Last strawberries of the season

Don't really have enough to make even a jar-ful of preserves, so I turned them into sweetener for this pretty-in-pink scone.

Strawberry drop scones

2 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup oats
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 pint whole strawberries
½ cup honey
1 large egg
½ cup sour cream or yogurt + ½ cup milk, whisked

Optional-dried strawberries or other dried fruit

Pre-heat over to 400F/200C

Put the strawberries, 1 T of the honey, and 2-3 tablespoons of water in a small sauce pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the strawberries break down. Beat them lightly with a fork to create a jam-like consistency. Allow to cool in the saucepan.

Mix the dry ingredients, then cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, knife or your hands until it resembles a coarse meal. Stir the dried fruit, if any, into the flour mixture. Lightly beat the egg, honey, and dairy into the jam (using the same cooled saucepan--why add to the dishes), then add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until just combined, combining the last loose flour by hand.

Remove from the mixing bowl and knead lightly. Dough should be spongy but not sticky. Divide into two equal sections. Roll each out to 10" circle (about ½ inch thick) and cut into 8 equal wedges.

Place on parchment-lined cookie sheet about 1 inch apart and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until pale golden. Transfer the scones to a cooling rack and let them cool slightly before serving.

Pie

Not a pretty pie, but tasty!

Apple-strawberry pie
Pastry:
I'm gonna make you find your own recipe. I used the one in my mother's old Woman's Home Companion Cook Book. Yes, with lard.

Filling:
4-6 cups of apples (depending on the size of your pie tin), peeled, cored and roughly cut
1 pint of strawberries, halved
juice of 1/2 lemon

Seasoning:
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, or 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

If you use whole coriander, grind the spices with a mortar and pestle.

Put the fruit in a large bowl and mix in the seasonings and lemon juice until thoroughly coated. Line a pie tin with one pastry sheet. Fill with the seasoned fruit and dot with butter. Lay the second sheet over the top and crimp the edges. Do not ask me how to crimp or otherwise decorate pies, because this is only the second one I ever made and it's not a pretty sight. Working on it.

Bake in a 425 oven for 30-40 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown. Because the fruit is not pre-cooked, it retains a degree of crispness and an amazing fresh-picked taste.

Last March I committed my self (and my long-suffering family) to slow food- seasonal, local, organic, whole. Once we got past the early difficulties-- finding local sources, how to stock a larder when you can't just run to the store, etc.-- we've found it a revelation.

I was famous when my kids were growing up for never having food in the house. I refused to stock up on junk food. Junk food, when we purchased it, was purchased for immediate consumption only; I never had bags of chips just lying around.

The problem was, because I wasn't thinking past "no junk food," there wasn't anything else lying around either.

What we've found since committing to this way of eating is that there is ALWAYS food. Because I don't mind them chowing down on real popcorn, or homemade crackers, cookies or scones, because the homemade bread is so delicious, there always seems to be something to eat now.

One of the things we've given up along the way is cold cereal. I never liked it at all, and no one is that crazy about granola, so I've replaced cereal with weekly scones. I've made some delicious ones, and in nearly 4 months of scone baking have yet to repeat one. They were taking over my other recipe blog.

This seasonal scone can be made with any fruit (last week I made them with rhubarb; next week the raspberries should be ripe), and you can substitute oats or whole wheat flour for the cornmeal (play with the texture when substituting). This is a drop scone; leave out the egg yolk and increase the grain for a denser, cut scone.

Strawberry Cornbread Scones

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 1/2 cups diced strawberries (¼-inch cubes), macerated in sugar (abt 3 T)

1/4 cup honey
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Adjust a baking rack to the middle position. In a small bowl, mix the strawberries with 3 tablespoons sugar.

Mix the dry ingredients, then cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, knife or your hands until it resembles a coarse meal. Stir the fruit into the flour mixture. Lightly beat the honey, egg, yolk, milk and sourcream together in a bowl (use the same one you used for the strawberries ), then add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until just combined. Dough will be very sticky.

Using soup spoons (for large scones) or teaspoons (for small scones) spoon out 1 1/2" or 2" mounds onto the cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until pale golden. Transfer the scones to a cooling rack and let them cool slightly before serving.