morning scones.

Mornings are important to me. I think I started appreciating mornings when I moved into my first big girl residency last year. The old, cold, (dirty) wood floors, and the big windows with chipping frames let in the comfiest amount of sunshine. 

Mornings are quiet. It's a fresh start. There's really no reason to be mad at them, only reasons to look forward to them. Mornings give me a chance to breathe. I wake up early so I can enjoy some time in which I have nothing to worry or complain about. 

I especially like baking in the morning. Maybe because of good smells...maybe because it's quiet...maybe because it's nice to feel like you did something productive before any other obligations you might have. I'm not really sure what it is, but it's totally a good thing.

This scone recipe is from the Joy the Baker cookbook...which I am absolutely, completely, wholly in love with. Good scones take time. Good scones take very cold butter and a cheese grater. Good scones make your house smell like love.

Oatmeal Raspberry Ginger Scones (from the Joy the Baker Cookbook)

Ingredients:

• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup cold buttermilk
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/3 cups old fashioned oats (not quick-cooking)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon of ground ginger
• 1 Tablespoon of finely chopped candied ginger or fresh ginger
• 3/4 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
• 1 stick plus 2 Tablespoons (6 ounces) cold unsalted butter, grated on a box grater or cut into small pieces

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F and place a rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and set aside.

Whisk the eggs and buttermilk together in a small bowl and set it aside.

In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a food processor, whisk or pulse to combine the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger and nutmeg.

Using a box grater, quickly grate the butter until all is shredded and add to the dry ingredients, using your fingers to quickly incorporate the butter and flour mixture. If you don't have a box grater, you can also simply cut the butter into small pieces and quickly rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it is coarse and pebbly. 

Pour the egg and buttermilk mixture over the dry ingredients and stir with a fork. The dough will still be very wet and sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and using a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, mix in the berries and ginger.

Press the dough until you have a circle that is about 1 1/2-inches thick. Use the rim of a glass about 2 inches in diameter. Dip the rim in flour and cut circles from disk of dough.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and firm. Transfer them to a rack and cool for 10 minutes or longer before serving.

Please take this as an open invitation to join my morning team. I promise it's fun.

all the ways i can get distracted by food on the internet.

Easy ways to not pay attention to whatever else you're doing.

1. Decide you want to make something and search for a recipe for at least an hour.

Example. I want to make sugar cookies. Possible Google searches include, "sugar cookie recipe" "best sugar cookie recipe" "best sugar cookie recipe in the world" "award-winning sugar cookie recipe" "best chewy sugar cookies" "Martha Stewart sugar cookies" "how to make perfect sugar cookies". Because THEY COULD ALL BE DIFFERENT. THERE'S THE POSSIBILITY OF ONE BEING THE BEST. WHAT IF I DON'T FIND IT.

Real talk.

2. Immerse yourself into a world of supermarket taste testing. I've literally ALWAYS wanted to know what the best chef-inspired pasta sauce is. You're welcome.

3. Get a little worldly, a little educated, a little NPR.

4. Just look at pictures. Forever. Look at pictures of food for all the days.

5. Find out what you're doing wrong and how America's Test Kitchen does it better.

6. Just go on Martha Stewart. She has 17 recipes for the same thing and you'll look at all of them, I promise.

7. You can look at what famous people are having for breakfast. I repeat, YOU CAN LOOK AT WHAT FAMOUS PEOPLE ARE HAVING FOR BREAKFAST.

I promise I do work sometimes. I do work and then I treat myself to reading about how someone else tried all the flavors of that dessert-flavored gum.

Happy Saturday, friends.

loveatarianism and larabars.

Last night I was feeling less than mindful. I called my very well-minded sister, Sam, and she introduced me to a concept call loveatarianism. Deciding to commit to thinking with love over fear. It's like refusing to allow negative thoughts, fear, and anxieties to be on your plate. You don't want to eat that.

Keeping that in mind, I had a very lovely Danie morning. I challenged myself to run on the freshly snowed-on sidewalks (challenge is an understatement), visited the co-op, had a very peaceful breakfast, wrote some empowering thoughts in my journal, made some delicious chili which I later shared with my lovelylove, and whipped up two delicious homemade Larabar flavors for you!

Making your own energy bars is the easiest in the world. You should totally make friends with your food processor, create your own flavors, and eat these delicious creations every day. They're full of natural sugars and sources of energy so you'll be all revved up to celebrate the positive things in your life.

 DIY Larabars:

Cherry Chocolate Chip

Ingredients:

• 3/4 C pitted dates
• 3/4 C dried cherries
• 3/4 C almonds (roasted or raw)
• 1/4 C chocolate chips
• 1 tsp vanilla (optional)

Blend all ingredients together in food processor until a soft, sticky dough forms. Shape dough into disks or bars. Chill in refrigerator. Bars will keep in the refrigerator for two weeks.

Oatmeal Raisin

Ingredients:

• 3/4 C pitted dates
• 3/4 C raisins
• 3/4 C walnuts
• 3/4 C rolled oats
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla

Blend all ingredients together in food processor until a soft, sticky dough forms. Shape dough into disks or bars. Chill in refrigerator. Bars will keep in the refrigerator for two weeks.

Remember to keep love on your plate.