Saturday, June 4, 2022

Cranberry Beauty

I sliced through some frozen cranberries to make cranberry-rosemary scones, and was delighted to see the detail inside - it's no wonder they float to the surface when harvested: they're full of air spaces.

The scones are a delicious treat, with a brown sugar and rosemary crumble on top.



In case you're interested, this is the recipe I followed, from the Hannaford Fresh Magazine, December 2021 (cranberry-rosemary scones)

Cranberry-Rosemary Scones

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary, divided

1 Tbsp. coarse sugar such as turbinado or demerara (I use brown sugar)

2 ⅓  cups (10 oz.) all-purpose flour

¼  cup granulated sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. table salt

¾  cup fresh or frozen and thawed cranberries, roughly chopped

1 ¼  cups heavy cream (I use buttermilk instead), plus more as needed and for baking


Directions

1. Place a rack in upper-middle of oven & heat to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment. In a small bowl, combine 1 tsp rosemary with the coarse sugar; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add cranberries and remaining 2 teaspoons rosemary and mix gently with hands or a rubber spatula. Drizzle cream over dry ingredients and mix very gently until a cohesive dough forms and no streaks of dry flour remain. (If dough is too dry to hold together, gently work in more cream 1 tablespoon at a time.)

3. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and gently pat into a 7" circle, about 1" thick. Brush with more cream, then sprinkle rosemary sugar over top. Cut circle into eight wedges, or cut into shapes with biscuit cutter, and transfer to prepared pan, spacing scones about 2" apart.

4. Bake until scones are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 10 to 15 minutes before serving.





Friday, June 3, 2022

Balls of Beauty

 

The dwarf ginseng flowers are tiny and delicate, like mini balls of petals. Each individual flower in the cluster is about 1/8 inch across.


The flowers turn pinkish with age - so delicate.



It's usually found in shade, in intact areas where the original ground flora has not been disturbed - I have them growing in my yard! Lucky me! Look at how tiny it is amongst the mosses.


Photo credit: Dale Schultz

Thursday, June 2, 2022

Maples

 


Maple seed clusters

Papery thin projectiles

Like helicopters





Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Gorgeous Geraniums

 

Wild geraniums look so delicate and pale amidst the verdant greenery.