Blackberry Lemonade

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Blackberry Lemonade

Blackberry Lemonade

I've disappeared for the last few days to enjoy the long labor day weekend. Spent with family and friends, it was good to step away from the kitchen and step outside for a change. The weekend weather couldn't be any more beautiful, with a sun that wouldn't stop shining, bringing warmth to the last few days of t-shirt weather.

Winter comes quickly to the plains of North Dakota.

Blackberry Lemonade Blackberry Lemonade

The past couple days I've tried to breathe in the last few days of summer. To hold it in my lungs before the brisk fall air snatches it away, leaving me breathless. With the sun setting earlier each evening and a cool breeze blowing in at dusk, fall is slowly creeping its way back into its rightful time slot. I wish I could hold tightly on to summer, to the warm weather and sunlit nights. But, like a child clinging tightly on to a balloon, sooner or later the string slips from grasp and the balloon floats away high into the clouds before disappearing from sight completely.

I can't prevent fall from coming any more than you can, but I can keep summer alive for a few more days with this blackberry lemonade.

Blackberry Lemonade

As a bit of a side note, I want to share a different kind of story with you.

I spent Saturday in Minot, ND. Recently devastated by record flooding (imagine homes up to the roofs in water), it is a town in a state of rebuild. It may be a small town of only 40,000 people, but the people have some of the biggest hearts I've ever seen, including actor Josh Duhamel who calls Minot his hometown. Josh, hearing the news of the devastation, brought none other than his wife Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas to play a benefit concert in Minot, with all proceeds going towards the flood victims. At $100 a ticket, corporate sponsorships, and a sold out venue, over $1.2 million dollars were raised for the cause.

I'm telling you this because I think it's important to know what kind of people your favorite artists and actors truly are. I want to share what the generosity of a few people—Josh Duhamel and the Black Eyed Peas—can do for the spirits and pocketbooks of a flood ravaged community. No one expected to see the Black Eyed Peas in Minot in a million years, much less playing a full concert (and I don't think anyone ever anticipated will.i.am rapping about how awesome North Dakota is).

These people have earned my respect and I hope, by sharing this with you, they can earn yours too.

Blackberry Lemonade Blackberry Lemonade

This Blackberry Lemonade is sweet the second it hits your tongue, but tart the moment you swallow. Both the lemon and blackberries work together to create this balanced drink where both flavors shine equally. The lemonade is as refreshing as its color is bold. I hope this blackberry lemonade can help prolong the final weeks of summer for you, too.

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3 Milk Coconut Cake

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3 Milk Coconut Cake

3 Milk Coconut Cake

On the coast of Oregon, there is an undiscovered restaurant resting in the small town of Oceanside. Unless you happen to stop in the town of 300 people to catch the sunset on the beach, you would never know this little corner of heaven existed. With a view of the ocean that could make your heart sing and food to rival any prized restaurant, it's a true gem.

A genuine hidden treasure.

3 Milk Coconut Cake

A wooden beach house on main street has a small sign reading Roseanna's Cafe. With only a handful of businesses on main, Roseanna's is easy to spot—you can't miss it. The lightly faded curtains hanging in the windows invite you inside.

The interior is small but friendly, holding no more than a dozen tables. The decor is dressed up as if you had just gone to visit your grandmother. It's familiar and quaint. There is an immediate sense of belonging—one or two meals at this place and you may want to start calling Roseanna's home. I know I did.

3 Milk Coconut Cake 3 Milk Coconut Cake

At the end of July, a few friends and I rented a beach house on the coast of Oregon for a week. It was a beautiful visit, filled with the rise and fall of the tides and sand behind my ears. Near the end of our stay, we were craving a good, fresh seafood dinner. Willing to travel many miles for a feast, we wound up just a few minutes down the road. Roseanna's was the place to go, we were told.

And so we went.

3 Milk Coconut Cake

A quick glance at the menu is enough to make your mouth water. Simply reading through the descriptions will send your taste buds into a tailspin. Though I am not normally a seafood fan, I found myself getting excited about a real seafood dinner. With too many delicious options on the menu, my friends and I decided to share a little food here and there so everyone would get a taste. We started with seafood stuffed mushrooms and a loaf of bread I could swear was lighter than air. Though we tried to take our time and savor it, it was promptly inhaled with everyone fighting over the last few crumbs. It was a deliciously dirty sight when one of my friends nearly licked the plate clean for fear of wasting such a divine cream sauce.

For my entree, I ordered the scallops drenched in a sun-dried tomato butter with a side of potatoes and string beans. After my first bite, I could have sworn I had died and gone to heaven. The flavors, the scallops, the butter... I immediately converted to a seafood lover. My first thought was of unspeakable emotion. The second was whether or not it would be strange to order an identical second entree. The third was to make everyone else have a bite because something this sinfully delicious couldn't be contained to one person or one stomach.

3 Milk Coconut Cake

And then, of course, came dessert. Though we had a few desserts sent to the table, the 3 milk coconut cake was deemed the table favorite and disappeared the quickest (we even begged the waitress for the secret to this heavenly cake). With the sun setting over the ocean and good friends around the table, it couldn't have been a happier moment.

3 Milk Coconut Cake

With that very moment in mind, I set out to recreate my own version of the 3 Milk Coconut Cake served at Roseanna's. The cake is essentially the base of tres leches cake, meaning a very light cake that can absorb a lot of liquid. A glaze of coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk, and coconut rum (who says you can't have a little fun?) is then poured over the cake. After soaking overnight, the cake is topped with a coconut rum infused whipped cream and toasted coconut. Man, oh man, this cake is good. Just ask my mother—she's eaten four pieces just today.

For a kid friendly version, substitute heavy cream for the rum in the glaze and remove it completely from the topping (though, you don't have to share this one with the kids. It can be a special treat just for you. Just saying).

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Lemon Blueberry Scones

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Lemon Blueberry Scones

Lemon Blueberry Scone

Scones are one of those elusive pastries for me. I know I've mentioned it before, but it's quite rare for me to make a batch of scones and have them actually taste edible, let alone delicious. I've ruined more scone recipes than cakes, cookies, and tarts combined. That is quite a few scones, I might add. There is little more disappointing than tossing a fresh batch of scones into the trash can (all that butter to waste!).

Well, perhaps it is a bit more disappointing when you leave them on the counter to taunt you, hoping desperately that they will taste better the next time you grab a bite. But, as life should have it, scones aren't made of magic and they don't taste better—they might even taste worse. The scones just become a sad, pitiful reminder of what they could have been had you not miserably messed them up. Then you throw them in the trash. That's a bit more disappointing.

Not that I speak from experience or anything.

Lemon Blueberry Scone

The method for making scones is actually quite simple. In fact, if you have a stand mixer, you can whip up a batch in less than five minutes (seriously!). First the butter is cut into the dry ingredients. Delicious extras (like fruit or chocolate chips) are then stirred in before mixing in the wet ingredients, which forms the mess into a dough. Making a batch of cookies is just as complicated as making scones, in all seriousness.

Which is exactly why I'm so confused that I can't seem to master the art of the scone. Perhaps practice will make perfect?

Lemon Blueberry Scone
Lemon Blueberry Scone

Either way, I have been practicing.

The Lemon Blueberry Scones I'm sharing with you today were so good I made them two days in a row. Very few recipes receive that kind of honor from me. The first batch I shared with a few neighbors (after eating two straight from the oven). The second batch was solely for myself, which I later realized was too dangerous an idea for my hips and ended up giving the remaining scones away to save my pants size.

To put it plainly, these scones are so delicious you will have to share them or else risk eating the entire batch by yourself. I think these are the perfect morning breakfast to serve when you've had a few guests spend the night. Not only are there enough scones to go around, but everyone will look at you like a scone-making god.

Now, tell me, who wouldn't want to be looked up to like that?

I think my scone phobia has officially been conquered.

Lemon Blueberry Scone

These Lemon Blueberry Scones balance perfectly on the edge of sweet and tart, moist and crumbly, and light and dense. The scones themselves are not terribly sweet (the blueberries are the primary source of sweetness) and the addition of lemon zest adds a delightful tartness to the overall flavor. The lemon glaze itself is sweet and helps to balance out the flavors (don't skip the glaze!). The texture of these scones is also worth noting. The outside of the scone is dry and crumbly, while the inside is moist and rich, almost like a cake. This makes each bite interesting and a play on opposing textures. The scone is also fairly light (you won't feel like you are eating cake for breakfast), but is dense enough to fill you up.

These scones are worth your time. Trust me.

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