Lemony Zest :: Kim Lewandowski

Archive for the ‘General’ Category

I got my new Gorillapod the other day. Isn’t it cuuuute?!? This will be fun. I really could have used this when we were in Florence last fall. We had a great view of the river out the window, but with the furniture where it was, I couldn’t get the tripod set right to get a good picture of the two of us in front of it. I could have put the desk chair on the bed and hooked the Gorillapod to the chair and whamo! We’re in business! Oh, well, we’ll just have to go back.

Okay, I was out shopping at Bed, Bath & Beyond last weekend and noticed that the phrase “Live, Love, Laugh” is all OVER the place: picture frames, wall art, napkins. I’m just not into associating something I use for self-expression – this blog – with a phrase that seems to have “jumped the shark,” or made a caricature of itself. Hence, the new name, which I like a lot better: Lemony Zest – for life, for food, for new and fun experiences, and one of my favorite flavors

My baby daffodils are in full bloom and my mint is peeking out from the soil. Yesterday was sunny and warm and today’s rain will nudge the peas along. I love spring.

I like participating in food blogging events when I can, because they challenge me to come up with variations or to try food combinations I probably would not have thought of on my own. Paper Chef provides a random collection of ingredients and you prepare a recipe using all of those ingredients, like Chopped on the Food Network. Unfortunately, I missed the deadline, but here’s the recipe anyway

This one is an especially interesting mix: honey, ricotta, dill – and an egg.

A recipe came immediately to mind when I saw those ingredients, though. In 2008, I won a cookbook called “Covered in Honey” in a recipe contest at Joelen’s Culinary Adventures, and made Scones with Honey, Rosemary and Goat Cheese. So I thought, why not replace the rosemary with dill and the goat cheese with ricotta, and see what happens?

I was afraid the dill would be really strong, so I used a rather light hand with it – should have used more. The scones have a very light dill scent and flavor, but I think I could have doubled it and had a better result. The ricotta gives the scones a very creamy texture and the honey sweetens them just perfectly. This one is well worth repeating, with some extra dill – I doubled it in the recipe below.

Savory Scones with Honey, Ricotta and Dill

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup herbal honey
1 large egg
1/2 cup cream or whole milk
1 tbsp. dill, chopped
5 oz. ricotta cheese
Additional cream or milk for glazing

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. In another bowl, lightly whisk the olive oil, honey, egg, cream or milk and 2 tsp. of the dill. Use a pastry cutter or fork to blend the ricotta cheese with the flour mixture until the mixture makes pea-size crumbs.

Make a well in the flour mixture and add the olive oil mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until a dough ball forms. Remove the dough ball to a lightly floured surface and knead lightly, just enough to form a workable ball.

Pull off about 1/8 cup-size pieces of dough, roll each in your hands to form a ball, and lightly flatten a bit. Place dough pieces on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or a Silpat, about 1 inch apart. Brush tops with more cream or milk and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tsp. dill. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.

Yesterday, Dan and I attended the Scottish Walk in downtown Portsmouth, which expresses appreciation for the town merchants. A couple hundred people turned out for a walk led by a Colonial-era bell ringer and accompanied by the music of bagpipes.

At Admiral’s Landing on the riverfront, we were treated to a rousing call to revolution, circa 1779, and a gun salute to each of the rebelling colonies. It was great fun.

Virginia Beach Technology Company in Inc’s Top 500 – Turning Paper Charts into Electronic Records Results in 550 Percent Revenue Increase

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Dad, Brad, Uncle Steven and I were talking about health care policy at dinner and the question of how much money can be saved by using electronic medical records came up. Turns out … a lot.