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Frozen Fruit Cupcakes

Ingredients
• 1 small lemon
• 2 cups buttermilk
• ½ cup sugar
• ⅛ t salt
• 2 cups assorted fresh fruit (halved strawberries, chopped peaches, chopped nectarines, blueberries, or raspberries)
• garnish: lemon leaves, halved strawberries. blueberries, raspberries, and nectarine wedges
Directions:
About 3 ½ hours before serving or early in day:
1. Line twelve 2 1/2" by 1 1/4" muffin pan cups with fluted paper baking cups.
2. Into large bowl, grate peel from lemon. Add buttermilk, sugar, and salt; mix until blended. Gently stir in 1 1/4 cups fruit. Spoon mixture into muffin pan cups. Top with remaining 3/4 cup fruit (some fruit will stay above mixture for pretty color). Cover and freeze until firm, about 3 hours.
3. To serve, peel off paper baking liners from dessert. Let stand at room temperature 10 to 15 minutes to soften slightly for easier eating. Garnish each serving with lemon leaves, strawberry halves, blueberries, raspberries, and nectarine wedges.
Makes 12 servings. About 70 calories per serving.

Can Foods Forestall Aging? USDA Says YES!

And Blueberries rank at the top of the list!

Studies at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston suggest that consuming fruits and vegetables with a high-ORAC value may help slow the aging process in both body and brain. ORAC--short for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity--measures the ability of foods, blood plasma, and just about any substance to subdue oxygen free radicals in the test tube.

Early evidence indicates that this antioxidant activity translates to animals, protecting cells and their components from oxidative damage. Getting plenty of the foods with a high-ORAC activity, such as spinach, strawberries, and blueberries, has so far:

  • raised the antioxidant power of human blood,
  • prevented some loss of long-term memory and learning ability in middle-aged rats,
  • maintained the ability of brain cells in middle-aged rats to respond to a chemical stimulus, and
  • protected rats' tiny blood vessels—capillaries—against oxygen damage.
These results have prompted Ronald L. Prior to suggest that "the ORAC measure may help define the dietary conditions needed to prevent tissue damage. To read the whole story:

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/feb99/aging0299.htm

Prizewinning Orange Scones with Berries and Cream

Prizewinning Orange Scones with Berries and Cream

  • 2 c sifted all-purpose flour
  • 1 T baking powder
  • 1t salt
  • 2T granulated sugar
  • 5 ½ T unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
  • 1 extra large egg, beaten
  • ½ cup heavy (whipping) cream
  • 2T unsalted butter, melted
  • ½ c granulated sugar
  • 1T orange zest
  • 6 to 8 c fresh berries washed and dried (such as blueberries, strawberries,
    raspberries, blackberries)
  • ¾ to 1 c granulated sugar, depending on how sweet the berries are
  • 1 to 1 ½ c heavy (whipping) cream, whipped and lightly sweetened
    with 2t of granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 425º F. Lightly grease a baking sheet and set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Using a pastry blender, 2 knives, or your fingertips, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse cornmeal. In a small bowl, combine the egg and cream and add to the flour mixture, mix until just blended together.

Turn out the batter onto a lightly floured board and knead for 1 minute. Roll dough into a rectangle approximately 4 inches by 8 inches. Brush the dough with the melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar and orange zest. Roll up, jelly-roll fashion, and seal the long seam by pinching it together lightly with your fingers.

Cut the roll into eight 1 inch thick slices. Lay slices down sideways on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until scones are golden.

Slice the strawberries and place in a large pretty bowl with other whole berries if available. Sprinkle with sugar and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours. To serve, heap spoonfuls of berries over each scone and top with freshly whipped cream.

Makes 8 scones