Reader-Submitted Low-Carb Recipe Initiates A Flurry Of Intrigue

The ingredients in this recipe are popular low-carb products

Just when the media thinks that livin' la vida low-carb is on its final leg, along comes a story like this one that once again lays to rest this ridulous notion and shows yet again that ow-carb living is STILL running strong!

A couple of weeks ago, the Appleton (WI) Post-Crescent printed this column on cranberries that included several reader-submitted recipes. Since the 350 million pounds of Wisconsin-grown cranberries harvested each year account for half of all the cranberries eaten across the U.S., the article was the perfect fit for a focus on this zesty and tasty low-carb fruit.

But right smack dab in the middle of all those high-carb recipes that included such low-carb no-nos as bananas, sugar, milk, white flour, apples, raisins, and orange juice, there was one singular voice of sanity that stood heads and tails above the noise coming from the cacophonous roar of nutritional refuse that was printed.

Her name is Patti Lipka from Black Creek, Wisconsin.

She deserves to be enthusiastically applauded by low-carb fans everywhere for her bold position in support for the low-carb lifestyle in this newspaper article about cranberries. In addition to providing the details about her delicious recipe (which I'll share with you in a moment), Lipka was also given prime space in the column itself to share why she is livin' la vida low-carb.

Lipka notes in the story that her son Wyatt, 13, was diagnosed as having diabetes in March 2006 and that eating low-carb foods like cranberries has now become an absolute necessity in her household.

"We love cranberries," she told the Appleton Post-Crescent. "Cranberries are very nutritious, they're high in fiber and they're low in carbohydrates."

When she started talking about how she dries her own cranberries at home and sweetens them with sugar-free Jell-O or pours low-carb chocolate on top of them, Lipka then revealed how she slightly tweaked the ingredients she used in her famous scones recipe so she can now make them low-carb.


Carbquik is a versatile low-carb baking flour used like Bisquik.

With bestselling and outstanding low-carb substitute ingredients such as Carbquik, sugar-free Jell-O and Eat Well Be Well Chocolate Chips, Lipka's scones were destined to remain a part her family's Christmas holiday tradition.

"We modified our recipes because we love them," Lipka explained.


Chocolate chips are back thanks to Eat Well Be Well's sugar-free ones

Before I share with you Lipka's fantastic low-carb cranberry scones recipe, there's more to this story. After the original article was printed in the Appleton Post-Crescent in mid-November, it seems her phone would not stop ringing from people all over the state of Wisconsin. Complete strangers would call Lipka up on her home telephone asking about what Carbquik and Eat Well Be Well Chocolate Chips were and where they could buy such products. There was no information provided by the newspaper about them in the original story.

Finally, Lipka had to call up the newspaper and tell them about the tremendous feedback she had been receiving. She explained to the paper that she gets her low-carb products from our friends at Low-Carb Central located in Hales Corner, Wisconsin (just outside of Milwaukee). It also appears the newspaper was receiving a tidal wave of phone call as well.

Long-time readers of my blog will recall that I did a highly-successful book signing at Low-Carb Central back in January where I was privileged to meet the outstanding owners Michael and Marilyn Kirtley and their wonderful customers. As it turns out, Lipka is among their faithful base of customers, according to store owner Michael Kirtley.

I spoke with Michael about the new Appleton Post-Crescent column published today and he said he was not aware of it. However, he did recall receiving quite a number of calls from new customers inquiring about Carbquik and Eat Well Be Well Chocolate Chips over the past couple of weeks in response to Lipka's recipe.

"The customers would call Patti or the newspaper directly inquiring about the products in her recipe and they would refer them to us," Michael said. " We're happy to take care of them."

Amazing! Here's a low-carb recipe that stirs up more attention in a story about cranberries than any of those other high-carb garbage recipes, with all due respect to the contributors, that quite frankly are no good for people to be eating anyway.

Thank God for people like Patti Lipka for having the courage, passion and dedication to share the good news of livin' la vida low-carb. My hats off to you, Patti, because you are EXACTLY the kind of person I want on the frontlines representing this amazing nutritional approach and I'm so proud of you for sharing your story so unashamed! YOU GO GIRL!

In honor of my new low-carb friend Patti Lipka, here is her amazing recipe:

LOW-CARB CRANBERRY SCONES by Patti Lipka

3 cups Carbquik
2 ounces butter
½ cup sour cream, regular
1 cup water
½ cup chopped cranberries
Small box cherry sugar-free Jell-O
4 ounces Eat Well Be Well Chocolate Chips
Grated zest of a fresh orange, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 410 degrees.

2. Sweeten the cranberries by sprinkling half of a small box of cherry sugar-free Jell-O to the chopped cranberries. Stir the cranberries and let them sit for a while to absorb the flavor of the Jell-O.

3. With a pastry cutter, mix the chilled butter and Carbquik, then add the sour cream and water. Then mix in the cranberries, chocolate chips and orange zest.

4. Scoop out the dough with a spoon and drop on slightly greased cookie sheet in 1-ounce portions or so.

5. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown.

Servings: 15
Total Carbs Per Serving: 4g