Apricot-Ginger Tea Scones (GF)

A few months back, with a bake sale looming, I couldn't find a suitable gluten-free scone recipe (plain old wheat ones were abound, of course). I settled on chocolate chip scones from Gluten-Free Goddess. But with a few substitutions. Vanilla rice mild (meeh!), became soy milk. Spectrum shortening was replaced with coconut oil. And chocolate chips were replaced with apricots and ginger. So, behold my very own version of gluten-free scones.

These puppies went fast!

Set the over to 375 and get mixing. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup of white rice flour
• 1/2 cup of amaranth flour (or millet - hey, baking GF, you can't avoid a few oddball items)
• 1/2 cup tapioca flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup sugar (or brown sugar)
• 4 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup of soy milk
• A dash of boozy vanilla 
• Grated fresh ginger and chopped dry apricots

 Mix, mix, mix.

 

Form a circle on the cookie sheet lined with parchment and score it with knife into wedges. Sprinkle with sugar (raw sugar if you have it on hand). In the oven it goes for 25 minutes.

Serve with dairy free butter, Earl Gray for grown ups and berry tea for classy tea-loving tots.

Beach Book Bag

I belong to the annoying tribe of people who feel the need to be productive. At the beach completing a book offers a sense of accomplishment, provided you choose your reading well. Beach reading cannot be too heavy  (I don't think this is the time to start Proust) but it cannot be blatantly trashy. Here is my list that got me through July in the city, a week of sandy beach and I expect will take me through to seaside girls weekend in September.  

You cannot go wrong with the tried and true authors. It is a shame Stella Gibbons is mainly known for Cold Comfort Farm because her books do not disappoint. Nightingale Woods is a clever Cinderella story set among 1930s gentry. Twenty-one year old widow Viola Withers is not terribly clever or sparkling, but you cannot help rooting for her. Read it! And let's hope more of Ms. Gibbon's books come back to print.

Fair warning - Brunelleschi's Dome is not strictly speaking a beach read, but you will learn a lot about Renaissance architecture. Ok, it is not a beach read at all, but it is short and feuds between capomaestros do spice things up and you really will up your ante on the construction of cathedrals earning your own esteem.

I will read anything Jasper Fforde will dish out.  This is my number #6 Thursday Next book. These books are chock full of wordplay, book jokes, and familiar characters from the classics. Did I mention it is set in book world where there is a feud between Racy Novel and Women's Fiction genres?

I am eagerly awaiting the last of Corfu trilogy by Gerald Durell. Durells are quirky, kooky, and you just want to be among those dropping in on them in their villa. There is mild Mother, bookish Lawrence, gun-toting Leslie, and perpetually obsessed with her looks Margo. The writer, Jerry at the time, is the youngest. What would it be like to spend your childhood collecting animals on the Greek Isles?

Sorcery & Cecelia is for the Austen-lovers. Two well brought up girls, one in London for the season, the other moored in the country, usual Regency fair.  Oh and there is magic, of course, nothing extreme, just some enchanted chocolate pots and charms. It is a silly little book and a good one at that.

I read Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle a few months back, but should have saved it for the summer! Though it would be just as perfect on a chilly fall evening. Sisters Cassandra and Rose grow up rambling in a ancient castle. They are bohemian and naive. And then Cotton brothers show up. Of course.

Remember Lemony Snicket? Yes, one in the same. Daniel Handler wrote several grown up books and I am yet to read them, certainly an oversight. Adverbs is a novel written in short stories. Can't wait!

Here is last year's Summer Reading list

Conversation Piece

I am in love with this itty bitty painting! In this most comfortable of rooms, chock full of art and books but with adequate seating, pleasant conversation flows. Do you suppose they are sensibly chattering about weather? Or debating the merits of life dedicated to the pursuit of arts?

Vanessa Bell, Conversation Piece 1912 oil
Source

The piece is by Vanessa Bell,Virginia Woolf's sister and a talented artist in her own right. BBC has a treasure trove of art - here is a slideshow of Vanessa Bell's works.

Charming Little Book of Stories

Don't let the title fool you, "Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm" isn't just for holiday reading. Nor is it only for lovers of Stella Gibbons - only one of the stories actually features Starkadders of the "Cold Comfort Farm" fame.  It is a lovely little book, even it has never shot up to stardom.

The book's cleverness is reason enough to pick it up...

"She felt that if she had to spend another year of interesting, congenial work during the days, and sensitive, cultured, intelligent talk in the evenings, she would go mad or die"

...and its stories are reason enough to hang on to your copy after you have finished. Though written some eight decades ago, the book does not feel like a time capsule. One protagonist struggles to balance work she loves with family happiness - sound familiar? Bohemians and sensible people are forever at odds with each other. Characters  face their choices, pressing ones and reflecting on the path they have already taken. And stories are about capacity for change, not dramatic important change, but a quiet change impacting only the intimate circle of those involved. 

This book is a rare gem. "Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm" is easy to read on a morning commute or poolside but it also has depth and subtlety. It is easy to care for its flawed characters. Without delivering dramatically happy endings most stories are satisfying in the end.   But the book also catches one by surprise as if the stories are a lens to one's own choices. 

Can you tell I enjoyed it? This one will be a tough act to follow.

Mojito Madness by the Pitcher

When you find yourself with a bowl of limes there is only one thing to be done - mojitos. Lets call margaritas plan B.

There are tons of recipes for mojitos by the glass but no definitive ratios for a pitcher. The following mixture produced formidable and refreshing results. 

2 cups of fresh lime juice (about 30 limes or so)

3 cups of simple syrup (water heated up with sugar to dissolve it, Klatch version is not too sweet but it is all the matter of taste)

4 cups of light rum, like Bacardi

Fresh mint muddled with a few spoons of sugar

Mix it, cool it, and add a splash of seltzer to top off your glass. Bonus tip: hang on to gallon glass jugs like ones that apple cider comes in, with the help of a funnel those work like a dream for mojitos storage and transport.

Boozy Vanilla: DIY

I first had the notion of making vanilla extract at home from "Make the Bread, Buy the Butter." Do it. Order your vanilla beans from Amazon (seems to be by far the cheapest purveyor), slice 3 or 4 open along the length, and stick them into a small bottle of Bourbon (vodka if you are looking for a more pure taste). In the baking cabinet it goes to become in a few short weeks vanilla extract.

Bourbon gives vanilla a more tropical, distinct taste. 

P.S. All my photos are from iPhone these days - would a proper camera produce better results?

Organized Chaos: Art Supplies

My art supplies habit dates back to my own childhood and I've been hording pastels and gouache paints ever since. So it is no surprise that we order art supplies in bulk these days. But a bigger question is how to corral the goodies.

We've tried boxes on the shelves but tucked away the paints just never come out. Freely roaming art supplies around the house drive everyone here mad. Little jars for crayons are good in theory but if the crayons were out, they never made it back into the said jars. So now we are trying stackable boxes. So here are our must-have supplies, one box at a time.

Labels are really a road map for supplies to make their way back.

Paper - plain white and colorful construction paper, extra packs are stashed away. Tissue paper is helpful too.

Crayons are a given, loads and loads of crayons. This isn't the place to skimp. Crayola is the way to go, cheaper crayons just don't stand up and are too waxy. While natural and posh crayons appeal to my own sensibilities, Klatch kids like Crayolas very well. 

Crayons are bound to break and ratty broken up crayons are not fun to draw with, but fun to melt.

Oil Pastels. These are not a must strictly speaking but a nice addition, bright and vibrant.

Keeping crayons in jars failed us miserably so now crayons get their own box.

Markers. Self explanatory. Washable are best. The skinny pencil size ones remind me of the ones I had as a kid. The small pip squeaks are popular around here too.

Pencils. These do not get as much play around here these days, perhaps time to invest in a decent pencil sharpener.

Tools box is full of glue (liquid Elmer's and glue sticks), glue gun for supervised activities, extra scissors since they always seem to go missing. Masking tape in different colors has been a welcome addition. Sponges and droppers are waiting for the right project to come along.

Odds and ends - this is the fun box bursting with goodies. You can never risk running low on goodly eyes. The pad of paper dolls is possibly the best thing we ever bought. One never knows when pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, and poms will come in handy.  Feathers and glitter. We need to replenish our glitter glue supply.

Two other very worthwhile additions for non-messy fun. Floam, sticky little foam beads, though somehow the colors get mixed together right away, and Wikki Sticks, bendy waxy sticks.

Of course there are other supplies that do not get every day use and are squirreled away elsewhere. Since we are a gluten free household, Play Doh is out of bounds and early experiments with Moon Sand proved to be detrimental to the carpeted area. Our molding product of choice is Model Magic - clean and bright, at least until the colors get mixed. A tub of clay is popular around here. Turns out cardboard six-pack boxes are perfect for storing pint sized bottles of tempera paints on the very top shelf.

So to recap, must-have supplies to buy in bulk - I am a big fan of Discount School Supply and Michael's:

• Paper - stacks and stacks of paper, different colors, textures, and size
• Crayons - a good supply of fresh crayons
• Washable markers
• Color pencils
• Tempera and watercolors (acrylic is too risky for the younger set!)
• Lots of brushes in different sizes
• Extras of glue and scissors
• Googly eyes (yes, these make the must-have category)
• Popsicle sticks
• At least one of the following - poms, glitter, pipe cleaners, feathers
• Something to mold - play doh, model magic, clay

Nice additions:

• Colorful tissue paper
• Paper doll cut-outs
• Pony beads
• Floam and Wikki Sticks
• Felt fabric
• Foam shapes
• Ink pads and stamps
• Stickers
• Sun paper
• We'd like to try Magic Nuudles, seems like a worthy addition

Anything else to add to this list?