Turkey Wild Rice-Vegetable Soup with Sherry and Walnut Garnish OR One More Snow Day in Saint Paul

It's spring in name only in Saint Paul.  Whereas many food writers and bloggers are already complaining about too many fresh pea or asparagus recipes, people here are still sniffling and shuffling around town in their by now worn-out snow boots. (Uh, there are not even pea tendrils in St. Paul because snow covers the vegetable gardens; see below.)  In fact, if you move here, you'll save a lot of money on shoes;  you only need them May - September.  Not only that,  you can write about fresh peas, rhubarb, and asparagus when folks further south are eating their first tiny tomatoes and are getting tired of grilling already.

This picture is out my front door this morning.

38 Power Foods, Week 35 -- Yogurt -- Smoked Salmon Frittata with Horseradish Yogurt and Irish Scones

This is also A Week of St. Pat's Recipes, Friday...

There's nothing like a scone.  You can pronounce it skone or skahn, as does my friend, Marie, who's from South Africa:

"I asked the maid in dulcet tone

To order me a buttered scone

The silly girl has been and gone

And ordered me a buttered scone."

A Week of Recipes for St. Pat's, Thursday -- Guinness Beef Pot Pie with Cheddar-Dill Biscuits

Made in a deep, heavy 8 quart cast iron pot with a  lid  (Dutch oven)

Last year around this time, I made a pot roast with big pieces of butternut squash and halved onions in the oven.  A day later I took the leftovers, including the gravy, and made stew.  Stew from leftovers is definitely an improvement over freshly made stew.   There's a deeper, fuller, and more flavorful rich quality--without question.  It's just that there's usually less than when you make a fresh pot. That stew made very quickly with the addition of more onions, celery, and Guinness stout, etc., was divine.   I mean it, it was an incredible stew. When my boss tasted it (and she's a really good cook), she said, "Alyce cooks for God, you know."

At the top of Dublin's Guinness brewery, there's a 2DIE4 pub...here's one view.

50 Women Game-Changers - #36 Edna Lewis- Biscuits

"I married her for her beaten biscuits."

Edna Lewis' Best Biscuits

Ingredients

1. 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2. 1 1/2 teaspoons single-acting baking powder or double-acting baking powder (see Note)
3. 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
4. 1/2 teaspoon salt
5. 1/4 cup cold lard or vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
6. 1/2 cup buttermilk
7. 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted