Goat Cheese, Leek and Spinach Quiche

Cooler days are here. Quiche, soup, and pie please.

My mom graciously made me lunch last Saturday and it included this yummy goat cheese and veggie quiche. I seriously love goat cheese. The flavor is prominent in this quiche, so be wary if it isn't your favorite (either use less or swap it for another soft cheese). She used a store bought crust, which didn't make it home from the store without a few bumps and crumbles.

There isn't much to say about this quiche, other than it's delicious, easy to whip up, and makes you smile on a chilly day. It's just as good the next day too!

Scones, however you like

Believe it or not, I have had the most kitchen failures with scones. I blame it on the butter and my attempts to turn them vegan. Here is the one recipe that turns out consistently (no, it's not vegan). It's sweet and buttery, a bit biscuit-like, and so very easy to adapt. The beauties below are my latest: dried cranberry and almond.

The two tricky parts of this recipe are one, deciding on what goodies you will use to fill the scones, and two, how much buttermilk to use. Regarding the first issue, this a great issue to have. What will it be? Chocolate chips? Raisins? Blueberries? Nuts? You decide. As for the buttermilk, I've needed varying amounts depending on the day. You will need anywhere between 2/3 cup to 3/4 cup of milk, but you shouldn't need more than that. Even if the dough seems dry, you will find that it comes together as you knead it. A perfect dough will be a bit sticky and manageable.

Pat the dough into a 1 inch round and then decide how you want to cut it. A biscuit cutter works great if you have one, but the rim of a glass or mug works just as well (I usually end up with four large scones when I use a glass). A cookie cutter will also work, but ideally you want to use a cutter at least 1 inch high. Otherwise the dough spills over the side and makes it harder to finish your cut. Another option is to cut the dough into triangles with a knife or pizza cutter. Enjoy the scones fresh from the oven or store them in an airtight container for a few days.


Scones
Makes 4-6 scones

2 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar, raw or granulated
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. butter, cold
2/3-3/4 c. buttermilk
1 t. vanilla
1/4 c. sliced almonds (optional)
1/2 c. fruit or chocolate (blueberries, dried raspberries, chocolate chips)

Preheat your oven to 400°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut cold butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two forks.

Add vanilla and milk, mixing just until combined. Fold in fruit or chocolate.

On a lightly floured surface, gently knead dough into a 1 in. round. Cut with a lightly-floured biscuit cutter or the rim of a glass. Brush tops of scones with buttermilk.

Bake on center rack for 20 minutes.

Dark Chocolate Chip, Pistachio, and Smoked Salt Cookies

I love adding pistachios to cookie recipes (as in these Oatmeal Cranberry Pistachio gems), so I bookmarked Joy the Baker's recipe for dark chocolate, pistachio and smoked salt cookies as soon as I saw it. But what the heck is smoked salt and where was I going to find it?

The recipe sat for a few weeks as I waited for an excuse to bake these cookies, or stumbled upon smoke salt (whichever came first). I was stopping in Whole Foods to pick up some treats for an impromptu dinner with friends, and somehow remembered my need for smoke salt. I tried the baking aisle first, where two gentlemen who worked at the store looked at me confused and asked, "What are you trying to make?" Luckily, one of them thought to radio the man at the specialty foods/cheese counter, who happened to be standing behind a huge glass jar filled with a smoky brown salt. Within minutes I found myself in a circle with these three workers, all sniffing the campfire worthy scent of their smoked salt.

Needless to say, once I had the salt I didn't need an excuse to bake. These cookies are as easy to whip up as any other chocolate chip cookie recipe and I was delighted at their thinness and chewy texture (if you want to hear me talk more on that, check out my classic chocolate chippers).

A smoked, nutty, and chocolately cookie - how can we make it any better, you ask? How about using some homemade vanilla extract. Yes, be jealous, and then make your own. Luckily, the man in my life has a stash of these perfect bottles in his kitchen and I get dibs.

Mixed Berry Bars

What better way to enjoy summer berries than to sandwich them between a sweet, buttery crust? These mixed berry bars (raspberry, blueberry, blackberry) are sweet but tart, and delicious chilled.

Unfortunately, the busy first few weeks of school have kept me away from the blogging world and this recipe is coming to you in the early days of autumn. But if you're like me, you have bags of berries that you picked all summer in your freezer, just waiting for an opportunity to be showcased. Frozen berries from the supermarket will also work or you can simply daydream about making berry bars until next summer.

My boyfriend loves mixed berry pie, so when he hosted a bbq in late August, we couldn't think of a better dessert. With little time to perfect a pie crust and filling, however, I decided that bars would be quick to make and easy to enjoy (no plate or fork needed!). I searched and searched the baking blog world and found several recipes for berry bars before settling on smitten kitchen's blueberry crumb bar recipe. Many bakers whip up similar desserts with a granola crust in an attempt to make a breakfast-worthy bar. I was searching for that berry pie taste and had faith that Deb's buttery crust would be a success.