Homemade Play Dough

Homemade Play Dough

2-1/2 cups Flour
1/2 cup Salt
1 tbsp Cream of Tartar or Alum
2 packages Unsweetened Kool-Aid (for color)
3 tbsp Vegetable Oil
2 cups Water

Mix flour, salt and cream of tartar. Boil liquids together; add Kool-Aid.

Pour into dry ingredients and stir together.

Knead and add flour as needed.

May be baked or microwaved once shaped.

di
(4/27/00)

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Boussan Touba (Bissa's Ear or Beancakes)

Boussan Touba (Bissa's Ear or Beancakes)

Savoury beancakes are a traditional recipe among the Bissa, and are nicknamed Boussan touba - `Bissa's ear' - by the Mossi. This is a market recipe which includes other vegetables to create a lighter textured rissole. This recipe will make about six beancakes.

400 gram tin of black-eyed beans
half a small onion
two small carrots
one egg
salt and pepper to taste
wheat flour for coating the beancakes
ground-nut or vegetable oil for frying

Drain the black-eyed beans. Chop the onion and carrots and mix in a blender with the black-eyed beans and egg. Add salt and pepper to taste. Take the mixture out of the blender and shape into balls. Then press into flat round shapes (about 2cm deep). Shallow fry in groundnut oil (or vegetable oil) for about eight to ten minutes, turning occasionally.

Cate
(4/26/00)

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Cranberry Pecan Scones

Cranberry Pecan Scones

These are my all-time favorites -- a very New England scone, not traditional, but low in fat and really, really good,  (makes 16, can be frozen and warmed up in a toaster oven, for the love of God, don't put them in the microwave!)

3 cups unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
4 to 6 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into bits.
1-1/4 cup buttermilk
Zest of one orange
1/2 to 2/3 cup chopped pecans (walnuts may be substituted, but I prefer pecans or even lightly toasted hazelnuts)
2 heaping cups fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped in food processor not too finely

Preheat oven to 400° F and grease two cookie sheets. Mix flours, sugar, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon , nutmeg. Cut in butter until well mixed. Add buttermilk and orange zest. Fold in pecans and cranberries. Do not over-mix, but get the mixture to form a coarse shaggy dough, you may need a tad more buttermilk.

Divide in half. Place each half on cookie sheet, press down to form a circle about 9" to 10" across. Score each into eight wedges. Brush the top with additional buttermilk and sprinkle brown sugar liberally over the top. Bake for 20 minutes, or until no longer gooey inside.

Awesome, if I say so myself.

For those who did not freeze a stash of cranberries: shame, shame.
Substitute lemon zest for the orange, use fresh or frozen blueberries in place of the cranberry, and whatever nut strikes your fancy. The cinnamon will be fine with blueberries -- that's an old Maine tradition.

Carolyn D.
(4/9/00)

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