Ahhhh, Donovan, thank you for words that inspire! Amazingly welcome words – Sunshine Came Softly Through My Window Today” and, the man writes about Saffron…….. “They Call Me Mellow Yellow”
There are, actually, some tangible benefits of being the age that I am – if you can believe it (well, not that many). One of them is to have the intact memories of some of the greatest popular music ever. Sadly, my kids will probably never know or appreciate much of it. Today’s melody inside my head is a stellar one – of the mid-60s culture that few kids of the millennial generation will have ever heard of. It’s so amazing that this song, with its full-blown cultural overtones was released a full 3 years before Woodstock.
image courtesy Epic Records
image courtesy Arnold Skolnick
Donovan Philips Leitch’s Sunshine Superman was recorded in 1966 and the first line of the song has been in my head since Monday, the last day this week that the sun was shining. His words came right back “early today” and inspired me to get going. It took a little while to clear 4 days of cobwebs out, but I’m in gear now.
It’s ironic that this person also penned those immortal words from Mellow Yellow, “I’m just wild about Saffron”. (Of course, we can’t really attribute these times to the culinary life, now can we? But, I digress. In my old age, I prefer to refer to these via my own myopic vision – that I’m just wild about Saffron is in fact about being in the kitchen only.) I’m going to save the topic of Saffron for another post. Truly, though, it is somewhat remarkable that people survived the extracurricular activities of this time period.
Today is going to be one of those stellar days. There is an entire lifetime of amazing blossoms to come! Can’t wait! I hope you will come along on my little sojourn for the “alive season 2015”!
east side portrait with sun
Right now, there are promises to keep – like those 2 flats of pansies sitting by the garage. Then, there’ll be recipes and grilling and plant shopping! Hoorah! Or, just maybe I need a little walkabout in NYC! 🙂
Maybe we won’t need a Winter coat any more! Let’s hope!
I’m not the only one happy about the sun this morning
here’s a slight variation on yesterday’s yummy mango scone:
THE MANGO-COCONUT SCONE WITH SAFFRON – in honor of Donovan
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tblsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tblsp grated fresh ginger root
8 tblsp unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup saffron broth (5 strands saffron steeped in boiling water for 5 minutes, strained
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
2 eggs 3 tblsp honey
1 cup chopped fresh mango
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
heavy cream honey for drizzling
Preheat oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In the bowl of your food processor, whir together the flour, baking powder, salt and fresh ginger root. Add the butter and pulse 8-9 times or until the butter resembles small peas. Remove dry ingredients to a low wide bowl and make a well in the center.
In a measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk, yogurt, eggs, honey, and saffron tea. Pour into center of the dry ingredients. Working with a dough scraper, gently bring the dry ingredients into the wet. When dough begins to hold together, add the mango and coconut. Gingerly work the fruit into the dough.
Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and pat out into a 1 1/4″ thickness. Flour your hands lightly if needed. Cut the scones out with a 3″ cutter. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Re-roll scraps to use all dough but try not to over handle the dough. Brush with heavy cream and drizzle lightly with honey.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until browned, puffed and dry and crunchy outside. Serve immediately.