In the Kitchen Today

It's been an at-home kind of weekend, mainly because we're reorganizing the house post-separation of bedrooms and pre-refinishing of floors in a week.  This includes distributing toys (and their shelves) in the basement to the relevant kid's room as well as putting aside toys for giveaway; we also sorted through all the books upstairs (again) and purged 100s of children's books which will go to Read to Grow CT.  It will also mean moving the futon to the basement.  Then and only then can the Junk Luggers take all the furniture off the first floor next Saturday!  Whew.

So while Mama was doing that with the kids, I made a breakfast of Miss B's (of PA) Oatmeal Scones.  Yum!  We especially like these with orange marmalade.  For lunch, for me, I tried to replicate Trader Joe's Balela Salad, the one with the chickpeas, black beans, and parsley; the results weren't exact but definitely good enough.

It's going to be hot all week, in the mid-90s, so I imagine there won't be too much oven/stove work going on.  Too bad the kids won't eat bean salads!

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Miss B's Oatmeal Scones

1 ½ cups flour

1 ¼ cups quick cooking rolled oats

¼ cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder (slightly less than)

1 teaspoon cream of tartar (slightly less than)

½ teaspoon salt (slightly less than)

2/3 cup butter, melted (1 stick butter also works well)

1/3 cup milk                                    

1 egg, slightly beaten (Eggbeaters also work)

½ cup raisins (or other dried fruit)

            In large bowl, combine dry ingredients.  Add butter, milk, and egg, stirring until just moistened.  Shape into a ball, flatten into 8” circle, score into wedges.  Place on cookie sheet.  Bake at 425°F for 12-15 minutes.

Note:  we have also made chocolate chip scones, which are very good.

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Balela Salad

2 (15 ounce) cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
 1/2 cup (packed) chopped fresh parsley
 1/2 cup chopped onion

 1 clove garlic, minced
 1/4 cup olive oil
 3 tablespoons lemon juice
 5 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
 salt and ground black pepper to taste

In a salad bowl, lightly mix together the garbanzo beans, black beans, parsley, and onion.


Place the garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, and apple cider vinegar in a jar and shake vigorously until thoroughly combined. Pour the dressing over the salad, and toss to mix; sprinkle with salt and black pepper to serve.

adapted from AllRecipes.com (originally has 1 pint grape tomatoes and 1/2 cup mint chopped)