Friday Favorites No. 7

This week was surprisingly wonderful! Not only was it short, thanks to the day off on Monday, but on Wednesday I got a little surprise at work! I showed up to a parking lot full of trailers and hallways full of weird equipment. After some digging, I figured out they were filming scenes for Homeland. Apparently this is not the first time they have used our office building as the CIA Headquarters. If you watch the show, you will be familiar with the explosion scene during a memorial service at the end of season 2. Well that was filmed in the atrium of our building, too.

Now on to my favorites...

FAVORITE DAY
Well, it was going to be Monday, but I have to give this one to Wednesday! Here are some stalker shots I got of the filming.

1. Mandy Patinkin, who plays Saul is the one on the right in the white shirt.
2. They transformed the bottom floor into the CIA Headquarters Lobby
3. The film crew in our office, literally right outside my office.
4. Mandy Patinkin and another actor right outside our office which is what they were filming.

FAVORITE TWEET
I feel like we can probably all relate to what @WhitneyEllen was feeling when she got Sun Chip crumbs all over herself.

In an attempt to get the rest of my Sun Chip crumbs out of the corner of the bag I ended up making it rain crumbs all over my face. Cool.
— Whitney Ellen (@WhitneyEllen) May 30, 2013

FAVORITE OUTFIT
This outfit makes me wish I had a super chic office job instead of working at home where my daily uniform is pajamas sweats jeans and a t-shirt. Helena from Brooklyn Blonde looks super chic in this white suit. Plus it has tuxedo stripes, which I love.

FAVORITE RECIPE 
I love chai and I love scones, so how could I not love these white chocolate chai scones from Roots and Blossom. I will definitely be making these in the near future!

FAVORITE PIN
This was originally pinned as painting a scarf, but I think it would just be an awesome on a canvas and hung in the living room!

 
FAVORITE VIDEO
I haven't been watching the Voice, but being a Baylor Bear, I can't avoid hearing about the success of Holly Tucker. And the Baylor-sphere was all a twitter when she got Blake Shelton to do a "Sic 'Em Bears!"


FAVORITE SHOW 
This girl is super excited that Arrested Development is back. It took a few episodes for me to get into season 4 but Tobias reeled me right in.

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What were some of your favorite things from the week? Link up, below! All I ask is that you follow my little blog on some platform (GFC, Bloglovin, Twitter, etc.) and that you link back and share the link-up with your readers!

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White Mocha Scones

After the success of the Cranberry White Chocolate scones, I wanted to try another recipe out. This time I made them slightly more healthy. Just slightly. But they can easily be made a little more rich by using whole milk and all purpose flour instead of whole wheat flour.

What I used: all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, butter, instant espresso, almond milk, egg, vanilla, white chocolate chips.

I originally only used 1 tsp of the espresso powder, and I don't think it was enough. When I make these again, I will definitely be adding more. If you don't have espresso powder you can probably use 1/2 cup of strong coffee and only 1/4 cup milk.

First, I took 1/4 cup of the almond milk, heated it up in the microwave and then dissolved the espresso in the hot milk. I let it cool for a few minutes while I prepared the dry ingredients and butter, then added the rest of the milk to cool it down (don't want to melt the butter). Then I proceeded as follows, cut butter into dry ingredients, mixed in chocolate chips, then poured wet ingredients into dry and stirred to combing.

On a floured cutting board I pressed out the dough into a 2 inch thick disc, and used a cup to make circles of dough.

Just like the other scones, I placed them about 1-2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet and baked for about 15 minutes.

One thing I did differently was add a chocolate drizzle on top to add more of that white mocha flavor. I melted extra white chocolate chips in the microwave, then drizzled over the scones using a spoon. I added espresso powder to the remaining chocolate, then drizzled again. Because it was so cold in our apartment, the chocolate hardened pretty quickly, which was good because I was eager to dig in!

These were just as big a hit with my coworkers as the cranberry scones were with my family!

See recipe below.

White Mocha Scones

Ingredients
1 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt

4 tbsp (one stick) cold butter, cut into small pieces
1-2 tsp (to taste) of instant espresso
3/4 cups of almond milk, divided
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup white chocolate chips


Directions
1. In a small bowl or measuring cup, heat up 1/4 cup of the almond milk in the microwave for 45 seconds to a minute. Mix in the instant espresso until dissolved. Pour in the rest of the almond milk to cool the mixture down.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together.
2. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter or two knives.
4. When the butter and flour mixture resembles crumbs, mix in the chocolate chips.
3. To the milk mixture, add egg and vanilla. And mix together. Pour into the butter and flour mixture. Stir together using a large spoon until the dough is tacky and combined.

5. Turn the dough out on to a floured surface and flatten to 1 1/2 to 2 inch thick. Using a biscuit or cookie cutter, cut out rounds of dough and place on prepared baking sheet.
6. Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Optional chocolate drizzle
Ingredients 
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 tsp coconut oil or vegetable oil
1/2 tsp instant espresso

Directions
In a small cup or bowl, melt chocolate in the microwave for about 1 minute. Stir in the oil. Using a spoon, drizzle about half of the chocolate mixture over the top of the scones. After all scones are covered, stir in espresso into the melted chocolate. Drizzle the espresso chocolate over the scones in the opposite direction. Let chocolate cool and harden.

White Chocolate and Cranberry Scones

In my family, Christmas morning is a big deal. My mom is in charge of brunch, and the menu has been the same as long as I can remember. Once and a while we add something new. A few years ago, we started making monkey bread, which became an annual staple. This year, my mom wanted to add another "sweet" item. Since I have been itching to bake some scones, I suggested Cranberry-White Chocolate scones. She was sold.

This was the first time I have ever attempted to make scones. But when you look at the recipe, they aren't too different from biscuits. So if you can make a biscuit, you can make a scone.

I researched a few different recipes, from traditional British scones to healthier scones. In the end, I concocted the recipe below. And not to pack myself on the back or anything, but these were pretty stinking good. Honestly, I think the secret ingredient was the Mexican vanilla that my mom had from our trip to Mexico last year. It is so strong and sweet, it would make anything taste good.

The cast of characters: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, lemon zest, butter, buttermilk, egg, vanilla, white chocolate chips, and dried cranberries.

I like to think making scones and biscuits in 3-4 stages. Dry. Butter. Wet. By that I mean, I mixed all dry ingredients together (except chocolate chips and cranberries. Then I cut in the butter. It was at this point that I added the chocolate and the cranberries. Then I mixed all the wet ingredients together and poured it into the flour mixture. I just stirred everything together with a big spoon until it all came together.

Once that forms a ball of dough, place on floured surface and press down into a fairly thick disc of dough. I didn't have a biscuit cutter, so I used a cup to cut out circles of dough, which I placed about 1 inch apart on a prepared baking sheet.

They didn't take too long to bake, about 15 minutes. You will know when they are done when they get all golden brown on top.

Now, I baked these the day before we served them, and my mom and I both thought they were even better the day after. My grandma couldn't get enough of them and ended up taking a bunch home. They store well if you keep them covered or wrapped in foil.

See recipe below!

Cranberry White Chocolate Scones

Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp lemon zest
4 tbsp (one stick) cold butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cups of buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried cranberries


Directions
1. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and lemon zest together.
2. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter or two knives.
3. Add in the chocolate chips and cranberries.
4. In a small measuring cup or bowl, mix the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla together then add into the butter and flour mixture. Stir together using a large spoon until the dough is tacky and combined.

5. Turn the dough out on to a floured surface and flatten to 1 1/2 to 2 inch thick. Using a biscuit or cookie cutter, cut out rounds of dough and place on prepared baking sheet.
6. Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

High Five for Friday

Is it Friday? I can't tell when this week started and ended. Having a holiday on a random day during the week really messed with me. Anyone else have that problem? Despite all that, this week was fairly productive!

1. The packing has begun! We packed up all the Christmas decorations and pretty much everything in the guest room.
2. New Year's eve was a lot of fun. We hit up two parties, and I rung in the new year with some raspberry champagne!
3. After making my first scone for Christmas brunch, I am obsessed with scones! I made white mocha scones for work on Wednesday. I will share my recipes next week.
4. I checked in on one of my good friends who was due to have her first baby on Jan. 10. Turns out she was in labor! The baby was born at 12:02 am on Jan. 3, 2013!! Don't you like my reaction to the news?
5. I ran into Target on Thursday and found some of the Neiman Marcus collaboration items on 70% off. I picked up the Band of Outsides cookie cutters that I have been coveting for $9!

On a random, bitter sweet note - this is my last Friday in Dallas. Next Friday, if I have access to wi-fi, I will be posting from Charlotte. I can't believe we are moving so soon!

How was your week?