Apple Oat Scones

Happy first day of fall! Even though technically it was yesterday I am celebrating today with hot cups of tea, snuggly blankets, cozy sweaters and everything pumpkin, apple and spice. School has been hectic and come October there will be even more to get done, but fall is my favourite season so I'm going to do everything I can to welcome it with open arms. These scones are perfect for just that. Our CSA shares have been filled with apples recently (and I know I didn't post Week 9, but it just came and went so quickly!) and the combination of oats and apples in Martha's scones were just perfect! Here's my version of the recipe:

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups of all purpose flour

1 1/3 cups rolled oats

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cubed

1 1/2 cups diced apple 

2/3 cold buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 400 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix together the flour, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using a pastry blender (or two knives works well too) cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in the apples and buttermilk just until mixed. On a lightly floured surface shape the dough into a large rectangle, about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut the dough into 12 square scones and place onto the baking sheet. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until lightly browned.

As with most baked goods, these scone are best served warm on the day of. They're moist, not too dense and have the perfect amount of apple and spice. 

Week 8: What's in our Basket?

If you don't know what's going on with this basket stuff catch up here:
Week 1 / Week 2 / Week 3 / Week 4 / Week 5 / Week 6 / Week 7

September has been off to a busy start! I'm back at school once again and I can already feel my social life slipping from my fingers as I try to balance six classes, work, hobbies, the blog and not to mention making a few changes to my room this week! But! I am glad it is finally the weekend and even though I'll be doing some homework it's also TIFF - my favourite time of year. I'm seeing quite a few movies this year but still holding out until Monday when Meryl Streep will hopefully hire me as her personal assistant after seeing me go crazy at the red carpet (dream big right?). Anyways, our baskets our winding down in the next couple weeks and it seems they're packing them full of our all-time-favourites - more watermelons, juicy grapes, and corn on the cob! Here is what's in our basket:

Vegetable Half Share

1 bunch of romaine, 1 bunch of leafy greens, tonnes of potatoes, a few yellow tomatoes, 5 red tomatoes, 3 corn on the cob, 1 bunch of beets, 1 bag of salad mix, 1 mini watermelon, 1 English cucumber, 1 green pepper, 1 bunch of broccoli. 

Fruit Share

1 bunch of grapes, tonnes of apples, 2 oranges, 2 lemons, 1 mini watermelon.

Their Potential

Of course Mexican flavours would make grilled corn taste better, Mexican food is the best.

I love hummus and this beet and goat cheese variation sounds fantastic.

I really don't need to say anything more than this - lemon raspberry swirl cheesecake bars.

Grilled romaine is the hero in this balsamic and shrimp salad.

Apple provolone? BLT? These pizzas sound good to me!

Fall weather means fall soups! How a bout this tomato zucchini one for starters?

Baked apples scream fall (and an even easier way to make apple crisp).

Apple Rhubarb Loaf

Fall is on its way and I couldn't be happier! Since getting tonnes of apples in our CSA share a couple weeks ago, I've been trying to find new recipes to help me get ready for fall and put them to good use. It took a little research to find some options that weren't a pie or a crisp but I can't wait to try making my own apple butter and apple chips in the next few months. I settled on this delicious recipe for apple rhubarb quick bread (slowly getting through my freezer bag full of rhubarb) and just peeling the apples made my taste buds go crazy with anticipation for autumn - the sweaters, the pumpkins, the leaves, all of it! This loaf will help you get your mind, mouth and belly into gear for fall with its tangy, sweet and slightly spiced flavour.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 cup rhubarb, chopped

1 cup apples, peeled and chopped

Preheat the oven 350 F and lightly grease a loaf pan. Whisk together the flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. In a separate bowl beat together the eggs, oil, applesauce and vanilla on medium speed until combined. Add in the white and brown sugar and beat until well mixed. Gradually add in your flour mixture, mixing on low speed, until just combined. Fold in the apple and rhubarb. Pour the batter into your loaf pan and bake for  45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for approximately 15 minutes before removing from pan and slicing up to enjoy!

I suggest enjoying a slice warm with a little butter, a pumpkin spiced latte (they're back! huzza!) a cozy quilt and a good book - can't you just feel the autumn love?

Week 7: What's in our Basket?

If you don't know what's going on with this basket stuff catch up here:
Week 1 / Week 2 / Week 3 / Week 4 / Week 5 / Week 6

I love fun sized things. Whether it be chocolate bars, toys, shoes (how cute are baby shoes), anything, the term fun size is literally fun - those little itty bitty things are just oozing with fun. Do I sound crazy yet? Bear with me. The farm must have felt my happy vibes from last week's mini watermelon because this week we got two! Two precious, baby watermelons that I can't wait to cut open and eat with a spoon. They are so easy to eat, and so refreshing - perfect for a summer snack. In addition to the fun sized melons we received a few other things in our basket this week that I am so excited about. Corn on the cob anyone? Here is what's in our basket:

Vegetable Half-Share

1 pint of cherry tomatoes, 1 bunch of kale, 1 bunch of romaine, 6 husks of corn, 1 mini watermelon, 1 bunch of green beans, 2 green peppers, so many potatoes and so many apples.

Fruit Share

1 mini watermelon, 2 large bunches of grapes, so many apples.

Their Potential

Swap fish and chips old friend, coleslaw, with this tasty kale slaw.

A great alternative to the classic potato, these apple chips are simple and delicious.

Focaccia bread takes grapes to a whole new level with the addition of walnuts.

Salty and sweet make this refreshing watermelon salad a winner.

This crostini takes you away from the usual pasta pairing.

I've said it before but grilling makes everything better, and I'm sure this watermelon lemonade is no exception.

Spice up your corn by grilling it and following this simple recipe.

Donuts are the new cupcakes, and these apple cinnamon donuts are where it's at.

Food Loves: Cottage Desserts

This was the first Easter I've been home for in about two years, and I kind of forgot what my family traditions are. Of course I remembered my favourite Easter candies - Cadbury mini eggs and Whopper Robin Eggs - but when it came to our meals I wasn't sure what we ate. Together my family drove up to Muskoka for the weekend and enjoyed the coziness of the fire and quiet surroundings. We didn't have a big Good Friday meal planned because our Easter dinner was being held on Saturday evening. However both my father and brother asked about dessert - "There's no pie?", "Is there chocolate or ice cream or anything?", "I can't believe there's no pie!" So my mother and I looked at what we had and decided to whip up a simple apple crisp. I loosely followed this recipe but cut it in half, and left out the bourbon, vanilla bean, browned-butter and almonds because of the ingredients we had on hand. It was simple and delicious and a great match to our movie by the fire. 

Since we only made enough apple crisp for the one night, another dessert was needed for our big Easter dinner (I say big, but we really cut down this year - I'm not eating meat and there's always too much turkey leftover so I had veggie lasagna and the family had roast chicken). To fulfill our dessert needs it was off to our favourite Rosseau bakery for the best homemade pies money could buy - and I really mean that. If you're not into pie but are in the area, you should try their butter tarts, they're award winning! We chose a bumbleberry pie, topped it with homemade whipped cream and it couldn't be better. Happy Easter!

Apple Raspberry Crisp

Being the middle of January, today is rather cold and grey. It is also the perfect weather for one-person-sized, warm and oaty desserts. One of my favourites is apple crisp. The smell of apple crisp fills the room with the coziest of scents, and the taste makes your insides feel like they're cuddled up in a warm blanket - which you may in fact be. Feeling inspired by this recipe, but also feeling a lot less vegan and gluten free, I decided to make my own personal sized apple raspberry crisp to help myself warm up from a cold day.




                             Ingredients

               1 apple (I used granny smith)
                         6-8 raspberries
                            2 tsp water
                            1 tsp honey
                      squirt of lemon juice
                          1/4 tsp vanilla
                          2-3 tbsp butter
                           1/4 cup oats
                    1-2 tbsp brown sugar
                    sprinkle of cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a small bowl mix together the water, honey, lemon juice and vanilla. Peel and chop the apple into chunks, and with the raspberries, stir in the honey mixture until the fruit is well coated but not mushed. Pour the fruit into a small ramekin. In a second bowl, combine the butter, oats, brown sugar and cinnamon (the amounts of some of these ingredients depends on how crumbly you like your topping). Sprinkle the crumbly topping on top of the fruit evenly and pop into the oven for 20-30 minutes, until the fruit juices are just bubbling around the outside. I paired it with some greek yogurt on top but it would also taste great with ice cream or whipped cream (but I don't think I need to tell you that)! And of course this recipe can be doubled, tripled or quadrupled if there is more than one of you!