twd ~ Toasted Almond Scones

Mike of Living Out West was the lucky twd'er that got to choose this week.



I quartered the recipe and ended up with four little cutie scones. I used all milk, no cream, and somehow ended up with a very sticky, wet dough. I added a couple of tablespoons of wheat flour and crossed my fingers, hoping for the best!

These were delicious! They aren't very sweet, which I really like in a scone. The toasted almond taste is wonderful! I wasn't sure these were going to be worth the trouble, but they definitely are. And, actually, they aren't that much trouble. I forgot all about these, all weekend, and remembered Monday night at 10pm. They were done by 10:30 and waiting in a little box for breakfast! Yum!

Happy Birthday Java Jive!

My sweet Mom came up on Saturday to pick me up on the way to my grandmother's house. We had planned that nice noon pick-up would be good, so I could sleep in. Which is exactly what happened...I slept until the phone rang at exactly 12:00. Oops! But what a better way to get a late start to the day than brunch??

And what place in Atlanta has better biscuits than Java Jive? None, as far as I'm concerned. They are the best!

Little did we know that it was Java Jive's 17th birthday! So they shared the love and brought us these cute little 17 chocolate shortbread cookies after our tofu and egg scrambles. Ahh, thank you Java Jive...all meals are better when ended with a little something sweet!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAVA JIVE!!!!

twd ~ Chocolate Oatmeal Drops

A big thank you to Caroline and Claire of Bake With Us for this week’s twd pick! These were amazing! One of the reasons I love baking along is that I make things I otherwise wouldn’t. Kugelhopf anyone? Or how about Cottage Cheese Pufflets?

Usually, I like what I make. There’s a rarely a time when I don’t, and then you can make a safe bet that I messed up the recipe somehow. But very rarely will I actually make things again, not when there are so many new recipes and old favorites. These however, are going into the old favorites file very quickly!

I knew I would like these just looking at the ingredient list. I love chocolate cookies with oats, and these have both cocoa and melted chocolate. Very chocolaty! They have a great texture, crispy on the outside like chocolate chip cookies, but very fudgy in the middle. I took them to a Super Bowl party and they disappeared pretty quickly. It was hard keeping my spoon out of the dough! These are delish pre-baked and baked!

Homemade Bread Take 1: Simple Oatmeal Bread

The other weekend I put in a few hours at an annual fundraiser sale put on by my Junior League. I noticed a West Bend bread machine that no one had picked up. By the end of the day, it was still there - and discounted 75%. Well, that sealed the deal. I took it home for $2.50.

A woman who works next door let me borrow her book. This is my first attempt. I didn't use bread flour, which has more protein and gluten, just regular ol' all-purpose flour and I think the taste will improve a lot with bread flour. It was still good, especially toasted with a nice slathering of butter.



Simple Oatmeal Bread, adapted from Bread Machine Baking by Lora Brody & Millie Apter

2/3 water
2 teaspoons butter
2 teaspoons molasses
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 old-fashoined oats
1 1/2 white flour
1 1/2 teaspoons yeast

Monkey Bread

Weekend before last I headed down to Auburn, AL, and ran the Auburn Classic Half Marathon. Virtually all course descriptions say something about rolling hills and "fast course." I was hoping it was going to hold true in this case because I had only run once in the preceeding two weeks. Well, I don't think going up 830+ feet and down 840+ qualifies as rolling. I would even say very hilly. But hey, I did a personal best so I can't complain too much.

Since Auburn is only a short hour from where I grew up, I headed over to my mom's house after the race. I knew just how great of an idea this was when I stepped into the house and smelled something....cinnamonny and delicious! She made me Monkey Bread!

It was just half a recipe of biscuit dough dipped in sugar and cinnamon, layered in a loaf pan and drizzled with a mixture of melted butter and sugar. YUM! I have to say it was just half, since it completely disappeared that day. No leftover monkey bread. It's just not as good the next day. ;)

twd ~ Great Grains Muffins

Thanks to Christine of Happy Tummy for the great pick this week! This was one that I had highlighted as a possible pick for my turn. I didn't end of picking it, so I'm very excited to get the chance to make it now.

I hardly ever make a full recipe for twd. Since we bake every week, I like to downsize the servings by at least half, usually by three-quarters. But this week, I made the full recipe because I knew I was going to love these!



As much as I did love these, I would like them grainier. I can't pick out the oats at all, though the cornmeal adds a nice, subtle taste. I love prunes so this gave me a great excuse to buy them.

In the cookbook, Dorie's picture shows the muffin with a nice chunk of (what looks like) cheddar cheese. I haven't tried that yet, but I think it'll be great!