Saturday, February 20, 2010

SPRING....WHERE ARE YOU?


My Paper Whites wasted NO time.
















Three weeks after planting the bulbs they looked like this!











Can you smell them?

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

SCONES & CLOTTED CREAM


Last week I told you about the scones & cream I had last summer. Well after a little experimenting and research I found a cream recipe that I liked and made some scones from scratch.

Making scones is very much like making a southern biscuit. Of a matter of fact, if I didn't know any different, I would call a scone a biscuit.




The difference between the two, I found, is that a biscuit is SUPPOSE to be a lighter, more flaky type bread in comparison to a scone. The only real difference I can see is that a scone can have fruit or herbs added to its dough.



(In the South everyone makes their biscuits different. I use to make big thick flaky biscuits but my neighbor made flatter biscuits. It is just a matter of preference & how you were taught to make them. Both are good.).


















The recipe I was given from the Mad Hatter Teashop for the cream was NOT RIGHT. Either the boy who waited on me told me wrong or they just didn't want me to have it.
So I looked on the Internet & found a recipe that tastes like what I remembered.



We ate the scones with cream & mayhaw preserves that Danny made last year.













My results paid off...everyone loved them.


















Recipe from: Great Party Recipes.com

Basic Scone Recipe:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk (approx.) I used butter milk.




Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Stir in the egg. (If you are using one of the variations below, this is a good point to add nuts, dried fruit, chocolate chips, cheese, etc.)

Gradually add the milk until a thick dough is formed. (It may take more or less than 3/4 cup.)

Turn out the mixture onto a floured board and knead lightly. Roll out the dough to 3/4" thickness and cut into rounds with a 2" cookie cutter. Gather the trimmings and lightly knead, roll, and cut them as well.

Place the rounds about 1" apart on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush the tops with a little beaten egg or milk. Bake in a preheated 450° oven for about 10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm.

Makes 12 to 16 scones, depending on the recipe version used.

I brushed the hot scones with a little butter & then dusted them with powdered sugar.


Recipe from: Big Oven
Mock Devonshire Clotted Cream

1 pk (3 oz) cream cheese
1 c Heavy or whipping cream
1 ts Powdered sugar (I sweetened it to my taste, so I used a little more)
1/2 ts Vanilla

Blend all ingredients until thick and fluffy.
Keep refrigerated.

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY!!

It is old news to most of you now...Ole Phil & his shadow has given us 6 more weeks of Winter!

It is 52 degrees and drizzling rain here today. Makes for a cold damp day!

My husband requested a "Tater Sandwich" for his lunch so I was up & in the kitchen early this morning. After making his lunch I started tonight's supper....Taco soup. The recipe is a little different from what I've cooked before & I think it will be a keeper.















I want to thank Susanne for the "HAPPY 101 AWARD"! That was mighty nice of ya!



So here are 10 things that make me happy.
1. A good meal, especially if I cooked it. (that sense of accomplishment I guess).
2. A fire in the fireplace.
3. Daisys!!!
4. My grand daughter!!
5. CHOCOLATE...OF ANY KIND!!!
6. Sunrises.
7. Like Susanne....a good cup of coffee!
8. DVR or Tvo or what ever you call that thingy that lets me record my shows & then watch WITHOUT commercials!
9. Peanut butter...anyway you spread it or cook it or dip it.
10. Blogging! I love it! I can stay at home & go so many places, visit many friends, & learn so much with out ever leaving the house!!!

I would feel wayyyy to guilty trying to give this award out to a select few because the truth is....if I go to your blog...you make me HAPPY & you deserve the HAPPY 101 AWARD....other wise I would not waste my time!! So you know who you are!

Steal the button if you like & list 10 things that MAKE YOU HAPPY! Don't we all need this in our life!!

Monday, February 01, 2010

A SPOT OF TEA?



Last year when we went to stay at the Coast, Little Package and I went roaming. We stopped in at the Mad Hatter Teashop in St. Mary's for a snack. One of the items that caught my sweet tooth was the "cream" they served with the scones. That stuff was GOOD!!








I asked for the recipe and tried to replicate it without success. Simple ingredients of heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla. What I think I did wrong was NOT whipping it.

I have been researching it on the Internet. Of course this "cream" that I like is suppose to be a substitute for Devonshire Cream or Clotted Cream which we CAN NOT get in my neck of the woods AT ALL!












I am going to try again to whip up some of this heavenly spread. Can I say...I am craving it!!!

I've never made scones from scratch but I feel like that will be pretty simple.....we will see.













Did yall have a good weekend?

It was cold and wet Saturday and just plain cold yesterday but clear skies.