Archive for April, 2009

scones

Friday, April 17th, 2009

The weather is lovely today but we’ve been having overcast, drizzly days that are really depressing and require big guns to overcome. Big guns like scones. Hot scones with butter. Sometimes also strawberry jam.

My current scone recipe is torn out of an old issue of O magazine and comes from the Harlem Tea Room.

Raisin Scones
makes about 16

1 stick cold butter (8 Tbsp.) cut into pieces
+ extra for baking sheets
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups milk + extra for brushing scones
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 450F. Coat 2 baking sheets with butter (or I just use parchment paper instead.) Sift flour, sugar, salt, baking powder together in large bowl (or dump in and whisk as I do.) Add butter, using fingertips to combine until mixture takes on texture of fine meal. Stir in raisins. Add milk and stir until flour mixture is just moist and dough begins to stick together. Gather dough into a ball and knead lightly until fully integrated.

Place dough on floured work surface and roll with floured rolling pin (or squash & pat with hands as I do) to 3/4 inch thick. Dip a 2-inch cutter (I use a small drinking glass) into flour and cut out scones as close to one another as possible. Place on prepared sheets, with space in between; let stand 10 minutes.

Brush tops with milk and bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool.

“Remove to wire rack to cool.” Ha!! Gobble up pipping hot with lashings of butter.

blooms

Sunday, April 12th, 2009

The earliest of the daffodils I planted in the fall have been blooming for 10 days and are still going strong.

Early Sensation is just that, and is brilliant on the rainy days we’ve been having, shining bright and hopeful.

Indoors the first of 3 Benefica Amaryllis I received as a gift opened fully today. Deepest, most satisfying red.

Spring.