Confessions of a Food Blogger + Cranberry Orange & Ginger Scones

1. I don’t like kale. I don’t like hate, hate it, per say. But, I am not sure why all the other food bloggers are obsessed with it. The edges are pointy and spinach tastes better. Explain this one to me.
2. ZOODLES?!? Ok, I’m open minded so I will try them. But I know in the deepest recesses of my heart that pasta can not be replaced with a zoodle. Anyone who tells you so is lying or delusional. Also zoodle sounds too much like poodle. 
3. I don’t get why food on toast cool suddenly? I like toast but it’s not like we’ve stumbled upon anything revolutionary here people. 
4. Quinoa is not that awesome. 
5. I know cupcakes have been done to death. But I still like them. Because… cupcakes. 
6. One mini cake is pretty much the equivalent 1/4 of a real cake. 
7. I know that there are 1540 calories, 72 g of fat, and 26 g of saturated fat in P.F. Chang’s Great Wall of Chocolate. I can eat one by myself…..  
8. I think I could be a sugar addict.
9. I think most Sauvignon Blancs taste like grass. I know. Not sophisticated, but true. Grass. People, grass. 
10. I love frozen meatballs.
11. I have eaten crocodile. It tastes like sausage.
12. I try to order dessert before dinner whenever I can get away with it. Especially at P.F. Chang’s. My Dad totally taught me to do that. 

13. Ok, I probably am a sugar addict. 
14. I do not effortlessly maintain my svelte figure while food blogging. In fact, my weight is a constant struggle for me. I like cookies. Not zoodles. I’m sorry. 
15. I feed my kids McDonalds. 
16. I feed my kids McDonalds entirely too often.
17. I occasionally eat McDonalds. But don’t worry. I don’t like it at all. Ok well maybe I like the french fries. 
18. I don’t shop at a farmers market. Just the grocery store. Farmers markets in Colorado pretty much suck. Don’t always have the selection I’m looking for. 
19. I don’t buy all that much organic food.
20. I have no idea what the carbon footprint of my food is. 
21. There are currently 8 types of cheese in my refrigerator. 
22. There are 5 different shapes of noodles in my cabinet at any given time. 
23. Preservatives are yummy. Well a lot of foods with preservatives are yummy anyway. 
24. At this point in time one of my children thinks he is Geoffrey Zacharian and frequently makes comments at dinner about the texture of foods or the spices I should have added to make the flavors in my dish more balanced. My other child pretty much will only eat noodles. And carrots.
25. I kind of agree with the noodle eating child. Why should I eat anything but noodles covered in cheese? Well ok maybe dessert. See #13. 
26. Noodle eating child and I are having noodles for lunch right now.
27. I get on food “kicks.” Ok, I get obsessed with foods. I then want to cook/eat nothing but the food I am currently obsessed with. 
28. I can eat a single food everyday for breakfast years. Like literally years.
29. After I have eaten said food for years I will not be able to eat it again for at least 5 years. 
30.  I get tired of cooking. 
31. About half the photos on my site are taken on top of my dryer. Which is in my kitchen.
32. My house was built in 1955. It’s a fixer-upper. I hate fixer-upper-ing things. I really, really would just like to spend a lot of money and hire someone to fix my mess. Or better yet buy a brand new house.
33. My table will never look like Martha’s.
34. I forget to clean out my fridge sometimes. Occasionally things come to life somewhere near the back. 
35. I throw away my tupperware instead of dealing with whatever monster has sprouted inside when I forgot it in the back of the fridge. 
36. I never return other people’s tupperware or mason jars in a timely fashion. In fact I have kept so much of my mother in laws tupperware I have just bought her a new set rather then figure out what I did with all of it. Ditto with the mason jars. In fact, I litteraly just got a text from my husband saying that my m-i-l says I should bring tupperware when we come to her house for dinner this week. It might be time to purchase more tupperware for her house again. 
37. I can wander around Bed Bath & Beyond or Crate and Barrel for hours. You can always find me by the excited yelping noisesI am making over towels, cheese graters, or baking pans. (P.S. Crate and Barrel will not sell you the fake ice cubes that they put in the cups on their display tables. Sadness.)
38. I want fake ice cubes. For photos. 
39. I often order my burgers with nothing but cheese on them. Also, burgers are often better then steaks. Especially depending on how the steak has been cooked. 
40. BUTTER! But not deep fried butter on a stick because that is too unhealthy even for me. 

Phew. That was nice to get all that off my chest. ::: insert eye roll for irony here.:::  So, what about you? Do you guys have any food blogger confessions ? I’d love to hear. :) 

And… Moving on to Cranberry Orange and Ginger Scones. I know cranberry/orange is another one of those overdone combos and I just finished complaining about kale, zoodles, and little toasts. But I guess sometimes overdone is over done because it works? I’m going with that. And I do have to say fresh cranberries just need that orange to cut the bitter flavors they can produce. However, it doesn’t mean that ginger and plenty of interesting spices are a bad update for the combo either. I think these scones really work. And they happen to make a good winter breakfast with a nice hot cup of coffee. So make a batch, brew a pot, and find some good reading material. 

Cranberry Orange and Ginger Scones + (Optional) Ginger Glaze Yields 8 large scones. 

Scones

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon all spice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• zest from one orange
• 8 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh cranberries, washed 

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper* and set aside. 
2. Add the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, spices, minced ginger and zest to a large mixing bowl. Use a fork to stir until the ingredients are evenly distributed. 
3. Use a sharp knife to cut the stick of  butter into 16 cubes. Add the butter to the mixing bowl. Use a pastry blender, or two forks, to mix the butter into the flour until the largest piece of butter visible is pea sized. The resulting mixture will be crumbly and not yet resemble dough. 
4. Add the milk to the mixing bowl. Use a fork to stir the milk into the flour mixture. Stir until a shaggy dough forms. Add the cranberries to the bowl and use lightly floured hands to mix the cranberries in. The dough will be coarse and somewhat crumbly. You may find it does not all stick together well, this is ok.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With floured hands, shape the dough into a round, flat disk, about 1 and 1/2 to 2 inches tall. Push any loose berries or scraps of dough into the disk. 
6. Use a sharp knife to cut the disk into 8 wedges. Place the wedges on the parchment lines baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops of the scones are a golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow the scones to cool on the baking tray. The scones can be glazed any time during the cooling process. The scones will save in an air tight container in the fridge for several days. 

*Note: USE THE PARCHMENT PAPER! Some of the cranberries will burst while cooking. They will run and stick to everything, except parchment paper. Save yourself a hassle and trust me on this one. 

*Note: These scones freeze incredibly well and save for quite a while when frozen (like 3 months or so!). So make a double or even triple batch so you can them out of the freezer for a fresh breakfast treat whenever you like! To freeze: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the scones to be frozen on the parchment paper and place the baking sheet in the freezer. Allow the scones to freeze completely, 6 hours or so. Transfer the scones to a ziplock for storage once completely frozen. To bake after freezing: Do not defrost before baking. Simply place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, and bake as normal, though you will need to add an additional 5-10 minutes to your bake time.

Ginger Glaze

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 12 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
• splash of milk

1. 1. In a small sauce pan over low add butter, powdered sugar, ginger, and a splash of milk. Melt together string frequently to prevent burning. Additional milk may be added to thin out glaze to desired consistency. Drizzle over scones and allow to dry.