Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. I love to eat muffins, scones, breakfast breads, biscuits and almost anything else that can come out an oven. The trouble is that I don’t move very fast when I drag myself out of bed every morning. So it can be difficult to satisfy my craving for baked goods when I’m moving at a snail’s pace to get through my shower, make my daughter’s school lunch and put breakfast on the table for all of us. Fortunately, I’ve figured out that I can do all the prep for my favorite breakfast treats the night before, so all I have to do in the morning is a few simple steps before sliding something into the oven.

Tonight I’ll be putting together most of the ingredients for Chocolate Chip Scones, one of my family’s favorites. I can’t claim that these delicious wedges are very healthy, but I do serve fruit with them to give a little balance to this meal. Everyone in my family loves them, and the best part is that the recipe makes enough scones for two breakfasts. Which means no cooking the morning after I bake these. Of course, they’re good any time. I’ve also served these Chocolate Chip Scones to members of my mother-daughter book club when we read I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, which is set in England.

Here’s the recipe. Originally, it came from my friend Ellen.

• 2-1/2 cups flour
• 1 Tblsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 8 Tblsp. butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup milk or milk + yogurt combo
• 2/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter with knives or dough blender. Add brown sugar, chocolate chips and mix. Add liquid, stir with a fork until soft dough forms. Knead lightly, then divide into two balls.

Roll out balls on a cookie sheet or baking stone. (I simply flatten mine into a circle.) Cut into 4 or 6 wedges. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool.

I modify this a bit when I prep it the night before. I add the brown sugar when I combine the dry ingredients. I measure the milk and set it in the fridge next to the block of butter I’m going to use. I put my baking stone on the cook top. Next to the baking stone goes the bowl with my dry ingredients (covered with a towel), the measured chocolate chips, and knives for cutting in the butter. In the morning it’s easy to cut in the butter, stir in the chocolate chips, add the milk, shape the scones and pop them in the oven. As an added benefit, the smell of baking scones helps wake everyone up.

When the weather allows, everyone in your book club may appreciate the chance to get outside when you gather to have a meal and talk about your book. Especially is the characters in the book go on picnics, as they do in Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. And if the weather’s not great? You may just decide to move that picnic indoors.

Karen’s Picnic Fixings

Provide the following for mix and match according to taste:

• Tomatoes
• Lettuce
• Cucumbers
• Sweet pickles, dill pickles
• Olive assortment
• Guacamole
• Fresh carrots, broccoli, cauliflower with veggie dip
• Sauteed sweet red, green and yellow peppers
• Sauteed mushrooms
• Sliced cheese assortment
• Mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup
• Wheat bread, sourdough, rye, tortillas

You can grill sandwiches if you’re serving your picnic where there’s access to a grill. Serve with ice cream sundaes or banana splits for dessert.

Reading The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer put everyone in our mother-daughter book club in the mood for good Mexican food. Here’s a recipe for chicken enchiladas that you can serve when you’re considering a Mexican-themed dinner for your book club discussion.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Prep and bake time: 1 hour

• 1/2  pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 4  cups torn fresh spinach or 1/2 of one 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained
• 1  8-ounce carton light dairy sour cream
• 1/4  cup plain fat-free yogurt
• 2  tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4  teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4  teaspoon salt
• 1/2  cup fat-free milk
• 1  4-ounce can diced green chili peppers, drained
• 6   7-inch flour tortillas
• 1/3  cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese (1-1/2 ounces)
• Chopped tomato or salsa (optional)
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions (optional)

In a 3-quart saucepan place chicken in enough water to cover. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove chicken from saucepan. When cool enough to handle, use a fork to shred chicken into bite-size pieces. (You should have about 1-1/2 cups.) Set aside.

If using fresh spinach, place spinach in a steamer basket over boiling water. Reduce heat. Steam, covered, for 3 to 5 minutes or until tender. (Or, cook in a small amount of boiling water, covered, for 3 to 5 minutes.) Drain well.

In a large bowl combine chicken, spinach, and green onions; set aside. In a bowl combine sour cream, yogurt, flour, cumin, and salt. Stir in milk and chili peppers. Divide sauce in half. Set one portion aside.

For filling, combine one portion of the sauce and the chicken-spinach mixture. Divide the filling among the tortillas. Roll up tortillas. Place, seam side down, in an ungreased 2-quart rectangular baking dish.

Spoon reserved portion of sauce over tortillas. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree F oven about 25 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with cheese; let stand for 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter. To serve, if desired, garnish with chopped tomato or salsa and additional green onion. Makes 6 enchiladas.

When our mother-daughter book club got together to read Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang, Show-Ling—who is from Taiwan—made Chinese dumplings for our dinner. They were so great everyone asked for the recipe and Show-Ling was willing to share. You can use this recipe to serve at any book club meeting where you discuss a book set in China.

• 1 pound ground pork (you can use ground beef, chicken, or turkey)
• 1/3-1/2 small bag of prewashed baby spinach (you can substitute with other vegetables of your liking)
• 3-4 heads of green onions (scallions)
• one small piece of ginger root
• cilantro (for sauce)
• garlic (for sauce)
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• sesame oil, 1/4 teaspoon
• vegetable oil, 2-3 tablespoons
• 1-2 packages of dumpling wraps (make sure that you DON’T get the thick style kind)

To make:
Chop ginger, green onion, and spinach in a food processor.

Combine with ground meat in a big bowl. Add vegetable oil, salt, pepper, sesame oil, mix well with a spatula. Place some stuffing in the middle of the wrap (make sure to thaw out the wraps ahead of time, microwave is NOT recommended), make sure you don’t over-stuff it. Apply water to the edge of the wrap and seal the edge by folding one side over the other. It’s important to make sure that the seal is tight. Have a pot of boiling water ready.

Put the dumplings in one by one (you might need to do it in batches). Gently stir once to make sure that the dumplings are not stuck to the bottom of the pot. If you do it too hard you’ll break the dumplings. Add one cup of cold water after the dumplings have boiled and repeat three times. After you take the dumplings out, rinse them quickly with cold water to prevent them from sticking to each other. You can probably also coat them with some olive oil to prevent sticking.

Sauce: Chop a few heads of garlic and some cilantro, mix with some soy sauce, sesame oil, and a bit of water. If you want, you can also add vinegar, chili sauce.

This amount is enough to serve 2 adults and 3 kids age 10.

When my daughter and I read Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech, we all knew what would be on the menu for dinner that night. We didn’t know what kind of soup would be served, but we were all craving soup. Here’s an easy recipe that Granny Torrelli would be proud of.

Cindy’s Peanut Butter Soup

• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1 13-3/4-ounce can chicken broth
• 4 cups water
• 2 large yams, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups cooked chicken pieces
• 1/2 cup crushed peanuts

In a large soup pot, sauté the onions and garlic in the oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, chicken broth, water and yams. Cook over medium-low heat for 25 minutes or until the yams are soft. Stir in the peanut butter, cayenne pepper and salt. Let cool for 30 minutes.

Puree the soup in a blender or food processor, then pour it back into the saucepan and warm. Sprinkle the soup with the cooked chicken and crushed peanuts. Serves 6 to 8 and is easy to double.

Serve with crunchy French bread and salad.

It’s Mardi Gras season down in New Orleans, and I’m sure the people there are celebrating even more with news that the Saints are going to the Super Bowl. I grew up near Baton Rouge when the Saints were first getting established, and I well remember all the losing seasons when they were known as the ‘Aints and fans wore paper bags over their heads. Now they are going to play for the NFL championship for the first time in the franchise’s 43 years. With Super Bowl Sunday on February 7 and Mardi Gras on February 16, I’m sure lots of people will be having parties. And every party during Mardi Gras has to feature a King Cake.

If you’re not familiar with King Cakes, they come in many different flavors, but they are similar to coffee cakes and perfect with a good cup of coffee with chicory. If you’d like to know more about the history of King Cakes, here’s a great write up at Mardi Gras Unmasked.com.

As you might guess, King Cakes are great to serve to a crowd. They’re good for breakfast or dessert, and they’re good to serve at your next mother-daughter book club meeting. Here’s my recipe:

King Cake

(Recipe Makes Two Rings)

Basic Dough

* 1 envelope dry yeast
* 1/4 cup warm water
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1 cup butter
* 2 egg yolks
* 2 whole eggs
* 4 cups (or more) unbleached flour
* 1/2 cup + 1 tsp. sugar

Mix yeast with warm water and 1 tsp. sugar and 1 tsp. flour. Bring milk to a boil then stir in butter and sugar. Pour into a large bowl and mix. Once mix is lukewarm beat in egg yolks, whole eggs, and yeast mixture. Beat in approximately 2 cups of flour until dough is fairly smooth, then add enough flour to make a soft dough you can form into a ball. Knead by hand until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a bowl, turn dough once or twice to coat, cover with a cloth and leave in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1-1/2 – 2 hours. Pat down cover with damp towel and refrigerate overnight. Remove dough from fridge. Divide in half. Shape each half into a long sausage shape. Roll dough into a 30″x9″ rectangle as thin as a pie crust. Let dough rest while you make the filling.

Filling

* 16 oz. cream cheese
* 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
* 4 Tblsp. flour
* 4 egg yolks
* 2 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Divide filling in half and place each half in a one inch strip down the length of each dough shape. Fold one end of the dough over the filling and onto the other side. Crimp at ends so filling won’t come out. Shape dough into rings, place each on a separate cookie sheet or jelly roll pan and let stand 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350. Brush with egg wash and cut deep vents into cake. Bake for 20 – 35 minutes until risen and golden.

Icing

* 1-1/2 cups confectioners sugar
* 2-1/2 Tblsp. milk
* 1/4 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Once cake has cooled spread on icing. Sprinkle colored sugar crystals of purple, green and gold over the icing before it hardens. (You can buy colored sugar or make it yourself by placing ½ cup of regular sugar in a zip lock bag and adding one drop of food coloring at a time until you get the color you desire. For purple mix equal parts of red and blue.)

My daughter Catherine can’t get enough of this super simple pie that’s easy to prepare for a mother-daughter book club meeting. Catherine loves just about everything with peanut butter, but she’s not alone. Every time I make this recipe the pie disappears so fast I think I should have made two.

Peanut Butter Pie

• 1 8 oz. package of cream cheese at room temperature
• 3 to 4 tblsp. milk
• 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
• about 1/2 cup (or slightly more) peanut butter
• 1 tub (8 oz.)  Cool Whip, thawed

Blend all ingredients together and spoon into a graham cracker crust. Refrigerate. You can purchase a pre-prepared graham cracker crust, but making one is easy too. I make a chocolate graham cracker crust.

Chocolate Graham Cracker Crust

• 1-1/2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
• 1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 6 tblsp. melted butter

Mix all ingredients together and press into a pie tin. It will be loose and crumbly, so refrigerate until cold before spooning the pie filling in. You can bake it at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes, but my family prefers it unbaked.

It’s that simple. I got the recipe from my mom, and she also finds that the pie is gobbled up quickly every time she makes it. Enjoy!

These brownies with a peanut butter surprise have been a hit at more than one mother-daughter book club meeting. Be sure to have lots on hand when you serve them

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tsps. vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Place the chocolate into a double boiler with simmering water. When the chocolate is nearly melted, stir in the butter, cut into small pieces. When melted, stir the mixture until it’s smooth. Transfer the top of the double boiler to a cooling rack and let the chocolate cool to room temperature.

Heat the oven to 350. Lightly butter a 9 x 9″ square cake pan. Dust it with flour and shake out the excess.

Combine the sugars in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs and beat until well blended with an electric mixer on medium speed. Blend in the vanilla extract; add the cooled chocolate and mix until blended.

Sift the flour and salt into a medium bowl, then stir into the chocolate mixture.

Make peanut butter filling by combining the following ingredients in a medium sized bowl:

• 1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1-1/2 ounces soft cream cheese
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup sugar

Beat with an electric mixer until evenly blended.

To assemble the muffins:

Line 18 to 20 cups of a standard muffin tin with bake cups.

Fill each muffin cup about halfway with brownie batter. Spoon about 2 teaspoons of peanut butter filling into the center, pushing it down a little into the batter. Cover the filling with another spoonful of batter. The cups should be about 3/4 full.

Bake for 15 minutes, until well risen and cracked on top. Transfer muffin tins to a wire rack and cool for 30 minutes.

At last night’s mother daughter-book club meeting one of our members proved you don’t have to cook a complicated meal to make everyone happy. In fact, with two picky eaters and one vegetarian in our group of 12, this turned out to be quite a hit. The book was Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, and we had a picnic to go along with the one in the book. This meal was also great for our hostess, who arrived from picking up her daughter from piano just minutes before the first guests drove up. Obviously, this idea can be adjusted to the taste of any group.

Karen’s Picnic Fixings

Provide the following for mix and match according to taste:

• Tomatoes
• Lettuce
• Cucumbers
• Sweet pickles, dill pickles
• Olive assortment
• Guacamole
• Fresh carrots, broccoli, cauliflower with veggie dip
• Sauteed sweet red, green and yellow peppers
• Sauteed mushrooms
• Sliced cheese assortment
• Mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup
• Wheat bread, sourdough, rye, tortillas

Sandwiches can be grilled. This is a great meal to follow up with ice cream sundaes or banana splits for dessert.

For more ideas of meals to serve at your book club meetings, check out the recipes section under categories.

One of our mother daughter book club moms grew up in Taiwan. When we read Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang, she made these wonderful Chinese dumplings that we all loved. She insisted they were very simple to make, and said that she threw it together after she got home from work and before everybody started to arrive for our meeting.

She happily shared her recipe, and I couldn’t wait to try it on my own. The dumplings were just as good as I remembered from our meeting, but I think it will take a little practice before I can do them fast. This makes a great theme meal to go along with any book set in China.

Show-Ling’s Chinese Dumplings

• 1 pound ground pork (you can use ground beef, chicken, or turkey)
• 1/3-1/2 small bag of prewashed baby spinach (you can substitute with other vegetables of your liking)
• 3-4 heads of green onions (scallions)
• one small piece of ginger root
• cilantro (for sauce)
• garlic (for sauce)
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• sesame oil, 1/4 teaspoon
• vegetable oil, 2-3 tablespoons
• 1-2 packages of dumpling wraps (make sure that you DON’T get the thick style kind)

To make:
Chop ginger, green onion, and spinach in a food processor.
Combine with ground meat in a big bowl. Add vegetable oil, salt, pepper, sesame oil, mix well with a spatula. Place some stuffing in the middle of the wrap (make sure to thaw out the wraps ahead of time, microwave is NOT recommended), make sure you don’t over-stuff it.

Apply water to the edge of the wrap and seal the edge by folding one side over the other. It’s important to make sure that the seal is tight. Have a pot of boiling water ready.

Put the dumplings in one by one (you might need to do it in batches). Gently stir once to make sure that the dumplings are not stuck to the bottom of the pot. If you do it too hard you’ll break the dumplings.

Add one cup of cold water after the dumplings have boiled and repeat three times. After you the dumplings out, rinse them quickly with cold water to prevent them from sticking to each other. You can probably also coat them with some olive oil to prevent sticking.

Sauce:
Chop a few heads of garlic and some cilantro, mix with some soysauce, sesame oil, and a bit of water. If you want, you can also add vinegar, chili sauce.

This amount is enough to serve 2 adults and 3 kids age 10–14.