I had an amazing little routine going in Dallas. I’d talk to my girlfriends so much that it was common that we’d be on the phone and realize a few minutes in that we were at the same place. So we’d hang up and grab a cup of coffee or wine (which ever best fit the moment and time of day)

My, my how things have changed. I still miss them dearly, but with distance and time, things get easier to manage. Friendships adjust and you keep moving forward.

I’ve had quite a bit of time off around this new year which has given me a lot of time to reflect, recharge and cook.

I’m not much for New Year’s resolutions, rather I do like to recalibrate. It’s a word I use often at work because I do think it’s important to set your compass in the right direction.

This recipe is an adaptation from a Weight Watcher’s cookbook. It called for cranberries, of which I didn’t have, so I made one batch with frozen blackberries and another with blueberries.

I think the orange and berry flavors were very complimentary, but the cake was very crumbly and tasted a bit dry. Next time I may try to adapt a banana bread or pumpkin bread recipe with vegetable oil instead of a butter based recipe. They seem moister.

Any Berry Orange Loaf Cake

Makes 2 standard loaves. Preheat oven to 250. Cook 22-25 minutes.

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups berry (cranberry, blackberry, blueberry)

1 tablespoon orange zest

1/2 orange juice

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 chopped pecans

Combine all the dry ingredients in one bowl (minus the nuts) and all the wet in another. Combine the two adding the pecans at the end. Pour into pans and cook.

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What I do on a weekend morning is typically spontaneous. Sometimes I organize something that got out of whack , always start a load of laundry and if things are just right, I’ll start prepping dinner or lunch.

This morning, I woke up with the same routine, but I was hungry and I wanted biscuits. Well really I wanted Peach Butter and biscuits seemed like the best vehicle to get the Peach Butter into my belly!

This is my first attempt at making basic buttermilk biscuits. I had to improvise a few things like making a biscuit cutter and turning regular milk into (butter) sour milk. The process of making homemade biscuits turned out to be super easy. I had all the ingredients in the house and I’m sure the whole batch put me back .75 cents.

Sometimes I’m really proud of myself when I realize that something that seemed so difficult could be so easy to make. Even this dirty dish factor is minimal…one bowl, a baking sheet and a floured countertop are all that needed to be cleaned. Not bad by my book.

Buttermilk Biscuits by Martha Stewart

Ingredients

Makes 25

* 4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling and cutting
* 2 tablespoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into bits, plus 4 tablespoons melted
* 1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a food processor, pulse flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt to combine. Add cold butter; pulse until mixture is the texture of coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining. Add buttermilk; pulse just until dough is moistened, 2 to 3 times.
2. Turn dough onto a lightly floured work surface; knead just to combine (do not overwork). Roll with a floured rolling pin (or pat with hands) to a 3/4-inch thickness. Cut out rounds with a floured 2 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter.
3. Transfer to a baking sheet, 1 1/2 inches apart. (Reroll and cut scraps only once.) Brush top and sides of rounds with melted butter. Bake until biscuits are puffed and golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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It’s great to find local, in season food. When you shop this way you can cut down on the carbon emissions trucks produce to get food to you, support local farmers and the food just tastes better. I’ve got a link in my blogroll to the Arizona Farmer’s Market Web site. Find the one in your neighborhood.

Here’s the recipe for Blueberry Muffins.

INGREDIENTS

Makes 4 large muffins.

• 1 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3/4 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons butter, cubed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

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