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I found the site where I originally found the recipe: Elmwood Inn I thought it was a bit odd but then ... ← Queen Victoria, Empress of India, etc, died 1901. Crisco introduced 1911. Ten years after her death. However, maybe Kentucky has a different Queen Victoria ... ? ← Nope. No Q. Vicky in my KY. However, my great grandmother was presented at court in 1861 shortly before the death of Prince Albert. She was born in 1844, came to US with my grandpa in 1919 and died in 1949 when I was ten. Although she never did any cooking or baking herself, she was an avid collector of "receipts" and adept at coaxing my grandpa's cook into trying one of her obscure recipes. Even at 100+ years she was still interested in trying new foods. A true "foodie" of an earlier era. Incidentally, I recently came across another "Kensington Palace Scone" recipe that called for "Flora" - which I think is another vegetable shortening. In Jane Pettigrew's book: The National Trust Book of Tea-Time Recipes, she states the following under the heading: "Possible failures and solutions." Scones- If the scones are tough, there was probably too much kneading. If the scones are hard and not spongy, there was too little liquid. If the scones are soggy in the middle, the oven was too cold or they were too low in the oven. If the scones have not risen, there was too little raising agent. She did not add, but I will, if the scones blow up and collapse like a volcano, you have added a raising agent to self-raising flour............ One other thing. Recently Crisco has changed its formula to one with Zero trans fats. Unfortunately, it has also changed the way the fat works in some quick breads, including biscuits and scones, cakes and especially pie crust. Melinda Lee discussed this at length on her radio show a few weeks ago and several people called in to report that they had terrible results with long-trusted recipes. In my opinion, Crisco is not what is was and I have stopped using it.

I found the site where I originally found the recipe: Elmwood Inn I thought it was a bit odd but then many of my recipes are made with lard and I have one that specifies rendered kidney suet. Needless to say, I substitute for the latter. On another note: I have recently been trying some scone mixes - comparing King Arthur, Sticky Fingers and Ivy Cottage for a friend who plans to use one or more of them in gift baskets. (She lives in a studio apartment with no oven so I sort of volunteered to help out. ) These mixes are wetter/sticker than my home-made ones and really not suitable for patting out and cutting (without adding extra flour, which I think is unwise) so I have been scooping then with a disher then flattening them with a silicone spatula dipped in water. So far I like some of the King Arthur, some of the Sticky Fingers and none of the Ivy Cottage. My friend is leaning toward the Sticky Fingers because they don't require as many added ingredients. This morning I prepared KA's "French Toast" scones and they were very good. The Cinnamon Pecan Whole Grain are too sweet for me. Of the savory ones, the KA's are too salty by far.

If you are going to use 100% butter, one easy way to get it just right is to freeze the stick (I keep butter in the freezer anyway) and GRATE it using the larger holes - just as you would use for medium-soft cheese. You can then simply toss the grated butter in the dry ingredients until well blended and then add the liquid. You get a perfectly even distribution using this method.

I've had very good luck with these. KENSINGTON PALACE SCONES This scone recipe is said to have graced Queen Victoria’s tea table. Preheat oven to 415 degrees F. 2 cups all purpose flour 2 TBSP. sugar (may add more or less if you prefer) 3/4 teasp. salt 1 TBSP. baking powder 1/3 cup Crisco 1/3 cup butter 1/3 cup milk 1 beaten egg Sift dry ingredients together, mix with shortening using pastry cutter or food processor. Add milk and egg, mix lightly with fork until just barely mixed. Turn on to floured board, knead 8-10times, flattening and folding over entirely onto itself at final kneading. (Very important)Pat out gently to about 1/2 inch height and cut with a biscuit cutter, going straight down and straight up. If you twist, scones will be lopsided when baked. Bake at 415 for about 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. These may be coated with an egg wash of one egg beaten with a couple TBSP. water before baking if you wish. Notes: Handle dough as little as possible. You will have to fold it together after the initial cutting to cut the rest, but be gentle. These can also be cut with a 1 1/4" cutter for smaller scones, which are nice for children or if you are having many people to tea. These can be made ahead, cut and frozen, then thawed and baked if you prefer. They are best done with freshly made dough though. The last folding is what gives them the place in the middle to tear them apart after baking. These are a flaky scone, not a cake-like one.

It's to keep the bag from sticking to itself where there are folds because if it does stick together and steam builds up inside it won't allow for enough expansion and will pop. If something has sufficient fat in it, it generally won't stick but it has happened to me with a turkey breast.

Either one is fine for salads. I recently got a batch from iGourmet (from Tuscany identified as Perlato) which is "semi-pearled" and frankly I didn't notice a lot of difference in flavor. It reached the al dente stage a bit more rapidly than Anson Mills roasted but otherwise not really that different. I only bought it because I had a gift certificate. I have found that steaming it produces a nicer texture when used in salads - as you say, like tabbouli or rice salad, tossed with chopped greens, oil and lemon juice or a flavored vinegar. I picked some fresh kale yesterday, blanched and "roasted" it in a low oven till it was crunchy and tossed it with steamed farro and a raspberry vinagrette. It was very tasty. A friend who is growing farro on an experimental basis has promised to send me some that is suitable for sprouting (I do a lot of sprouting) and I will try to remember to report back to this topic when I get the results.

Farro is Emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccon). Spelt is (Triticum spelta) a hexaploid species of wheat. As I said in my earlier post, they are related (both of the genus Triticum) but not the same. Wikipedia reference: Spelt Wikipedia reference: Farro/Emmer The raw grains behave differently in cooking - I have tried both. They look different and have a different flavor. I have ground both into coarse meal and into flour. Spelt is easier to grind into flour without clumping. Farro is "gummier" and clumps easier - from my personal experience I think there is more moisture in the farro. Cornell University published several extensive studies on the various varieties of wheat and wheat-related grains, including spelt, farro, etc., in the '80s and '90s detailing the characteristics of each, gluten levels, nutritional breakdown and etc. I have a notebook somewhere in my cookbook collection where I saved these - they may be available online by now but I haven't searched.

Farro and Spelt are not the same but are related. Spelt does not cook as quickly as farro and is better ground and used as one would use wheat flour for baking - it is excellent used this way. They are both ancient grains from the Mediterranean area but spelt produces a larger crop than either farro or kamut (another ancient grain that was grown in Egypt and the middle east) but nowhere near the output of wheat. I like the roasted farro and piccolo farro from Anson Mills.

I missed this topic until now. I can tell you from personal experience that the Capresso will NOT grind some spices satisfactorily. I ruined one trying to grind star anise and cinnamon (the real, big bark chunks and the smaller "quills"). I have one that I use for coffee - a replacement of the one I destroyed. I have used the dry container with my Vita-Mix but I broke the spices up quite a bit in a mortar (big brass one) first. The other grinder I have used is a hand-cranked one made for cracking corn and it produces a coarse grind that can then be fined in a smaller spice grinder but as you want volume, I doubt that will fit your need.

I grind it coarsely and cook it like polenta - sometimes I mix it half and half with corn meal. Sometimes I cook it until very thick, pour it into a loaf pan, chill overnight, then slice and fry on a griddle. This can be served either as a savory side dish or for breakfast with syrup, jam, etc. If you do prepare this as a side dish, try adding a spoonful of salsa and top with a dollop of sour cream. Most often I add it to other grains for porridge and also like pilaf. It works well with mixed rices, amaranth, quinoa, barley, etc. Farro was traditionally cooked this way prior to the adoption of maize from the new world. I think it goes back to Roman times and last year I saw something on the History channel that mentioned it was one of the basic crops of the Etruscans.

Buttermilk keeps quite a long time and a month after the sell-by date is usually fine as long as there is no evidence of mold. For future reference, buttermilk freezes beautifully. Since most recipes require a cup, I freeze it in one cup containers and bag the small containers in a ziplock bag - in freezer up to a year.

An email this morning noted that Gary Allen's email newsletter has been discontinued and he now has a blog: Just Served with all the attendant information previously in his newsletter and with even more content. There are links to favorite (and very interesting) blogs and articles. I can't recall how many great recipes I've found via his newsletter but there are a significant number. I've also read some extremely informative, intuitive and downright hilarious blogs.

I got a couple of these salt plates. I had considered one of the salt slabs from SaltWorks but thought I would try the inexpensive version first to see if I liked it. I intended to use them on the outdoor grill and haven't gotten around to doing anything yet. I'm very glad you posted this topic as I am interested in the opinion of those who have tried it.

Exactly! Which is why a sugar shaker is so handy - I certainly couldn't get an even layer without one.

Was just looking at the stack of cookbooks next to my desk and realized I have not posted for over a year and I have added a few: Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More by Carole Walter The Splendid Table's How To Eat Supper by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift Kneadlessly Simple by Nancy Baggett Sauces -Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making by James Peterson The Cracker Kitchen by Janis Owens Ladie Borlase's Receiptes Booke edited by David E. Schoonover a facsimile reproduction of The Art of Cookery Made Plain & Easy by Hannah Glasse (1747) America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book America's Test Kitchen The Best Skillet Recipes Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads The Blue Strawberry Cookbook by James Haller (1976) Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon Moghul Cooking by Joyce Westrip Southern Cakes by Nancy McDermott That's 14. I know there were two or three others but they seem to have wandered off and are mingling with the numerous other books I have laying around. (I read a great deal and while my Kindle has cut down on the number of physical books I buy, there are still some not available on electronic media.)

And, interestingly enough, my favorite coffeehouse here uses only skim milk when they make chai, because they say it holds the foam better. MelissaH ← I have never been able to prove this because I can foam whole milk or half and half with no trouble at all. I even use a Froth Au Lait which suggests using skim milk but I always use whole milk or half & half. I uploaded this photo to Imagegullet and included it in a post back in Nov. 2004 showing how it works with half & half. And regarding v.gautam's comment. That is what I meant by my process not being the traditional one where the tea is stewed in the milk along with the spices. And to answer your previous question, I mix a batch of spices, crush them and put them in a sealed jar, enough to last for just a few days because I think they lose strength rapidly.

I have occasionally had a slight problem with my product not getting as firm as I like and I think it is due to the "Ultrapasteurized" process. I add a few drops of calcium chloride (carried by my local health food store but also available online) and the end result is as good as I get when I use raw milk that I pasteurize myself or the non-homogenized milk (cream-top) I buy at Trader Joes. Draining overnight in the fridge will produce a very firm yogurt cheese. And it is true that one must select a starter that has no additives. I have been using a commercial culture (from Yolife - A non-dairy mix of dextrose, Bifidobacterium longum, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus) that I find produces an excellent flavor but I have also had very good results using yogurt. I like to start with a new culture after three or four times of using one I have on hand. This way I am assured that no stray organisms have invaded the culture.

This little web site has been around for well over ten years and I have often referred to the recipes listed. From time to time something new has been added and a few hints and tips - check the Best way to get Indian flavor link. My favorite is somewhat similar to the Masala chai. I normally use green or white cardamom, cinnamon, star anise, black peppercorns, sometimes red peppercorns, and a few cloves plus a chunk of candied ginger or a knob of fresh. I crush the spices in a mortar and my particular method is to stew them in milk along with a couple of fresh bay leaves (I have two bushes) and then mix the milk and brewed tea together - although this is not the traditional method, I like the result.

I have always brought mine to 175-180 (F) then cooled it to about 115 before adding the culture or plain yogurt which I have allowed to come to room temp before stirring into the milk.

I use mustard oil in my mostarda. How do you use the essence?

If you can't find it locally and want to buy online, check with this vendor scroll down to specialty rices and see if one fits your requirement.

Exactly! Some excellent ideas HERE. I combine bacon, ham (or the more exotic types) cooked crumbled sausage or any other meat, poultry, etc., with mushrooms, cheeses, vegetables. Artichoke hearts are one of my favorites, love the flavor combined with eggs and cheese.

Someone said in one of the posts above that AW is touting super-expensive, farmer's market foods. Her message to the kids in my daughter's class was certainly not that simplistic. What she told them was that AT THIS TIME locally grown organic foods are in short supply and are more expensive than they could be because there are so few producers. However, as more growers turn to organic gardening (and it does take a long time to convert the soil itself) the price will drop as it has in many areas. Competition drives the market price. Also, she told them that there are programs to teach people how to grow vegetables in very limited areas and this includes schools. My daughter showed me a clip from a school in central Tokyo, Japan that has established a garden on the roof of their building to provide better nutrition for the students and faculty and the impetus was generated by information provided by AW's foundation. And in regard to the "price" of moving produce - there are programs to assist farmers to in leasing or purchasing and using alternate fuel vehicles, from recovered vegetable oils to natural gas. Until there is universal acceptance that childhood obesity is a serious problem and one small way to help mitigate it is with improving the foods in schools, the problem will continue to escalate. One of the things that bothered me was the fact that the same network that produced the segment on AW had, a few months ago, produced a segment that deplored the "explosion" of obesity in young children and pointed out the overwhelming availability of vending machine offerings of high-calorie snack foods and the high-fat and high-calorie offerings in school cafeterias.

I normally use Calrose but soak it in cold water for at least an hour and rinse it several times. However the best rice pudding I have prepared in recent years was made with the Carolina gold rice from Anson Mills.

I mentioned last year that I had purchased some egg poaching pods that transmitted a flavor that I did not like to the eggs. I stopped using them - mainly bought them as an interesting gadget. I also bought one of the silicone roast lifter things that smelled funny when I roasted a turkey in it but didn't impart any flavor to the meat but I did not use it again. I haven't noticed anything coming from my spatulas but I have no cheap ones.