Rosemary Jelly and Raisin Scones for Tea

Friday, 

I made some apple rosemary jelly

Two jars

One for now and one for later!

The now jar

Was perfect with the fruit (raisin) scones that I baked off for tea

 A "mix bag" of tea things

The Whieldon Ware Antique creamer, plate, cup and saucer

I especially like the cup for it's a bit bigger!

Spode Blue Room teapot

And a Spode Camilla cake plate to hold the scones.

English mother-of-pearl jam spoon and butter knife

When I take tea alone, my company is usually a book

The herb garden is growing with wild abandon

And so my tea reading material has been mostly books about herbs

both growing and cooking!

The scones are easy to make --

I often make a half a recipe

which is just perfect for the two of us

for I prefer "fresh" scones!

It's an adaptation of one of the Barefoot Contessa's recipes:

Fruit Scones

2 c. flour

1 T. baking powder

1 1/2 t. salt

12 T (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced

1/2 c. cold cream

1 cold extra large egg

1 egg, beaten with 1 T. water

1/2 c. raisins

Preheat oven to 425

Place 2 cups of flour, the baking powder and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer filled with the paddle attachment.    With the mixer on low, add the butter and mix until the butter is the size of peas.

Combine the cream and egg in a small measuring cup and beat lightly with a fork.    With the mixer still on low, quickly add the cream mixture to the flour mixture and mix only until moistened.    In a small bowl, mix the raisins with a small handful of flour and with the mixer still on low, add the raisins to the dough.    Mix only until roughly combined.

Dump out onto a well floured board and knead lightly about 6 times.    Roll the dough out to a rectangle 10 x 5 inches.    Cut with a round 2 inch cookie cutter or biscuit cutter.    Brush the tops with the egg wash, sprinkle with sugar, if desired, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the scones are cooked through.     Serve hot or warm.

NOTE:   I halved the recipe and I divided the egg (I measured by spoonfuls) and put halve in the recipe and made an egg wash out of the second half.    

It's Tuesday and I'm joining Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage for Tea Time Tuesday and Marty at A Stroll Thru Life  for Inspire Me Tuesday and Bernideen for Friends Sharing Tea.

The Baker's Rack . . . and Sunday Lunch

The Baker's Rack on the patio

undergoes a transformation in the Spring

it comes

alive!

With shelves filled with plants

A favorite faux bois planter

It's a favorite and it looks good planted with a woodsy look

And I like the unexpected

a rusty iron rabbit

Rabbits belong in a woodsy setting!

 The top shelves -- 

houseplants and a geranium which wintered over indoors

A fuschia which was a gift from a dear friend

And two red geraniums

The woodsy log, a statue and the watering can

 Below are the topiaries and a big begonia

Before garden time, however, there was Sunday Lunch

(a custom we adopted while we lived in England that spring)

Roast pork loin with rosemary and finished with a apple rosemary jelly glaze

Broiled new garden carrots and roasted asparagus

both Farmer's market buys yesterday

After Sunday Lunch

the pork went into the crockpot

with chicken broth, BBQ sauce and the rest of the jar of Hoison sauce

and simmered the afternoon away

while I was in the garden

It made great pulled pork sandwiches for supper

with a homemade dill pickle

And will be our lunches this week until it's gone

Cleaning the freezer doesn't have to be a chore

A package of four mini tart crusts

Were baked off

And made into lime curd tarts

(for I had lime curd in the fridge)

The pork is easy to bake.   Heat the oven to 400.    Mix 2 or 3 T. olive oil, a tablespoon or so of chopped rosemary, salt and pepper.   Mix together and rub on the meat.    Bake for 45 minutes.    The last 15 minutes, glaze with apple rosemary jelly.   (If you don't have any jelly, just bake it for 1 hour)

Let rest about 10 minutes and then carve and serve.

It's Monday and I'm joining Susan at Between Naps On the Porch for Met Monday and Yvonne at Stone Gable for What's On The Menu Monday.

A Garden Tour

May is the start of Garden Tour Season

Communities open wide their garden gates

for various groups

which use the tours as a fundraiser.

This Saturday, 

 Held their Garden Tour

Friend Priscilla and I went

And came back with ideas . . . 

Plant Labels

Flowers and water stations

Fairy Gardens

Herbs and Lettuces

Do you ever wonder what to do with the old big satellite dish?

A perfect solution!

And there were vendors and I brought home

A potting shed for the fairies

Which is a replica of the one in Linderhof's garden

We stopped mid tour for lunch

at my favorite restaurant in Paola

Beethoven's

I had the sauerbraten

And mashed potatoes

And red cabbage

I took food home

And was too full for dessert!

It was a fun day

This first garden tour of 2013!

It's Sunday and I'm joining The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays.

In The Kitchen With Herbs

The herbs are growing with wild abandon

It's good to have an endless supply of fresh herbs again

right outside the door.

And so today

with not much on the schedule,

I spent most of the day in the kitchen

Making herbal treats

Apple Rosemary Jelly

Herbed Pickled Eggs

Chive Butter

Stewed Rhubarb

Fresh Goat Cheese with Olives, Lemon and thyme

Rosemary Flatbreads

The jelly, butter and eggs were all for the "pantry".    I'm planning on using the jelly on a pork roast for Sunday Lunch; the butter is great to use as a topping for plain grilled meat, baked potatoes, biscuits (whether cheddar or plain), and as the fat to cook scrambled eggs in.   

The eggs are for Husband Jim

A snack or an addition to lunch.

He loves pickled eggs.

The goat cheese and flatbread . . . 

Made a great appetizer tonight

With martinis shaken not stirred (and extra olives!)

Dinner was a new recipe as well

Hoison chicken breasts, brown rice and quinoia and steamed Farmer's Market broccoli

It's after dinner and I'm thinking that the rhubarb might not make it for breakast . . .

It might be perfect for a bedtime snack!

The recipes:

Apple and Rosemary Jelly

2 1/2 c. apple juice

1 cup rosemary

4 c. sugar

1/4 c. cider vinegar (or lemon juice)

3 ounces liquid pectin

Fresh herb sprigs

Bring the juice to a boil and pour it over the fresh herbs.    Cover and steep until the liquid has cooled.   Strain, pressing all the liquid and flavor out of the herbs.

In a non-aluminum saucepan combine 2 cups of herbal infusion with the sugar, vinegar.   Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat and as soon as the sugar has dissolved, stir in the pectin.    Return to a rolling boil stirrirng, and boil for exactly 1 minute.     Remove the jelly from the heat and skim off any foam.     

If you are using resh herbs as decoration, place a fresh herb sprig in each jar and hold it in place with a sterilized spoon or chopstick.    When the jelly is nearly set, remove the spoon or chopstick and the sprig will stay in place.    

Note:   You can process the jars in a boiling water bath but I prefer to make such a small amount that I just refrigerate mine.

Herb Pickled Eggs

12 hard cooked eggs, peeled

2 bay leaves

1 sprig thyme

3 T. coarsely chopped chives

3 sprigs Italian parsley

1 small chili pepper fresh or dried

12 whole peppercorns

3 cups white vinegar

Layer the eggs and herbs in a jar with a tight fitting lid.    Cover with the vinegar and seal.   Let stand in a cool dark place for 1 week before using.    The eggs will keep for about two months in the refrigerator.   

Chive Butter

1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature

3 Tablespoons fresh herbs

Chop the herbs very fine.    Cream the butter and blend in the herbs.    Shape as desired and chill or freeze up to 6 months.    If I am going to use mine right away, I like to put them in half pint canning jars.

Stewed Rhubarb

4 cups of rhubarb cut into 1 inch pieces

1 cup sugar

1/2 c. water

Heat sugar and water to boiling, stirring occasionally.    Add rhubarb.    Simmer about 10 minutes or until tender and slightly transparent.    Four drops of almond extract add a special flavor.

Fresh Goat Cheese with Olives, Lemon and Thyme

1/2 cup assorted olives
3 fresh thyme sprigs
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 (4- to 5-ounces) fresh goat-cheese medallion 


Heat olives, thyme, oil, zest, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a small skillet or saucepan over low heat until fragrant (do not simmer). Cool to room temperature.

Serve olive mixture over goat cheese.

Rosemary Flatbread

 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 T. chopped rosemary plus 2 (6 inch) sprigs

1 t. baking powder

3/4 t. salt

1/2 c. water

1/3 c. olive oil plus more for brushing

Flaky seat salt such as Maldon
Preheat oven to 450°F with a heavy baking sheet on rack in middle.

Stir together flour, chopped rosemary, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in center, then add water and oil and gradually stir into flour with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Knead dough gently on a work surface 4 or 5 times.

Divide dough into 3 pieces and roll out 1 piece (keep remaining pieces covered with plastic wrap) on a sheet of parchment paper into a 10-inch round (shape can be rustic; dough should be thin).

Lightly brush top with additional oil and scatter small clusters of rosemary leaves on top, pressing in slightly. Sprinkle with sea salt. Slide round (still on parchment) onto preheated baking sheet and bake until pale golden and browned in spots, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer flatbread (discard parchment) to a rack to cool, then make 2 more rounds (1 at a time) on fresh parchment (do not oil or salt until just before baking). Break into pieces.

Reprise - Out for Tea

Last fall we drove to the East Coast and spent a week in a house on Cape Cod.    It was a wonderful trip and one day -- The "Daisies" and Husband Jim went to Sandwich . . . and we had a delightful day.
We called ourselves The "Daisies" because we were being driven!!!!

This is my original post from last fall -- 

We spent a week in September on Cape Cod.

Which is far away from the prairie of Kansas!

One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to Sandwich

where Husband Jim

drove "The Daisies"

The Daises each got to pick something they wanted to see

And we all went along.

The First Daisy chose:

The Thornton Burgess Museum

A well-known long time writer of children's books.

Her children had adored them

I had read them but didn't realize it for I was a mere child.

An interesting museum

And a fascinating house.

The Second Daisy chose:

The Greenbriar Jam Kitchen

Making jams here since 1903 with fresh fruit and sugar and not much else in small batches.

Daisy Two would like to own a jam kitchen and she was as enthralled as I with this wonderful kitchen and the products it produced.

The Third Daisy (ME) chose:

The Dunbar Tea Room

for lunch.

A quaint and cozy tearoom.

What you would expect to find in New England

And who wouldn't love a tea room

which uses blue and white china!

Blue Willow to be exact!

The menu featured

A history of the house

A special tea

We each ordered 

A pot of Earl Grey.   Leaves, please.   So we all had our personal strainer.

The cream (whipped cream not clotted) and jams on a plate to share.

But we each got our own curate of sandwiches, scones and sweets.

The scones were delicious especially slathered in cream and jam.

We eyed the offerings on the dessert table.    The sponge cake looks very good!

Not a vignette but a picture

that hung in the ladies room.

Sigh!

A darling sign by the entrance to the tea room.

After lunch we three Daisies agreed that we wanted to go antiquing.

And we did!

I got a precious silver napkin ring engraved with not only a name but December 25, 1869!

And at the Antique Mall I found

This lavabo.

I have one like it that I really don't know what to do with.

And after seeing this price tag, I'm thinking that I need to take it off 

the back fence and find a more prominent place for it!

We Daisies enjoyed our day in Sandwich.

We have some lovely memories

of museums, and jam kitchens and teas and antiques.

I'm joining The Tablescaper  for Oh, The Places I've Been.