Sunday morning

I love Sunday mornings. Who doesn't? This morning we woke very late (8am is very late for us these days), feeling rested and calm, and I determined to stay in my pyjamas for as long as decently possible. Susan usually makes biscuits on Sunday mornings, it's become a bit of a family tradition, but as we were lying in bed thinking (emphasis here on the thought, the act was several minutes away) about getting up she mentioned some pumpkin scones that she'd seen in a Nigella cookbook a couple of days ago. Of course, we have no pumpkin right now (strangely, the shops are once again devoid of canned pumpkin) and it's an autumnal recipe anyway, but that got me thinking about scones. I haven't made scones for years. Years and years. Probably 15 years. So, I decided that I'd make scones for everyone for breakfast. I dug out my old recipe book and found the recipe that both my mum and grandma used to use (well, my mum still does) and 30 minutes later there were freshly baked scones making the kitchen smell fantastic and transporting me back to my childhood. By the time I got to take pictures, they'd already been predated upon.




As I'm pretty certain that grandma would highly approve of having her recipe shared with whatever small portion of the world deigns to read my blog, here it is:

8oz self raising flour
1oz sugar
2oz butter or margerine (very cold, I actually freeze mine before chopping it into tiny pieces)
pinch of salt
1 egg, whisked with milk to make the overall quantity 1/4 pint
fruit to taste (I used raisins today, but you could add cranberries, cherries, peach, blueberry, candied peel, the list is endless)

Mix all dry ingredients.
Blend in butter until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs
Blend in egg/milk mixture with a fork until you have a wet but firm dough
Add fruit, if desired

Some people like to roll their scone dough and cut sweet little rounds. I take the lazy approach and dollop a spoonful onto a greased baking tray, squish it down a little, and hope for the best. This results in rustic, smallish scones.

Bake at 425 F for about 15 minutes. My small toaster oven runs a little hot so mine were done after 13 minutes--I started checking them at 10 minutes and watched like a hawk for the last three. Your oven may vary.

So what else?

Well, I've finished my summer stint in the Writing Center and have a nice break now until the semester starts in about three weeks time. I've got a packed schedule next semester--20 class hours, and 5.5 hours in the Writing Center. But I do have all Thursday away from campus, just have to go in for my fellowship seminar at 5pm. Thursday, I suspect, will be my homework day. I'm hoping to camp out at the local Starbucks and work for hours and hours.

Knit-wise, this week I finished a scarf for Jen's youngest, Lexie, for Christmas. It's nothing grand, just a scrap scarf in shades of purple (her favourite colour). Actually, it's a little narrower than I'd have liked because I ran out of purple scraps but I think it will be fine for a 9/10 year old. Faith (her sister) is getting a similar scarf in orange--I cast on for that last night. I'm still working on the test knit cardigan and making slow progress there. I'm not super-keen on the yarn with this pattern, but I think it will work. And I'm in the middle of the craziest socks ever. I'm knitting them with my own design--although it's hardly a complicated pattern. Cookie A need not panic, I will not be stealing her sock crown anytime soon.