Scones

Marvelous, light, fluffy, wonderful scones. I remember the first time I had a scone. I was ten years old and traveling in England with my family. After a long day of walking, touring, antiquing and eating "pub grub", we decided to have afternoon tea. It was marvelous. Hot tea and a warm scone after spending the day in the cool damp, English weather...sheer perfection.
A typical English tradition, "Afternoon Tea" usually occurs around 4:00 in the afternoon. It is basically a scheduled snack time. Typical foods for Tea are little finger sandwiches (cucumber with cream cheese, smoked salmon and dill, etc), hot English tea (English Breakfast or Earl Grey, typically), and wonderful scones with clotted cream and jam. Scones are like our biscuits, but with a hint of sweetness and usually a little fruit, like Raisins.

Today, on Snow Day #2, I elected to bake scones and have tea while I enjoyed the fire that I built...and a little blogging. I chose to make Ina Garten's, The Barefoot Contessa's, Raisin Scones. They were excellent...a bit dry, but I think that is because my baking skills need to be perfected, desperately. I must admit I did skimp on the clotted cream...while it is mouth-wateringly wonderful, it is also very difficult to make and requires a bit more preparation that my baking "whim" from this afternoon. But a touch of butter and some wonderful apricot jam will do just fine.

Our house now smells like a combination of sweet, warm scones and a roaring, smoky fire...all the smells of an English house. Can you tell I'm craving a little trip? Now off to enjoy a hot scone with a little tea and a lot of relaxing by the warm fire. Cheers!