honey Mustard Dressing
 adapted from Rachel Ray's Website

About 1/3 cup Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons honey
4 skinless salmon fillets (6 ounces each), cut into cubes
1 egg
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning (about a palmful)
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), for drizzling

In a small bowl, stir together the mustard and honey. Using a food processor, pulse the salmon to finely chop. Place in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add 2 tablespoons of the honey mustard, the chives, Old Bay and lemon zest. Form into four large burgers.

Drizzle some EVOO into a large nonstick skillet or griddle. Add the burgers and cook, turning once, over medium-high heat for 6 minutes for medium-rare, 10-12 minutes for medium-well doneness.

note: My burgers were grilled, actually rare, for extra burgers, and froze the extra burgers. When need them take out from freezer, and finish baking in a conventional oven, or for easier work in a toaster oven, for an additional 15-20 minutes, or less if you want medium doneness.
You can also make extra honey mustard to drizzle on top, and serve it over rice pilaf or on buns.
The adorable little tomato garnish is from my daughter's garden.
Enjoy!

With all the busy activities going on this past week...2 pre-kindergarten graduation, of my two little grandchildren a piano recital by Gabby, the oldest.. spending the weekend with my son, and my 2 granddaughters, I did miss commenting on quite a few blogs. I do apologize for that.

Also, I missed Brenda's delicious Salmon Burgers, @ Brenda's Canadian Kitchen ...she used Paula Deen's version...do check it out!

I'm linking my Salmon Burger to Melynda's  Cookbook Sundays @ Mom's Sunday Cafe

"Perfect Brownie Pan" Brownie...and a Giveaway!

In all my years of baking brownies, I have never come across a brownie bake set called, Perfect Brownie Pan. It's a
bake, slice, and serve pan, with a cooling rack, that is included with it. Just to prove how easy it is, I put my 5 year old granddaughter Mattia to the test...but first check out this gadget!

Hi friends-here's the link to Wal-Mart for the Perfect Brownie Pan Set


I'm linking this to: Full Plate Thursday, 6-2-11 @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage

I did not purchase this brownie pan...my friend Barbara gave this to me as a gift. They sell it at Wal-Mart and she said it literally flies off the shelves. She should know, because she works there. Now, if you take a good look, the way the slice that I featured on the first photo...is a "fluke"...really, it turned out that way because I decided to take the cutter insert out of the pan before I baked it, and then put the divider back into the brownie pan, so when the brownie was done, some of the slices came out with little borders around them that was kind of cute!

Actually, the brownies turned out extremely yummy...recipe book that was included with the brownie pan has a nice selection of brownie and other sheet cake recipes.

Traditional Homemade Brownies
adapted from Perfect Brownie Pan recipe book

2 1/3 cup butter (1 1/2 stick)
2 cups sugar
5 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/4 cup all purpose. flour

Preheat  oven to 350 degree F. Melt butter, chocolate, and cocoa powder in a saucepan, or in a microwave proof dish in the microwave. Whisk eggs and sugar in a large bowl. Add the flour, and stir until smooth, as in the photo on the right. Stir in most of the chocolate chips, and leave a few for the top, just before baking, scatter some on the top of the batter.

Granddaughter Mattia  volunteered to be my helper...standing on her little stool.

Add the melted chocolate, cocoa, and butter mixture, and the vanilla. Whisk until smooth without any lumps.
Spray brownie pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, for fudgy brownies, or 30-35 minutes for more firm.

You can of course bake this in a regular brownie square pan, or a rectangular pan, but if you can get a brownie bake pan like this it's really easy, and fun. The bottom of the pan is removable for easy handling.

This is a classic photo...while 5yr old Mattia was taking the photo of her "work well done"...I clicked my own photo, as well. At any rate, the brownie was a winner:D

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day...we had a very nice relaxing day, with mostly sunny skies, and a delicious cookout. My son is a very neat grill cook. He has to have everything neatly set up, The flank steak marinated, the asparagus already marinated as in my previous post for the indoor pan grilling, salmon burgers as well.

 A beautiful combination of potatoes being roasted...by d-in-law Cara!

Have you ever seen a more perfect, tender and juicy flank steak?...perfectly grille by my son!

Thai, the 13 yr. old Black Lab mix, was keeping my son company at the grill...we came inside to eat, because it was quite hot outside...even at 5:PM...She darted right to the back patio door.

She was patiently waiting at the door to be let inside...She is such a sweetheart, so sweet, loyal, at the ripe old age of 13, still going strong and is quite healthy and happy:D

Now...about my Giveaway!

It's another great cookbook (a thrift find)...which in this case is a rarity...autographed by the author, brand new book, 2007 edition. You don't have to do a thing, just let me know if you are following me on Twitter, on my blog, or on Foodbuzz. That's all! You can enter as many as 3 or 4 entries if you like...entries will close Fri. June 4th, 2011 and I will announce the winner on Saturday morning, June 5th. Winner will be chosen by Random.org generated number. It's really a great book, so don't miss it!

About Impress for Less by Hope Fox

In Impress for Less!, Hope Fox takes recipes from 100 of the top restaurants in the nation, and re-creates them with ingredients that can be found in the grocery store. Impress for Less! already is resonating with celebrated chefs, authors and personalities, like Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Bob Bowersox and Patti LaBelle. And, restaurants, retailers and cooking schools are lining up to sell it. Impress for Less! hits store shelves nationwide in early August 2007.
Ever since Hope was a little girl, she was taught to entertain with a full heart and cook with love. For more than 30 years, she has been entertaining with a generous yet simple approach and style. Hope makes every occasion – from birthdays to holidays to afternoon summer picnics – inviting and memorable. She makes the complicated look easy and takes the ordinary to extraordinary, whether it is planning for a fabulous dinner party or connecting with viewers on television.
For the past 10 years, Hope has regularly appeared on QVC, the world’s largest and most successful electronic retailer. Her keen sense of what women want has helped her capture their attention and sell some of the world’s most respected brands, like Conair, Farberware, Pollenex, Sabatier and Weight Watchers, to more than 90 million households.
Outside of television, Hope is a passionate cook, fervent entertainer and regular restaurant patron. She simply loves food, style and people. Hope has more than 200 cookbooks in her personal collection and frequently combs through them to share recipes with family and friends – and even strangers.