Hi, hello there! Is it too late to say Happy New Year? I won't bore you with all of the details, but I am waist deep in book bizness and some other photography projects that have slowed the pace around these parts more than I'd like, but I've got something a little different to share today that I am really excited about. You see, my lovely, talented, and perhaps most importantly, patient main-squeeze Pete and I have been working on a little project to liven things up around here: video!

tangerine poppyseed scones (apt 2b baking co)

Below is our first attempt featuring a recipe for some simple and delicious scones made from a mix of all purpose and nutty oat flours scented with a bit of tangerine zest and vanilla bean, but I bet they would be great with the zest of just about any citrus fruit. I am really digging tangerine zest these days though, it is a bit more subtle than orange and bit more interesting than lemon. I hope you enjoy the little peek into our kitchen. I'd love to hear what you think!

Tangerine Poppyseed Scones

makes 8

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

one tangerine

seeds from one vanilla bean (pod reserved for another use)

1 cup (4 1/2oz/128g) all purpose flour

1 cup (4 1/2oz/128g) oat flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 ounces (112g) unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes

1/2 cup (120ml) kefir (or buttermilk)

1/3 cup (80ml) heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Add the sugar to a large bowl and zest the tangerine into the bowl. Add the vanilla bean seeds and rub the mixture together until well combined and fragrant. Add the flours, baking powder, poppy seeds, and salt to the bowl and whisk to combine and remove any lumps in the oat flour. Add the butter and use your fingers to press each cube of butter into a flat shard about the size of a quarter. Keep tossing the butter in the flour mixture to ensure that it is well coated. Make a well in the center of the mixture add add the kefir and heavy cream. Stir gently to combine, but don't worry if there are a couple of dry spots. It's best to not over mix this type of dough. Use your hands to knead the dough a couple of times in the bowl then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Pat the dough into a circle about 1-inch tall and 7- inches wide. Use a knife to cut the dough into 8 wedges. Transfer the wedges to the baking sheet, brush each one with a bit of heavy cream and sprinkle granulated sugar on top. Bake until the scones are golden brown, 18-22 minutes. Enjoy warm. These scones are best enjoyed on the day they are made.

At any given time it's safe to assume that there are more than a few jars of open jam in my fridge, but recently things have gotten a bit out of control. It all came to a head when my boyfriend, unable to find room for a six pack, declared that we had a "condiment situation." Obviously, this needed to be immediately remedied so I took a deep breath, took inventory and found no less than seven open jars in there, waiting for their fates. I decided to tackle the situation head on and make a recipe I've had book marked for ages that I knew would be great way to use up the bits and bobs and half full jars floating around. These jammy biscuits are adapted from the well known and loved Jammers from Grand Central Bakery, all I did was swap in a bit of nutty buckwheat flour and some poppy seeds for crunch. Then I filled half with Bourbon Peach Jam care of my Jam Exchange pal Karen (hi Karen!) and the other half with my Mixed Berry Jam. I absolutely loved the sweetness of the peaches with the slight bitterness of the buckwheat, and my boyfriend really liked the berries so I say just go for it when it comes to flavors. Are you like me too? Should we start a support group, jam hoarders anonymous? I say we all just make biscuits instead.

Buckwheat Poppy Seed Jam Biscuits

adapted from the Grand Central Baking Book

yield 10-12 biscuits

12oz all purpose flour

8oz buckwheat flour

4T sugar

2t baking powder

1t baking soda

1 1/2t salt

1T poppy seeds

8oz cold butter, cut into cubes

1 1/4-1 1/2c buttermilk

About 6oz jam

Preheat oven to 350º and line a baking sheet with parchment paper

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and poppy seeds.

2. Add the butter and cut it in with a pastry cutter or your fingers. Keep mixing until the mixture looks mealy with a few pea and lima bean sized hunks of butter remaining.

3. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add in 1 1/4c of the buttermilk. Gently mix the dough together, making sure that all of the flour mixture gets moistened. If the dough is dry or crumbly continue to add the additional buttermilk 1T at a time until the mixture mostly comes together.

4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, it's okay if the dough comes out of the bowl in a few pieces, and pat it out into a circle 1 1/2''-2'' tall. Cut the biscuits with a floured 2 1/2'' biscuit cutter or drinking glass. Gently pat the scraps together and cut one more round of biscuits. Place the cut biscuits on a lined baking sheet.

5. Use your thumb to gently make a tablespoon sized indent in the middle of each biscuit, then very gently, while supporting the sides of the biscuit, use your thumb to push down and make the hole deeper. Aim to make the hole a little wider at the bottom than the top and push down almost to the bottom of the biscuit. Fill each indentation with a tablespoon of jam.

6. Bake for 35-40min or until the biscuits are golden and crisp on the outside.

Notes:

- Feel free to make these with all purpose flour, just use 20oz total.