Mother's Home Biscuits

1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
4 tablespoons butter, cut into roughly ½-inch squares
¾-1 cup milk

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or your fingers until the mixture is crumbly.
2. Add ¾ cup milk and stir until the dough follows the stirring. If the mixture doesn’t hold together with ¾ cup milk, add a bit more. (It all depends on the dryness of the flour.)

3. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead gently 7 or 8 times. Roll out to about ¾-inch thickness; cut into desired size with a floured glass or a biscuit cutter, photo to the left. Mush scraps together to make additional biscuits. (The boys vied for the misshapen ones.)

4. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450°F for 12-15 minutes.

5-7 2¾-inch biscuits
Adapted from John Rahn Braue's Uncle John’s Original Bread Book

Orange and Black Currant Scones

When I was little, my mother would tell me about her delight in receiving an orange for Christmas when she was a little girl living in Toledo, Ohio. Oranges came from very very far away: Florida or California. They were both rare and expensive.  As a special treat for our Christmas holidays, she would carefully cut up an orange or two into what she called "rocky boats" and we would suck them to extract every last bit of juice and flesh. I now live in a place where oranges and lemons grow on trees right outside my window. And I cherish them now every bit as much as she did then.

These orange scones have lots of flavor and interest without being overly sweet.

2 cups flour
1½ tablespoons sugar plus sugar for sprinkling
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) butter, diced
Grated zest of 1 orange, see photos if you need them
1 egg
¾ cup buttermilk
¾ cup dried black currants

1. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Mix well. With a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut in the butter and orange zest until the mixture resembles coarse meal. You an also do this step in a food processor.
2. Whisk together the egg and buttermilk in a small measuring pitcher or bowl. Pour over the dry ingredients and sprinkle on the currants. Stir just until the ingredients come together and form a soft ball. Do not over mix. Tip out the dough onto a floured board.
3. Divide the dough into 8 pieces, patting them into rounds with floured hands. Place them 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Refrigerate for 15 minutes or up to overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
5. Sprinkle each scone with about ¼ teaspoon regular or coarse sugar.
6. Bake the chilled scones until lightly browned on top, about 20 minutes. Cool on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. They are best eaten the same day they are made.

Makes 8
Adapted from Judy Wicks and Kevin Von Klause’s White Dog Café Cookbook

Pear/Mango/Candied Ginger and Pecan Muffins

In Japan some forty years ago, I acquired two 6-cup Joyful Muffins Pans. Check out the photo below. Don’t you love it? I smile every time I reach for them. These muffins are really nice. Even though they should be eaten the same day they’re baked, I found that splitting them in half and toasting them in the toaster oven allowed me continue eating them for days and days. Almost all 18.

½ cup buttermilk
1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1 egg
1 egg yolk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2¼ cups unbleached flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
½ cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup diced dried pears, mangoes, candied ginger or a mixture
Note: I especially like some candied ginger in the mix, but then I love candied ginger.
1/3 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously butter or spray the tops and cups of a 12-cup muffin pan or two 6-cup pans.
Note: This recipe turned out to make 18 muffins in my smaller Joyful muffin pans (see photo below). So be aware that you may need another 6-cup pan unless your pans are bigger than mine.
2. In a 2-cup or larger measuring pitcher, combine the buttermilk, sour cream, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. Whisk until blended.
3. Sift the flour, baking soda and baking powder together into a large bowl. Add the salt and sugars to the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Add the butter and cut it in with a pastry cutter or your fingers until it is the size of small peas. Mix in the dried fruits and pecans.
4. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the wet ingredients. Gently combine, taking care not to over mix the batter.
5. Fill the prepared muffin tins until the batter just peeks over the top of the pan. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the muffins are golden brown, firm and springy. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Unmold the muffins onto a wire rack to cool.

Makes 12-18 muffins depending on the size of your muffin pans
Adapted from The Cheese Board Collective’s The Cheese Board Collective Works

Karyn Smith's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

This is one of the many recipes which 15-year old Marie Clare Smith whips up for herself and her family on a regular basis. She also makes a fabulous Maida Heatter Cow Town cake for birthdays, cupcakes with various delicious fillings, chocolate tarts, pumpkin pies, brownies, many muffins, hot chocolate sauce for ice cream, and eclairs with custard filling. Much more too, but you get the idea.














1 2/3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ground ginger and ground cloves)
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin (canned)
½ cup melted butter, cooled slightly
1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat over to 350°F. Butter your muffin tins or insert paper liners.
2. Mix flour, sugar, pie spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
3. Break eggs into a second bowl. Add pumpkin and butter; whisk until well blended.
Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Pour the egg/pumpkin mixture over the dry ingredients and fold in with a rubber spatula until the dry ingredients are moistened. Or mix with your hands. Don’t over-mix.
5. Spoon the dough into the muffin tins.
6. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until the muffins puff up and spring back when touched in the center.

The recipe doesn't say how many it makes; I would guess 2 dozen muffins.

The recipe was inherited from Karyn's friend, Geri, and is now made by Marie Clare.

Here you see Marie Clare at work making these muffins.

Breakfast Cake

This quick bread needs to be baked and eaten immediately. It loses its interest if allowed to sit around for very long. You can do steps 1, 2, and 3 ahead of time. Wait to add the liquids to the dry until your guests have arrived, assuming you want a little time to chat and drink something bubbly before eating. Your house will smell just wonderful. While the cake is baking, you can make some Omelets if you want.

2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
½ cup (1 stick) butter, cut into ½-inch squares
1 tablespoon brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon ground coriander
1 egg, beaten
¾ cup milk

1. Blend the flour, sugar, and butter together with a pastry cutter, a food processor or your fingers until the mixture is crumbly.
2. Move ¾ cup of this mixture to a second bowl. It will become the topping. Add the brown sugar and cinnamon to the topping.
3. Add the baking powder and the coriander to the original mixture. Mix in well. Combine the beaten egg and the milk.
4. Stir the egg/milk mixture into the baking powder/flour mixture. Pour this batter into a buttered 8 x 8 pan. Sprinkle the cinnamon mixture over the top.
5. Bake in a 350ºF oven for 35-40 minutes or until the middle of the cake bounces back and the cake has slightly pulled away from the side of the pan.
Serve hot or warm.

Makes one 8x8 pan
Adapted from my handwritten cooking notebook from Japan, 1971-73, unknown provenance

Lemon Cornbread

This cornbread is a little out of the ordinary, what with lemon and, if you want, blueberries. But let me tell you, it is just delicious with any southwestern dish, especially Pueblo Green Chile Stew. If you have any leftover cornbread, you can slice a piece in half, butter each half, toast them lightly and smear with honey. A great breakfast.

1 egg
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest, see photos if you need them
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon soda
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter an 8x8 pan and set aside.
2. Whisk together the egg, zest, lemon juice, butter, and oil in a pitcher or small bowl. Stir in the buttermilk.
3. Mix together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
4. Make a hole in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet mixture into the hole. Stir gently but thoroughly to combine. Fold in the blueberries if you wish. Do not over mix. Scrape batter into the prepared pan.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or eat right away.

Makes one 8x8 pan or about 9 pieces
Adapted from The Junior League of Honolulu’s Aloha Days Hula Nights

Persimmon Bread

Come late fall the hachiya persimmons (the squishy ones) on my back yard tree are finally soft enough for eating and baking. Slices of this persimmon bread are great with tea, as an appetizer with goat cheese, for dessert with whipped cream, or anytime you want a sweet treat. These mini-loaves wrapped up with a bow make great holiday presents.

3½ cups flour
1½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2-2½ cups sugar (I use the smaller amount)
1 cup (2 sticks) melted butter
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup Jack Daniels or cognac
2 cups persimmon purée (about 7 medium very soft hachiya persimmons)
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins

1. Sift flour, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, and sugar together into a bowl. Mix together the melted butter, eggs, Jack Daniels, and persimmon purée.
2. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the melted butter mixture. Mix together. Fold in the nuts and raisins and mix well.
3. Pour the mixture into 6 buttered mini pans, filling ¾ full.
4. Bake at 350°F for about 45 minutes. You’ll need to increase the baking time for the bigger loaves. Let cool in the pans for 15 minutes; then turn out of the pans onto a rack to finish cooling. Wrap carefully in plastic wrap or foil. They freeze well.

Makes 6 mini loaves, 4 small loaves, or 2-3 regular loaves
Adapted from Susan Weeks, Co-President, Meals on Wheels, Sonoma, as it appeared in The Sun, December 2005