Cranberry Orange Wheat Scones

I have been on a baking kick lately. I don't know what it is but I really enjoy the measuring and mixing of all the different ingredients. The science nerd in me even likes doing the calculations and adjustments for altitude. I also like experimenting with different flavors and trying to making our favorite sugary treats into something more healthy.

This past weekend, I decided to take on scones! While the flavor combination is pretty standard, Cranberry and Orange, I did look for ways to tweak an old recipe so that they are a bit healthier. For me, that meant adding in whole wheat flour, using greek yogurt, and switching the sweetener. Usually, I would try to swap the butter out for something else but cold butter is essential in creating the little pockets of air that makes a scone what it is.

Next up is the fruit going in these scones. It isn't exactly cranberry weather in these parts, despite the frigid temperatures and snow on the ground, so instead of fresh cranberries which would be best, I used some I had in the freezer. A lot of people like chopping their cranberries up, I keep mine whole. I find they do not affect even baking and I love the burst of tart cranberry juice. Lastly, do not skip on the orange zest here. It is where most of your orange flavor is going to come from.

All that is left to do is mix it all up, bake it and enjoy. All three of us enjoyed these for breakfast. They aren't as sweet as a typical scone but if that is something you are looking for, you could easily sprinkle the top with sugar or make an orange and confectioners sugar glaze to drizzle over top.

Cranberry Orange Wheat Scones
ingredients

• 1 1/4 c whole wheat flour
• 3/4 c all purpose flour
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 1 Tbs orange zest
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 6 Tbs chilled butter
• 1 c fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1 c greek yogurt
• 1 Tbs fresh squeezed orange juice
• 1 egg

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400*F
2. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, orange zest, baking powder and baking soda. 
3. Use a pastry blender (or the two knives method) to cut the butter into pea sized pieces. Combine with flour mixture. 
4. Stir in cranberries. Optional: You can roughly chop up the cranberries before adding.
5. In separate small bowl, stir together the yogurt, orange juice, and egg, then add to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. 
6. Turn dough out onto a work surface. "Knead" 3 or 4 times. This may be difficult as the dough will be crumbly. 
7. Form into a circle roughly 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 10-12 wedges. 
8. Transfer onto a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 13-15 minutes. 

Egg Chorizo Breakfast Skillet

In a time where everyone is all about Paleo this, Whole Foods that, and any number of other diets, we are still all about home cooking like our grandmas'. Simply put we will probably never be on those diets. Berkeley enjoys sugar, meat, gluten, fats, and diary just too much to have anything other than those things. This breakfast/brunch is a definite indicator of that! 

It is a fairy simple meal and can be made for one or for many depending on the size of your skillet. Just cook your meat, add your hash browns, and then add and cook the eggs. The result is a fluffy gooey egg surrounded by crispy potatoes and spicy chorizo.  The soft yolk mixes with a oils from the chorizo to make a great sauce to bring it all together. You could even go a step further and smother the skillet in cheese before serving!

Egg Chorizo Breakfast Skillet

makes 3-4 servings
ingredients

• 1/2 lb beef chorizo, casting removed
• 1 medium onion
• 2 cups of shredded hash browns
• salt and pepper
• butter/oil (optional)
• shredded cheese (optional)

directions

1. In a medium to large skillet, cook chorizo over medium heat until firmed up and browned. 
2. Stir hash browns and diced onion into the chorizo and drippings. Oil or butter may be needed if your chorizo is lean. Cook the hash brown mixture uncovered for approximately 10 minutes until the bottom is golden brown and crispy. Turn potato mixture. 
3. Make 3 or 4 evenly spaced wells and break an egg in each. Sprinkle each egg with salt and pepper. 
4. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 10 minutes or until the egg is set. Optionally, sprinkle with cheese and let sit until cheese is melted. 

Gourmet Girls Gluten Free Bakery and Bistro

This post, the 500th on this blog, comes to you fueled by Gourmet Girls in Tucson. No it is not a sponsored post, it was just written after consuming their truly delicious Biscuits and Gravy!

During one of our many recent trips down to the Southern end of the state we stopped in with Berke's dad at this completely gluten free bakery and bistro for brunch. I, obviously, ordered the BnG, Berke had a Breakfast Quesadilla and his dad ordered the Philly Cheesesteak. All were items that would normally be filled to the hilt with that pesky little protein.

 Not only did the Gourmet Girls deliver a menu filled with gluten free versions of favorites, they hit them out of the park. My biscuits were fluffy, soft without crumbling and smothered in a rich and creamy sausage gravy. The house made tortilla was the structure for Berke's quesadilla that was packed full. It tasted, felt and held up just like a normal giant flour tortilla would, if not better.

Gourmet Girls serves breakfast and lunch Tuesdays through Sundays. As a result, you can order anything you want. Kurt took advantage of this and ordered the Philly Cheesesteak special. Another winner! In fact, it was better than any other cheesesteak I have had previously.

As we were getting ready to pay, we took a peek at the bakery case. A 6-inch peanut butter chocolate cake was begging to be brought home. Why yes, we did split that cake into 3 wedges and ate it in one night. Although the photo doesn't do it justice (didn't want to go get my camera and just used my phone) it was a two layer wedge of deliciousness!

Now that I gotten myself drooling, and hopefully you too, I urge you to head over to Gourmet Girls Bakery and Bistro located at 5845 N Oracle Rd. the next time you are in Tucson. It doesn't matter if you are gluten free or not, because the food they are serving up is that good!

Wild Black Belgium Waffles - Spiked! and GYCO Challenge Entry

July is here and it is time again for the Spiked! and Get Your Chef On Challenges. This month I combined the secret ingredients and made something Berkeley and I are seriously in love with!

Flagstaff, well Northern Arizona in general, is really big on brewing. One of my favorites is Big Blue Van from CollegeStreet Brewery. For whatever reason, I cannot find it ANYWHERE in Flagstaff! We have found their other beers in town but just not this amazing blueberry hefeweizen.

While on the hunt, we came across this Wild Black Lager in the craft brew section of one of our favorite places to get craft and microbrews. When I saw the blackberry lager a great thought came to mind. Everyone knows about and loves blueberry pancakes, what about blackberry waffles? And that is when I decided to combine the two challenges!

These turned out amazing!! Berkeley has eaten about 4 8-inch waffles this morning. The Wild Black was great for this. It is not bitter and the blackberry flavor is strong but not overwhelming and also has a creaminess to it. All those qualities come together for a great waffle batter that resulted in a great light waffle packed with a great flavor with a mild blackberry flavor. These waffles were topped off with a drizzle of blackberry syrup for me and Berkeley had a few smothered in peanut butter.

Wild Black Belgium Waffles
ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 t salt 
• 4 tsp baking powder 
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda 
• 3 Tbsp sugar 
• 5 Tbsp unsalted butter 
• 1/2 cup milk 
• 1 1/4 cup Wild Black Lager
• 2 tsp vanilla extract 
• 2 large eggs
• handful of blackberries

directions

1. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar. Set aside. 
2. Melt butter in a saucepan. Whisk in milk and then the beer. Gently heat until mixture is warmed through. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla and eggs. 
3. Once combined, slowly add the beer mixture into the dry ingredients. Whisk until thoroughly combined and there as few lumps as possible. 
4. Roughly breakup a handful of blackberries and add them evenly to the batter. 
5. Add batter to your preheated waffle iron and cook to your liking. Serve with Blackberry Syrup.

Blackberry Syrup

ingredients

• 1 cup blackberries
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/8 cup of Wild Black Lager
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tsp cornstarch

directions

1. Add the ingredients to a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring mixture to a rolling boil and slowly reduce down to desired consistency. 
2. Serve over waffles, ice cream, with peanut butter on toast or anything else you want to add a little blackberry kick to!

Car Bomb Bread Pudding

Good morning everyone! How are you feeling after all your St. Patty's day shenanigans? Like I mentioned yesterday, the fun is just starting for us.

I have always wanted to make a bread pudding. Most variations require a bunch of sugar in a vanilla pudding like custard over some kind of white bread. That did not interest me. As another round of the Spiked! challenge was announced, my mind went into overtime as the special ingredient is Bailey's! 

Whenever I think of Bailey's two things come to mind. First, I think of the perk it adds to coffee. Secondly, I think of Irish Car Bombs! Some great St. Patrick's Day staples are in a car bomb; Guinness, Bailey's and Jameson. I slowly came back around to the idea of a bread pudding, but with my own twist!

My variation of this traditional favorite features a Guinness Beer Bread (variation of this recipe), an irish cream custard base, and a Bailey's chocolate glaze.

Car Bomb Bread Pudding
ingredients

• 2 1/2 to 3 cups Guinness Beer Bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 eggs
• 14 oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1/4 c Irish Cream (add enough to the sweetened condensed milk to be 2 cups/16 oz)
• chocolate chips, optional

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer in the bottom of a baking dish. I use a 9-10 inch square Pyrex casserole. 
2. Beat together eggs, sweetened condensed milk, and Bailey's. Pour liquid over the bread. 
3. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until crust is golden brown all over the top.

Chocolate Bailey's Glaze

ingredients

• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 stick butter 
• 1/2 cup milk 
• 1/4 cup Irish Cream
• 1 tsp chocolate syrup

directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Stir constantly over low heat until mixture reaches a low boil. 
2. Pour a small amount over the individual servings of bread pudding.

This bread pudding is great! It has a nice crunch while maintaining moisture and not being soggy. All of the flavor components of an Irish Car Bomb are there without the chugging, and curdling of the infamous drop shot. The bread adds the smokey coffee flavor from the Guinness without a bitterness, which is a great contrast to the Irish Cream. Berkeley loved this so much he ate it for dessert and for breakfast the next morning. So I'd say Man Tested and Approved!

Our Food Adventures at Disneyland

We had an amazing time at Disneyland! It was great to take it all in at our own pace. We had both never been just to go without a group of people. All decisions were based on what the two of us wanted. That included our foods. It was great!

First stop when we got there on Friday was dinner at Award Wieners in California Adventure! This is a counter service style eatery in HollywoodLand. We got there just in time to watch the Pixar Fun Parade. Berkeley ordered the BBQ Hot Link which was a classic hot link, grilled onions and barbecue sauce. Mine was the Portobello Philly with Grilled Portobello, onions & bell peppers sauteed in hefeweizen, topped with pepper jack cheese.

Berkeley loved the hot link. Even though my wiener was technically vegetarian, it was really filling. Since we had driven all day and were only planning to spend a few hours in the park, this was perfectly filling to get us through. For less than $15 we had great "Wieners".

Saturday morning we got a pretty early start on Disneyland. We went some of the classic rides like Big Thunder Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Haunted Mansion. As we headed toward The Matterhorn we stopped at a stand with various grab and go food/fast snacks. We made a little "picnic" out of it. Another shared meal that was enough to keep us energized without being stuffed. 

Saturday night for dinner we headed back to California Adventure. This time we stopped at Pacific Wharf. If you haven't been to California Adventure, it is based on stereotypical areas of the state of California. Pacific Wharf is similar to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. They even make their own Boudin Sourdough bread. Their bread bowls are huge  and filled with creamy, rich chowder that's chock full of clams, diced potatoes, celery, onion and peppers . It was more than enough for the two of us! Another meal for two for under $20.

Sunday was a weird day for us. We had a late start on the day in the parks. We slept in and I didn't get out of bed until noon-ish. Breakfast was half of a bagel and lunch was the other half of the bagel with cream cheese and hormel turkey pepperoni. Dinner was at Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney. Berkeley ordered St Louis style ribs and I had a Tilapia and Coconut Shrimp plate. It was nothing special, just your typical chain style dinner. 

Monday was our last day in the park. There was one thing I had been planning on all weekend. Since we were late to the park on Sunday, our lunch at Big Thunder Ranch BBQ was on Monday. Also the same day we wore our white shirts! Great Idea LOL.

I will admit that this was pretty pricey, but it is amazing and is a great meal. First of all it is a full service all you can eat family style country barbecue. Once we were seated our "ranch hand" brought out the heavy pot of ribs and chicken and large bowls of coleslaw and beans, and a basket of corn bread. To be completely honest, the first pot of chicken and ribs was gone in about 10 minutes. We asked for another pot but only of ribs. They were so tender, moist, and delicious! To add to your meal there is always some kind of stage performance going on.

Our last meal at Disney was actually in California Adventure, again. This time we got Pizza and Pasta on the edge of Paradise Pier. We got Five-Cheese Ravioli with pesto sauce and toasted pine nuts and a pepperoni pizza on flatbread. Ww sat in a quiet courtyard with twinkle light covered trees, and while we were eating we listened to World of Color. It was a simple meal that we probably could have just shared one of the two entrees.

Also, during our days there we did give in to some of the treats that Disney offers. Every time we passed a cart I really wanted a churro. Then I remembered that they want $3.50 for a damn stick of fried dough rolled in cinnamon sugar. However, we did get a Minute Maid frozen Lemonade while I rested (you know because of that gouge in my foot, not because I wanted to watch the Princess parade). The best treats we had came from California Adventure. Where Pacific Wharf meets the edge of the new CarsLand is the Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop! It's the winner!

We stopped by on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday night it was a Sea Salt Caramel Hot Chocolate. It was warm and delicious and put a little pep in our step since we dropped that chocolate square in. Sunday afternoon we allowed ourself another treat. Berkeley wanted ice cream and while I would have settled from a dipped Mickey Ears, Berkeley wanted Ghirardelly again!. The Gold Rush on our order. Vanilla ice cream with freshly homemade hot fudge and melted peanut butter throughout, perfectly topped with whipped cream, chopped almonds, a cherry and a Ghirardelli Squares milk chocolate. 

It was all amazing! We made great choices and even stayed within the loose budget I had created for ourselves. I know these choices are not ideal for everyone, especially those with kids, but when we found a hotel room for less than $100/night short notice within walking distance to the park and it didn't have a fridge, we had to scrap our plan for packing lunches. 

For us it turned out well. We are already planning another pre-babies trip to Disneyland Resort and making a list of places we want to eat while we are there. 

Postino East

After reading reviews and browsing websites, we picked Postino East in Gilbert as the place to have a get together brunch with our wedding party. We were looking for somewhere fun and hip, but also somewhere that was able to accommodate 10 to 12 of us, while still being relatively affordable. Postino East delivered!

We were wowed by this place before we even arrived. The accurate menu is avaiable on their website as well as their current prices. It made it easy for us to tell everyone the type of food avaiable and an average price. Our reservation was scheduled for 11am. It was perfect time for either Brunch or Lunch. As I normally do, I had a small list of options that I wanted to try. Although people raved about the bruschetta, I went with the Grilled Foccacia. I was really in a brunch mood.

The delicious, thick cut slices of crusty foccacia were buttered and served with two over easy eggs, asparagus, and a fresh tomato salad. AMAZING! Normally, I am reluctant on "gooey eggs" but they weren't too greasy and the yolk wasn't cold like I have experienced at any number of places. The foccacia was not overly buttered and had a great dryness. Paired with the over easy eggs everything was great. They were a perfect pair. The asparagus was not over done and had a nice bite. Lastly, the tomatoes had a great lightness and lifted the whole dish.

We were at a long table and I really didn't get a picture of what everyone else got, but they all seemed quite content with they ordered. We all either got a mimosa, beers, or wine with our food. And still the bill was quite affordable. In fact, brunch for 8 people, including drinks was well under $150 total including the tip!

Postino East itself is located in the heart of downtown Gilbert next to Liberty Market, Joe's Real BBQ and Oregano's. There was a great mix of indoor and outdoor seating that flowed seamlessly as there are multiple large garage style doors that open to the patio space. It was beautiful and fun place to enjoy a meal.

Several reviews mentioned limited parking and having to wait HOURS to be seated. Being in a "Downtown" style area, you should know there is going to be limited parking. This isn't some national chain or cheap location where you get a perfectly paved and laid out parking lot. We live in Flagstaff and have extensve experience with public parking that is much further away from our destination than this was. We really had no problem walking a few blocks to the entrance from the several public parking areas in the surrounding area. Really, get over yourselves people! We had a reservation so I could not comment on wait times, but we were the only ones in the waiting area when we arrived on a bustling Saturday morning, so the wait could not have been that bad.

Lastly, despite the popularity and amount of people there, we still had great service. Our server Autumn was relatively on top of it all without being intrusive or bothersome. She let us enjoy the company and the food while still being available for us. I look forward to eating here again. The food was great, the service was great, and overall, I had nothing to complain about!