a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.

carrying on with the photo theme, here are the fruits of my hands today.

i must confess that photo blogs are waaaaaaay more fun to look at than merely text blogs. i haven't found many really good writing blogs, sans photographie. so, if i am kidding myself into thinking that you adore my blog even when i write like 40 pages with zero capitalization [mostly] and no fun pictures, at least i sort of recognize that you probably would rather see pictures. i absolutely adore blogs that have really amazing photography, particularly film. it is so tempting to just scroll through page upon page of gorgeous photos, without even stopping to really appreciate any of them, or read what has been written. i, uh, kind of do that all the time.

so, while i do not aspire to call myself a photographer, i kind of sort of wish that i was legit at this sort of thing. maybe i should read my camera manual. i'd rather look at pictures.

on to today:

first i made some hash of red potatoes, baby bell peppers, and snap peas.

then i wilted some spinach and cilantro and topped it with a little parmesan, which melted oh so nicely.

a little freshly ground pepper and salt [have you had the crunchy chunky sea salt? oh my.]

a nicely chopped braeburn and some pomegranate tea topped it off.

i've been thinking about scones all day. so at work i decided to have a tea party when i came home.

[which means, in other words, i decided to make scones.]

i've made scones a few times before, but they always turned out too dry and too hard- even though i tried so hard not to overknead them! today i tried a new recipe from a Jane Austen recipe book i received for christmas [thanks s&m!!]. american [aka starbucks] scones are fairly rock hard and crumbly as pounded bones. i mean, they are great! but no such thing should be called a scone. the ones i tried in england this fall proved this point. 

scones are supposed to be soft and flaky and - would you believe it?? - moist! and they really ought to taste like butter. or cake. or butter cake.

these ones passed the test. thank you, jane austen cookbook.

i used coconut milk [left over from wagamama night!] instead of regular milk. it's creamier than 1%, and doesn't have an overly strong flavor.

they gained the family stamp of approval. and they were good even without clotted cream! [gasp]

pretty legit scone recipe

mix together:

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

crumble in with fingertips:

1/4 cup butter

form a well in the center of flour mixture, and pour in:

1/2 cup milk [coconut milk]

stir gently until barely combined.

place dough on floured surface, and gently knead [for like 10 seconds?? mine hardly needed that]

cut dough in half, form two rounds about an inch high. cut the rounds into quarters.

place on a baking sheet, bake at 450F for about 10 minutes.

top with jam, nutella, clotted cream, etc, and enjoy with a big cup of Yorkshire with milk.

please be forewarned that they will disappear very quickly, because they are ever so tasty.

cheers!

please make these for your loved ones soon! x