Pandemic Baking

I've joined the pandemic baking club.  Last week it was oatmeal almond chocolate chunk cookies, most of which I gave to two friends who were celebrating birthdays.  The rest we polished off pretty fast.  And sorry, no photos taken, but if you want the recipe I'll share it another time.

Yesterday I made oatmeal scones with almond and cranberries.  Notice a pattern?  Yes, we prefer almond extract to vanilla and its combination with oatmeal is perfect.

We each had one warm from the oven slathered with butter, served on the balcony with a cup of Larkin's Special Blend tea.  

The rest went in the freezer to be thawed one at a time in the microwave so they will be warm when eaten.

Here's the recipe I found on Pinterest and modified. It came from Joy of Cooking originally, but my edition didn't include it maybe because its 40 years old or more.

Oatmeal Almond Cranberry Scones

preheat oven 450º

Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Stir together in mixing bowl:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Add:

1 1/4 cups oats (not Quick oats)

1/2 cup dried cranberries (I didn't have raisins but cranberries were better anyway)

In separate bowl mix:

1 egg

10 tablespoons butter melted (mine was hot from microwave so egg started to cook!)

1/3 cup milk (I used skim)

1/2 teaspoon almond extract (may have been a bit more!)

Add wet to dry mixture stirring just until moistened.  Transfer to floured surface to shape into a circle about 3/4 inch thick and 8 inches in diameter.  Cut into wedges and transfer to baking sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly brown.

Enjoy!

Larkin's Special Blend tea can be found here at the Larkin Tea Company.

These are my first ever scones from scratch.  The others I've made from mixes.  These were so easy and so fast to make and so delicious.  Why did I wait so long?

More Humor from the Plague Months

I'm the editor of the newsletter here at Vantage Point.  Residents send me submissions and I decide what to include.  These were some I received  from Vickie and Marilyn, prolific contributors.

Some Randoms

Stepping out one of the back doors there is this sign, to encourage the staff here.

Behind Vantage Point is Oakland Manor.  Once a proud house with lots of farmland.  See the sign about it below.  Now its the offices for the Town Center Village. (Columbia is made up of 12 villages, each having some governing power.). Oakland Manor raises revenue by renting out this lovely old house. I know someone who got married here.

At the front of Vantage Point is another one of those encouraging signs.

 Buttercups!

Wilde Lake and a fishing bird - see the heron?

Another encouraging sign!

"Change will only be possible by addressing head on America’s deep history of racism and systems of oppression that are very much alive today — and by disarming hate. Because we know from the stories of Trayvon, Jordan, Michael, and too many other Black men and children, that when a person who is filled with hate is armed with a gun, it is deadly and irreversible. And when hate and racism is emboldened by gun laws that encourage vigilantism, like Georgia’s stand your ground, citizen’s arrest, and open carry laws, they can and will be used to kill our children with impunity. We know these laws don’t apply to us and to non-Black citizens the same way."

quote from Open Letter to Wanda Cooper-Jones,mother of Ahmaud Arbery and All Americans.

By Congresswoman Lucy McBath, Julvonnia McDowell, Miami Knight, Nichole Villafane, Sharmaine Brown, and Stephanie Stone"

One way to stem the tide of racism and hate that has been magnified even more by one man is to VOTE that man out of office in November!