Potato Scones

Yes yes....Kayle sees a new potato recipe and feels the need to make it. Don't give me as hard of a time as Michael does about it, mmkay? Cuz really...don't we all love potatoes? And my love means I share potato recipes with all of you soooo...I think it's a win win for all of us.

Now...I had never heard of potato scones before. Google tells me they're Scottish...which makes sense (I've been watching a lot of Outlander and I've read the books so obviously I'm an expert on Scots lol). I'm not Scottish at all (to my knowledge...although those ancestry commercials for DNA testing make me consistently curious as to what my results would be) but I am Irish. And St. Patrick's Day is coming up. And you know...potatoes are like a big deal for Ireland (which is like pretty similar to Scotland really...they both speak Gaelic and are in similar areas and yeah...) So I think these potato scones are perfect for the occasion, really.

They're a comfort food I didn't even know existed. They're made from mashed potatoes and normal scone/biscuity-y ingredients and then...they're fried in a skillet (I prefer cast iron for this sort of job. Makes me feel very pioneer-y.) And you serve them with butter. And they're darned delicious. Crisp and fried on the outside, and shining with melted butter, and then they're chewy and potato-y on the inside. I loved them.

DO YOU SEE THE GLISTENING BUTTER AND THE FRIED GOODNESS??!

Need I say more?

Roasted Onion Brie Muffins

I know! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving!!! But if you haven't fully figured out what you're making...might I suggest these muffins as a unique alternative to rolls? Because you guys...they're awesome. You and your friends/family will loooove them!

Savory muffins should be a more commonplace thing! They're so much easier to make than rolls and they're just as full of carb-y goodness and you can do so many different flavor combinations! Like.....seriously.....sweet roasted onions and buttery brie paired with just a hint of rosemary all in a slightly tangy buttermilk muffin....I WOULD HAVE NEVER THOUGHT OF IT but I am so glad that I tried it because...whoa. Delish. Addictive. Unique. And baking them makes your house smell amazing.

I definitely suggest you make these if you're having a get-together (or if your family can eat 12 muffins) because these are really best the day that they're baked! And seriously...look at that muffin--look at the delicious roasted onions all up in there. And the melted brie on top. Om nom nom nom noooommm! Commence the eating!

Blueberry Lemon Sour Cream Quick Bread-Guest Post with Kristin of Baker Bettie

Hey there world! I'm still hanging out in Ohio, but don't fret, I have left you all in capable hands! Today you get the utmost honor of a guest post by Kristin, AKA "Baker Bettie". I was lucky enough to hang out with the amazing lady last month, and I love her even more now (didn't know that was even possible!) Not only is she all cool and pin-upy, and a fabulous photographer, and a genius about the science of baking (I have learned so much from her blog!), and a girl who makes me laugh out loud with the stories she shares, she's also just a cool chick who is super nice and sweet and fun to hang out with! We declared ourselves best bloggy friends. Hooray!

Hello lovely readers of The Cooking Actress! My name is Kristin and I am the lady behind the blog/food/camera over at Baker Bettie. I know, I know. If my name is Kristin what is up with the Bettie thing, right? I often refer to Baker Bettie as my more confident pinup baking alter ego. But over time, the blog has transformed Kristin and Bettie into one and the same.

I am so excited to be guest posting here on Kayle's fabulous blog. I believe Kayle and I first became blogging friends way back in 2011. We immediately bonded over our love for vintage fashion and, of course, our mutual food obsession. We finally got to meet in person a few weeks ago and spent a fantastic day in the city exploring a bunch of foodie sites.

I have only a handful of very close friends. You know the kind. The ones that you know you will stay close to for the rest of your life. The ones that you are truly deep down excited for when big life events happen to them. I made these friends when I was young and they have stuck around. It is difficult to make those kinds of friends once college ends. It is just hard to make that kind of connection again. But Kayle and I hit it off right from the start. And once I figured out her name is pronounced "Kay-lee" and not "Kale" it has felt like we have known each other for years. She is just about as sweet as they come!

Recently I started a series on my blog called Back to Bake-sics. In each post I broke down the science of various different baked goods to create very simple and adaptable recipes. One of my favorite basic baked goods is quick bread. I make it frequently in all kinds of ways. It is so easy to make it savory or sweet and flavor it with pretty much anything you imagination can come up with. Check out this post for the basic recipe and to understand how it can be easily adapted.

There are few flavor combinations I love more than blueberry and lemon. Especially in the summer. These flavors just feel like summer. I like to think of blueberry and lemon as sort of a lifelong friend of flavors, as silly as that may sound. It just always comes through for me. In muffins, or biscuits, or cookies, or of course bread.
This bread is ready to go into the oven within 10 minutes and comes out incredibly moist and flavorful. I also think this would be awesome with raspberries, blackberries or cherries. Or a combination sounds pretty awesome too! You could even pair it with a different citrus. Orange, lime, or grapefruit?! Oh, the endless possibilities!