Scones, scones, wonderful scones

Last night I had a yen for scones.  I could almost taste them...and then I remembered how dry they usually are, and often how heavy.  I've made a lot of scones in my life, and bought quite a few, and the one thing I've always been sure of is that if you don't eat them right away--or sometimes even if you do--they end up dry and hard.

As I said, though, I just had a yen for a good scone, so I googled "best scone recipe", and I believe I found it.  I quickly made some, substituting yogurt cream for sour cream, and heavy cream for milk, and added an egg (quite accidental, that, but it still turned out well), and when the scones cooled, I ended up eating five of them.  They were sooo good, the best I've ever had.  I took some to my mother today, and she love them, and wants the recipe.  Here it is, the Best Scone Recipe in the world!  And did I mention I made scones again tonight?  This time I left out the egg, used cream entirely, and added grated ginger, chopped up crystalized ginger, and a small chopped up Braeburn apple.  Ta Da!  Apple-Ginger scones!  And they are excellent.

That puts me in mind of the salad I came across this week:  Bittersweet Salad with Apples and Dandelion Greens.  The dandelions are just coming up, and they're tender and full of nutrition, not bitter the way they will be in a few weeks.  The dressing is divine, and quite unusual.  I can't say I've ever tasted anything quite like it, but I'll use it for other salads.

I do love this time of year.  So much abundance!

Green smoothies

I've been paying more attention to diet lately.  I tend to grab whatever is close to hand and munch unthinkingly.  That often means I'll make a crusty whole wheat bread, then dip it in olive oil with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  Very good tasting, but is this what I really want to eat, no matter how healthful the bread and olive is?  Or sharp cheddar cheese on Triscuits, hard boiled eggs, and so it goes. So a few weeks ago I got back in the habit of making green smoothies for breakfast.  I've had to tweak amounts a bit, because I tend to make enough for an army, and the army never shows; so it's smoothie for breakfast, smoothie for snack, smoothie for lunch, smoothie for snack--you get the picture.

Sometimes my combinations are challenging to the palate, to say the least.  Yesterday, for example, I blended a little banana, part of an apple, some frozen, cooked rhubarb, an orange, a bit of cranberries, and kale, and added kefir to the whole lot.  The result was--well, different, but i added a little Stevia to the lot to make it more palatable, downed it anyway (several times because of the sheer volume) and way glad to see the last of it.

Today, however, ah!  I've hit the jackpot!  Frozen green grapes, frozen blueberries, an orange, kefir, and endive.  For good measure, I threw in a heaping teaspoon of Diamond V yeast.  I'm sitting here now enjoying every mouthful.  This combination I need to write down. Yum!  This is how life (and breakfast) is supposed to be.

Raw foods and health--why vegan?

I've been eating from 50-75% raw foods now for about two years, and it's obvious to me that eating raw foods is one of the best thing I've done for my body.  The one thing I find, though, as I look for more information and connect with more raw foodies, is that I'm a definite minority in a minority way of eating.  It seems that most raw foodies think any animal product is anathema!  But why?  Where is the rationale for that?

Victoria Boutenko, for example,  states that human being all come from tropical climates.  Oh, really?  Tell the Inuit that!  Tell Laplanders!  Tell the Hunza!  The claim makes no sense to me.  Now understand, I have a strong Judeo-Christian background, and when I read the scriptures, I see God leading the children of Israel to "the land of milk and honey".  That doesn't sound very vegan to me.  I also read that all herbs and grain are good for man, but that we should be very sparing in our use of meat, except in times of cold or famine.  No problem there, either.  My point, I suppose, is that if the Creator tells us to use animal products, and in some climates the population would have died out long ago had they not eaten animals, why, then, are those in search of a more healthful diet so eager to throw out all the wisdom of the ages? 

I agree that in our over-processed, phoney-food society, we need to get back to more healthful ways of eating.  In fact, I think we need a more agrarian society, and we should all be growing at least part of our own food supply.  No one, though, is going to convince me that vegan is the most natural way to eat.  I rather like the idea of a land of milk and honey.  My goats supply me with delicious raw milk, which I'm free to ferment as kerir or yogurt, make into various cheeses, or drink down fresh--and raw--as it comes.  This, too, is raw food, and don't see any good reason not to enjoy it.

Here's to raw health--in all its wonderful flavors!