Scones at Stardust

I’ve made scones for Stardust a couple times now during my Saturday baking stints.  I’ve made them with blueberries, but this weekend I’m looking to switch it up a bit by using raspberries instead.  Since they’re easy to make and don’t require a lot of ingredients, I can usually get these in the oven within my first hour at the ‘Dust.

The recipe I use is, no surprise, based on one for Cranberry Scones on MarthaStewart.com.  I had originally used cranberries when they were freshly sold in stores last November and December, when the recipe came out in an Everyday Food publication.  Everyday Food is probably my favourite pick from the ominous-sounding Martha Stewart Omnimedia, due to its small, compact size and “normal-people-friendly” recipes.  Good stuff for budding home cooks and bakers, with convenient time estimates to give you an idea of how long it takes to prep and cook the food.

With regards to making the scones, I don’t use a floured surface to work on the dough, as it calls for in the recipe.  I find that working with the dough on a flat surface covered with parchment paper seems to work just fine, rather than using more flour.  Also, the original recipe calls for half-and-half, which I use at Stardust, but when making the scones at home, I use what I normally have on hand: almond milk.  Since I don’t drink milk and only have a cup of coffee maybe once a week, I don’t have whole milk or half-and-half in my fridge.  Almond milk seems to be a fine substitute.

Anyway, feel free to experiment with your own scone making, or come over to Stardust to sample one of mine.  I’ll be there this Saturday, but starting next week, I may be working Sundays at the ‘Dust because of overtime at the Library.  Scones are best eaten the day they’re made, although the day after normally sees them in an okay state, just a bit more moist than before.

Stardust’s Saturday baker

Attention stalkers!  As of yesterday, I have been installed as Stardust’s Saturday baker, and my first day and my new little gig was good fun.  I made a batch of whole wheat buttermilk biscuits, a vegan cinnamon-raspberry cake and a “bothersome” molasses cake with “tiresome” tangy vanilla frosting.  The last piece was a debacle, because parts of the cake stuck to the tip of the Bundt pan, and to salvage the damn thing, I decided to use some frosting to cover up the mistake.  Well, the kitchen by this point was rather warm, especially with the wonderful addition of Tony (who literally jumped up and down and screamed “Yaaaaay!” upon seeing me in the back), one of Stardust’s cadre of cooks.  The kitchen was so warm, with the oven being on, the icing kept melting off of the damn cake.  I had to stick the cake *and* the icing in the beer fridge up front to keep it solidified.

So what was supposed to be an 8 am ’til 12 noon shift turned into me staying until 2 pm, with Tony and Casey, the regular baker who was working the front, battling with my inner Martha, who was going, “It’s not PERFECT!  AAAH!!”

The cake’s fuck-ups did enable me to kind of lose my mind in the kitchen, much to Tony’s amusement, and perhaps encouragement.  When I was making the frosting for the cake in a bowl, I looked down at the creamy-sweet goodness and remarked to him how I wanted to stick my face in the frosting.  “Do it,” he said, “and run around the building yelling ‘FROSTING FAAACE!’”

So, of course, we kept screaming “FROSTING FAAACE!” in the kitchen for the next two hours or so I was there.

As you can see, despite that damn debacle of a cake (that looked to have sold well later that night), I had good fun.  I’m excited to go back next Saturday.  I’m planning on scones and cupcakes this time around.  In the meantime, I hope to make some things at my new place in order to get in a bit of practice time, and to try some new recipes out.

By the way, Tony has dubbed me as the Butter Assassin, and from here on out, I’m going to use and abuse that new moniker as much as possible.  So, next Saturday, come over to Stardust from 8 am until noon (hopefully not longer… again), where you can see me puttering about in the mushroom apron my friend Melanie bought for me as a Christmas gift one year.  All the recipes I used were based on my well-worn copy of Abigail Johnson Dodge’s book, The Weeekend Baker, which is a rather apt title considering my new job–providing I can keep it.

FROSTING FAAAACE!!

Samosa Lady News

So, apparently, All Spices of India, which was the home of my dollar samosas, closed down because the owner of the building allegedly wanted the woman, whom I have dubbed the Samosa Lady, out of the building.  During a conversation I was having with my new friend Gary at Stardust, I was telling him about the dollar samosas at All Spices of India, and, wanting to know if she’s relocated elsewhere, he turns around and asks another Stardust patron who explained to us the story.

Apparently it is illegal to make food in your home and then bring it to your business to sell, and the owner of the building had made a call to the Department of Health, and so she was shut down.  Alas, there is no new location for samosa goodness–our source said that she’s going to be just doing private cooking lessons, and not opening up a new store location.

So, that is the story thus far with the Samosa Lady, formerly of All Spices of India on Bumby.  If anyone is keen on going in for a lesson or two on making Indian food, I’ll see if I can find out any contact information for that.

A Sweet Sting

I had previously written about different beer recipes in Casey’s Concoction and Other Fun with Beer, and was intrigued by the “bee sting,” which is a mixture of dark beer and orange juice.

So, sometime after work last week, I had a little time to kill before I watched a film with the Florida Film Festival, so I scooted by Stardust and asked Alli for a half glass of ACME Pale Ale, and a Clementine Izze. For those of you unfamiliar with Izze, it’s a “sparkling juice” beverage, much like carbonated soda, but juice and really tasty. I poured half of the bottle of Clementine Izze into my half-filled glass of ACME Pale Ale, and the result was delicious! It was a light and wonderful afternoon drink that ensured I wouldn’t be incapacitated to drive later, since I only had one (or only half a beer), and it was thoroughly refreshing. Since I’m a lightweight with alcohol, I wanted to have a bit of a beer, but not enough for me to feel unable to drive to the cinema later. This drink was ideal for that.

I’ve dubbed it the “sweet sting,” and it’s sure to be a Summer ‘08 hit for me, especially since summer in Florida has already begun to seep into our fleeting springtime days. If you’d like to recreate the drink, I would suggest any type of pale ale, heifeweizen or Czech pilsner as the beer. Izze can be purchased at Whole Foods and also at some Publixes, or you can have a go at it at Stardust like I did. If you can’t find Clementine Izze, be creative, and let me know what you come up with!