Irish Soda Bread - Tuesdays with Dorie 2.0

Irish Soda Bread

Good morning! I have about 3 minutes to post this...and it's already a day late! I hope you had a great St. Patrick's weekend. I made this Irish Soda Bread to celebrate.

Irish soda bread is soooo easy. Just some flour, buttermilk, and baking soda. You can add some dried fruit if you want too. You don't need to wait for yeast to rise...just mix and pop in the oven! It's great with some butter and a nice bowl of soup.

Be sure to check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie members!

Recipe:
The Tuesdays with Dorie group encourages you to support cookbook authors like Dorie Greenspan and purchase the book. You won't be disappointed! You can also check WorldCat to see if your local library has the book.

Irish Soda Bread
Recipe is also on the host's blog: Cathy of My Culinary Mission and Carla of Chocolate Moosey

Girl Scout Thin Mint Scones

Girl Scout Thin Mint Scones

My friend's daughters were selling Girl Scout cookies. My favorite time of the year! I helped them and left the order form out at work (along with this cute photo of the girls!) and sold 81 boxes of cookies at a couple work places! Um, I may or may not have purchased a bunch of said cookies. You know, supporting youth. I'm all for it.

Cream scones. Thin Mints. Match made in baking heaven!

I made the scones in the evening and cut them into 16 small squares. I put them on this 1/4 sheet pan and wrapped it tightly with plastic wrap. Then I froze them overnight. In the morning, you can just pop them in the oven (spread out on two 1/2 sheet pans) for a little longer than the recipe's recommended baking time. In my rush, I forgot to put the egg wash and sanding sugar on the scones before baking so your finished scone may look a bit different.

I chopped up less than one sleeve of Thin Mints (about 12-14 cookies). It was a little less than 1 cup...enough to give a Thin Mint taste with a few cookies remaining to eat while they bake! :)

Thin Mint Scones
Adapted from: Cream Scones from the Art and Soul of Baking (page 152). This is a very good book - find it on Amazon or in your library.

2 cups (10 oz) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (1 3/4 oz) granulated sugar
2 1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 stick butter (4 oz) (cold, cut into pieces)
1 cup (8 oz) heavy whipping cream (cold)
3/4-1 c chopped Thin Mint cookies (about 12-14 cookies) (less than 1 sleeve of Thin Mints (2012 box size))

Topping
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 T sanding sugar or granulated sugar

1. Preheat over to 425 degrees
2. Mix together dry ingredients.
3. Using a pastry cutter, two knives or your fingers (I use my fingers), cut in the butter. (The book uses a food processor, but I like to make scones by hand...less to clean up!)
4. Add whipping cream and chocolate chips. Blend together quickly (I use my hands and/or a spatula). Do not overmix.
5. Shape into a round or square.
6. Cut into shapes.
7. Place on parchment or Silpat covered baking sheet. Brush with egg wash. Sprinkle with sugar.
8. Bake for 14-16 minutes (depending on your oven) until golden brown and delicious. I cut my smaller and got 16 scones.

Other Thin Mint cookie baking ideas...


Thin Mint Brownies


Thin Mint Brownies


Thin Mint Cupcakes

Cute Hooking Sugar - sucres cavaliers colombes

Good Morning!
It's Monday morning and we all need something pretty to start our day.

How about these freaking cute little sugars?

My friend, Mary of Popsicles & Sandy Feet, picked these up in Paris and sent them to me...what a delightful package of cuteness.

On the side of the package, it has some English and says: "Hooking sugars for hot drinks." Sorry, the 8th grader in me just giggled.

I can't read French, but the manufacturers website is full of sugar cuteness. Check out Belle De Sucre!

Thanks East Coast Mary for sending me darling sugars from Paris! - west coast mary

David Schat's Bakery - El Segundo, CA

David Schat's Bakery, El Segundo, CA

This morning, the conversation between my friend JustJenn and I went something like this:

Ring Ring (Yes, young people, people still use phones to actually talk and not just text)

JustJenn: Free for lunch?
Me: Yes!
JustJenn: I need to eat something light...big dinner tonight.
Me: Hum...let me think.
pause
JustJust: Oh! I know! There's a bakery I want to try!
Me: Coming over.

Yes, when we think meal, we actually think bakery.

JustJenn and I went to David Schat's Bakery in El Segundo, CA. El Segundo is one of the South Bay beach cities, between Manhattan Beach and the LAX airport. If you've ever driven up to Mammoth, you may have visited Eric Schat's Bakery in Bishop...my parents always bring home Sheepherders bread. Each one of the Schat's Bakery's are independently owned and operated, but they have a long history of Dutch baking.

I'm excited to have Sheepherders bread in the Los Angeles area now...along with some delicious sandwiches and baked goods.

JustJenn and I both got the combo for lunch...

Classic Turkey Sandwich with fries, drink and a cookie, $12.00

Roasted Vegetable Panini (comes with cheese, but I opted out) with sweet potato fries, drink and a cookie, $11.75. I like that they use 1/4 sheet pans as serving trays!

Rose cupcake $1.50 (very good white cake cupcake). Mini Eclair & Mini Cream Puffs ($1.00 each) - they also have large size elcairs and cream puffs.

It's a small world! We ran into friends who were having lunch...and they totally didn't mind me taking a shot of their Roast Beef Sandwich and Grilled Cheese! (They are friends who understand food blogging - I got to show them my new camera too! :)

Finally, they sell some Dutch treats such as De Ruijter bread toppings. Holy smokes. I looked over, saw the boxes and I was transported back to the early 1990's. My UCLA roommate, Agnes is Dutch and we had a shelf of the chocolate sprinkles and anise and little pink & white ones in the apartment. She introduced me to Nutella...when you had to buy it at import stores. Oh, the Dutch and their bread. Delicious combos. Great memories.

Anyway, if you are in the South Bay (or have a crazy layover at LAX), I suggest stopping by David Schat's Bakery! They have a breakfast menu too...can't wait to try that! The staff was very nice, service was really fast and there is plenty of seating (outdoor seating area as well). There is street parking and they are next to a city parking structure.

David Schat's Bakery
131A W. Grand Ave., El Segundo, CA, 90245
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Apricot Jam Oatmeal Bars (Pioneer Woman)

Apricot Jam Oatmeal Bars

Photo taken with cell phone

These were really expensive apricot jam oatmeal bars (adapted from  The Pioneer Woman's Strawberry Oatmeal Bars from her Food Network show). 

 Here's the story:
1. Get up super early.
2. Wipe the sleep from my eyes.
3. Stumble to kitchen.
4. Make these simple jam bars from the Pioneer Woman.
5. Toss them into the oven.
6. Start to clean up the kitchen. (I think I should mention here that my camera is on the countertop.)
7. Move the flour container...and knock off my camera from the countertop...and see it nose dive onto the hardwood floor.

It was horrible! I saw it in that slo-mo action...where you want to yell, "Noooooo..." but it happens so fast you are only able to yelp, "n...."

The lens came apart and I found a piece of it on the floor. Darn.

I've been wanting a new camera recently so this forced my hand. I purchased this combo:

Canon EOS Rebel T3i (body)
Canon EF 50 mm f1.4 (lens) (I upgraded from the f1.8 lens that crashed)

 

I love the new camera! It is much faster than my old one (which I bought in 2008). I'll be updating the camera page soon! 

This recipe is super simple. Just mix together most of the ingredients and press 1/2 on the bottom, and 1/2 over the jam layer. (These are the last photos taken with my old camera!)

Make these bars. Kids and librarians alike will love them! And hang onto your camera! :) - mary

Recipe:
Apricot Jam Oatmeal Bars

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman (shown on her Food Network show). Her recipe here.
1 3/4 sticks salted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for greasing pan
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup oats (I used old fashioned oatmeal)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
One 10 to 12-ounce jar apricot jam (Pioneer Woman used homemade Strawberry Jam...I used Trader Joe's Apricot Jam)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch pan.
2. Mix together flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry cutter/blender, cut in the butter.
3. Press half the oat mixture into the prepared pan.
4. Spread jam on top of the oat mixture.
5. Sprinkle the other half of the oat mixture over the top and pat lightly.
6. Bake until light brown, 30 to 40 minutes.
7. Let cool completely, and then cut into squares.