A Throw Back to 2009... Since I am traveling to Ireland today I thought I would repost something 'Irish'... Scones!
School holidays are happening as I type. French Husband and Sacha went skiing. Chelsea came home with more books, binders, and notepads than laundry. She has finals and nothing else matters more than intense studies right now. My broken rib, lack of skiing skills, a daughter who needs a devoted mother to feed her, and my love of silence allowed me the avenue to stay home. I am happy the sun is shining.
I asked Chelsea what she would like to have for lunch, she replied, "Scones."
A flood of memories poured in with that one word... Scones. Don't you love food memories? Oh how they nourish the heart and soul, giving it food for thought without calories. The memory of scones does just that...and we are not even from Scone-Land. Scones, muffins, bagels and cupcakes are not a French thing. Instead Brioche, pain au chocolat, escargot, croissants and pain perdu take their place.
During the school holidays, when our children were little, I often made scones for them. More often than not, when we made scones something happened, interrupted us from our scone making-- or caused us to make them in a flash.
It got to the point that if we were going to make scones, we would expect something unexpected to happen. If nothing happened, we would doubt whether the scones would turn out.
From my cookbook the SCONE recipe says:
(1995-- School Holiday Scones)
"This morning we made scones for breakfast at lunchtime. While I was making them I was not focused on what I was doing due to the phone ringing, the postman coming to the door, and a friend came over telling us about how they found human ashes in a milk container. (I decided to use yogurt instead of milk for the scones.)
And guess what? The best, flaky, moist on the inside, crisp outer texture scones arrived out of the oven. I discovered the secret ingredient in making scones: Distraction."
Recipe from my friend who is Irish: Mary Kate (Allison's Sister).
Scone Recipe
A well buttered baking sheet from the hand's of children
In a bowl (Sacha mixed the ingredients with his plastic sword turned into a spoon.)
- One cup and less than a third of flour,
- 1 teaspoon of sugar,
- a pinch of salt,
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder,
- Half a teaspoon of baking soda.
- Mix the above then add:
- Two tablespoons of cold butter, crumble lightly into the flour mixture.
- Add one egg (room temperature is best)
- and a small container of yogurt (about half of a cup). Fold until blended.
Dust the table with a little flour. Place the dough on it, gently knead and pat out into a circle. Cut the scones using an upside -down, juice glass. Makes 6 or 8 scones.
Preset oven to 375 and bake for 6 to 8 minutes. Turn off oven and let rest for a couple of minutes or so.
Serve with butter, strawberry jam, honey, orange marmalade and a bowl of cafe au lait (this is France after all.)
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I hope to have new memories of scones soon!!