Scones: Like a Muffin with Class

Since scones have become the favorite food of this food-fickle female, I thought I'd share my favorite recipe. I have a tendency to over do things until I've killed them, whether it's eating a particular thing, wearing something again and again, or doing an activity until it's no fun at all, but I'm being careful with these because I like them too much for that. (But just so you know, I know not whether they are truely proper or Scottish.)

Proper Scottish Oat Scones

Winners!

With boxed granola bars being so expensive and not all that tasty, I've been wanting to try my own for awhile. This was the first option and they are good. A little bit more like a glorified oatmeal cookie, they have incredible cinnamon nut flavor. Here's the original recipe. (I used almonds instead of pecans and raw oats instead of toasted this time.) Happy baking!

PS- Sorry about the angle, my computer skills can't quite put it in the correct rotation when uploading. And I would have put up a prettier picture of the actual cut squares except they cut a little rough, making them quite homely for photographing. 

A Better Way To Eat Your Crispy Rice

My Grandma told me that these are the "everyone brings them to the church potluck because their easy" dessert; I disagree. Maybe it's something that is more common in Montana, but these babies seem to be virtually unknown around here. And since they are a favorite of mine I thought I'd share them. They're easy and amazing.

Scotcheroos
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup white corn syrup
1 cup butterscotch ships
1 cup milk chocolate chips
6 cups rice crispies

Bring the corn syrup and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until blended then stir in rice crispies. Spread into a buttered pan (We usually use a 9x11) Melt the chips together and spread over the top. Let it cool before cutting it into squares.

The Eggplant Dilema

As many of you know, I'm a little new at gardening. This year we decided to go big and stay home, so we have quite the load a produce. Most of it we can eat right up, but I have one vegetable in particular that has been giving me a little trouble: Eggplant. I picked, literally, 19 the other day and had no idea what to do with them. I asked around and got some great recipe ideas that I'm eager to try out. I'll try to keep everyone posted with my reviews of the recipes that I'm able to try so that someday, when you have too much eggplant, you'll have a little direction.

My first try: Roasted Eggplant Dip.

This was really good and disappeared quickly. It uses a lot of garlic but is so worth it. I didn't have any mint so we just did without and it still was great.

1 large head garlic1 eggplant (1-1 1/4 pounds), cut in half lengthwise
1 small onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 ripe tomato, cored, sliced in half and seeded
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Set oven racks at the two lowest levels; preheat to 450°F. Peel as
much of the papery skin from the garlic as possible and wrap loosely in foil.
Bake until the garlic is soft, 30 minutes. Let cool slightly.2. Meanwhile, coat
a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place eggplant halves on the prepared baking
sheet, cut-side down. Roast for 10 minutes. Add onion slices and tomato halves
to the baking sheet and roast until all the vegetables are soft, 10 to 15
minutes longer. Let cool slightly.3. Separate the garlic cloves and squeeze the
soft pulp into a medium bowl. Mash with the back of a spoon. Slip skins from the
eggplant and tomatoes; coarsely chop. Finely chop the onion. Add the chopped
vegetables to the garlic pulp and stir in the lemon juice, mint, oil, salt and
pepper.

French Stir Fry

My beautiful friend, Kate, decided to post our newly made cookie recipe, and so instead of being redundant, I'll just add something of my very own creation. This was a pretty big hit at my house.

French Stir Fry

Brown one chopped onion, add 2 crushed cloves of garlic and 5-6 pieces of chicken (cubed). Cook thoroughly. Crack two eggs into the pan and let them sit for about a minute before stirring them in to finish cooking. Add 3 stalks of chopped celery, 1 1/2 cups of finely chopped carrots, 1/3 cup olive oil (give or take) and soy sauce until you like it. Use rosemary, fresh is the best, but dry works fine, celery salt, kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper for seasoning. Let is simmer for about 5 minutes and serve over rice.