Blood Orange and Lemon Verbena Jam

Well this jam turned out to be more like a syrup. What I should have done was make a small batch of it first, but I was so excited that I didn't. I'm still really excited about it! I made this jam with my friends, Michelle and Lacey, for the bridal shower. We spent the entire evening canning and stirring citrus jam. It was a good time to catch up and a great way to start off the week. The recipe is from Saving the Season. I suggest if you want to make this, you should follow his directions and do a little research if you haven't canned before. Also, this jam is a little bitter since blood oranges are naturally bitter but it would be great over some homemade ice cream or with a baguette and some sliced brie.

BLOOD ORANGE MARMALADE

5 pounds blood oranges
1 pound organic lemons
7 cups raw cane sugar
1 cup honey
1/4 cup dried lemon verbena leaves (mine were from working at Garden Dreams!)

As a note, it is best to use all organic fruits and ingredients if you're going to be canning. I've read that the chemicals can react in strange ways and turn the jam different colors, like green. : ( You don't really want preservatives and pesticides in your delicous homemade jam anyways. Since we live in Pittsburgh (not citrus growing friendly at all!), I just got my fruit from Whole Foods.
The citrus is also coated with wax to preserve it, so make sure to pour boiling water over the citrus and then scrub them really well to get all the wax off.

1)  Use a sharp vegetable peeler to zest the de-waxed oranges and lemons in wide strips. You want very little white pith on the zest since it is bitter. Then put the zest in a preserving pan with 4 cups of water, bring to a boil and simmer covered for 30 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, remove the bitter white pith beneath the zest. Slice a round off both ends, deep enough to reveal the pulp beneath the pith. Then stand the fruit on one of its flat ends and slice along the fruit to cut away the white parts. Keep about 1/2 the pith!

Vegan Coconut Cupcakes

For a family get together, I was asked to make dessert. I decided on these coconut cupcakes from Chef Chloe because I had all the ingredients in the apartment. They turned out to be a big hit! They were gone in about an hour into lunch. My cousins, Sara and Tony crushed about 5 of them between themselves. It was pretty impressive!

Cocunut Cupcakes

• 1 ¾ cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup raw cane sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup coconut milk (from a can)
• ½ cup canola oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Coconut Frosting

• 3 tablespoons unrefined coconut oil 
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 to 3 tablespoons coconut milk 

Garnish

• shredded coconut
• coarse sugar

To make the Coconut Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cupcake pans with 15 cupcake liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make sure to shake the coconut milk in its can before pouring out into the measuring cup to make sure the milk is uniform and creamy. It tends to separate in the can especially if it is cold outside. In a separate bowl, whisk together coconut milk, oil, vanilla, and vinegar.
Add the dry mixture into the wet mixture and mix until just combined.
Fill the cupcake liners about two-thirds full with batter.

Vegan Lavender Scones

Great minds think alike!!! Aka Kate and I both made scones in the same weekend. I made these for a wonderful brunch hosted by my friend, Melody. We had blackberry scones that were gluten free and biscuits plus other various treats from Food Glorious Food (obsessed with these!). Anyways, I had made these once before with sour cream (which the recipe calls for) but this time I substituted soy yogurt with successful results. The recipe is from a site called the Joys of Lavender (too cute). Just like Kate's scones, these are pretty chewy and soft.

1 tsp. chopped dried lavender (we crushed ours in a mortar and pestle)
1 1/2 cups white whole-wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup soy yogurt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet.   In a medium size bowl , mix the dry ingredients together. Add the sour cream and stir with a large spoon until the dry ingredients are damp. This dough is very sticky. Flour your hands and turn the dough onto the greased baking sheet. Adding flour to your fingers as needed, form the dough into a disc that is 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick.

Sprinkle coarse sugar crystals onto the dough along with a some lavender buds. Bake for 10 minutes, then take out of the oven. Right away wth a sharp knife, slice the scone pie into 8 wedges. Separate them and then bake for another 5 minutes until golden brown.

Strawberry Scones!

So, I know strawberries aren't in season yet, BUT Meijer was having a crazy sale last week at $1 a package. I couldn't resist... so I got seven.

They typically freeze really well, and I make breakfast smoothies a lot, so Mark and I will pretty much be set on strawberries for a month or two. The containers are practically taking up half of the freezer.

I love making scones. They're surprisingly easy to make, and can be acceptable as a breakfast item, too. The recipe I found called for a cup of chopped strawberries, but hardly put a dent in the container. Following a quick Google search I found a recipe that uses Greek yogurt, so I went with that. You can see on the Chobani web site here.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup strawberry Greek yogurt (I used vanilla and it worked fine)

• 2 c all-purpose flour plus extra for dusting work surface

• ¼ c sugar plus 2 T for sprinkling

• 2 t baking powder

• ½ tsp baking soda

• ¼ tsp kosher salt

• 4 Tbsp cold unsalted butter cut into ¼-inch cubes

• 1 c chopped fresh strawberries