MommyCoddle

give scones a chance

Since my "season" of being oven-less, I've had a hankering to bake a number of things. One of those being a batch of scones. Don't ask me why, but I've had scones on the brain. I neeed to make scones.

But lately, most of my attempts at any sort of dessert baking in the toaster oven have been pretty disappointing. I seem to be hitting the over-baked and under-baked marks, and have yet to find the perfect balance.

Maybe it's being snow-bound. Maybe it's pregnancy cravings. But this afternoon, I decided to give scones a chance.

In this house, scones are a perfect dessert. Dan drinks a cup of coffee after dinner each night and likes "a little something" to go along with it. Yet he's not big on anything super-sweet or super-rich. So scones, with a touch of sweet are perfect. And with a small handful of chocolate chips thrown into the dough, it makes everyone happy.

This recipe is from Alton Brown on the Food Network. You can find the original source here. They were light and fluffy, just a touch buttery. So, so good. (I admit, I sampled one pre-dinner.)

Chocolate Chip Scones

2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoons salt

1/3 cup sugar

4 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons shortening

3/4 cups cream

1 egg

(we finally have two hens laying again so our eggs were farm-fresh. yay!)

What I did: Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and "sift" with a fork to combine. Using two knives, cut in the butter and shortening. In a separate, small bowl, add the cream to a beaten egg. Make a "well" in the middle of the dry ingredients. Add the egg/cream mixture to the well and mix until combined. It will be sticky. Stir in a handful of dried fruit, chocolate chips, etc. (Here the recipe calls for you to turn the dough out onto a floured surface and cut into biscuit-sized shapes). I like "free-form" scones and just dropped them by spoonfuls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes until lightly browned.

(For baking in my toaster oven, I "eeked" back the temperature a bit and babysat them while they baked, cutting back the time by about 1 minute.)

Since my “season” of being oven-less, I’ve had a hankering to bake a number of things. One of those being a batch of scones. Don’t ask me why, but I’ve had scones on the brain. I neeed to make scones.

Maybe it’s being snow-bound. Maybe it’s pregnancy cravings. But this afternoon, I decided to give scones a chance.

In this house, scones are a perfect dessert. Dan drinks a cup of coffee after dinner each night and likes “a little something” to go along with it. Yet he’s not big on anything super-sweet or super-rich. So scones, with a touch of sweet are perfect. And with a small handful of chocolate chips thrown into the dough, it makes everyone happy.

This recipe is from Alton Brown on the Food Network. You can find the original source here. They were light and fluffy, just a touch buttery. So, so good. (I admit, I sampled one pre-dinner.)

Chocolate Chip Scones

2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoons salt

1/3 cup sugar

4 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons shortening

3/4 cups cream

1 egg

(we finally have two hens laying again so our eggs were farm-fresh. yay!)

What I did: Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and “sift” with a fork to combine. Using two knives, cut in the butter and shortening, I used the Santoku and the western chef’s knife, if you would like to know the difference between them check out https://viebelles.com/blogs/taste/santoku-knife-vs-chef-knife-the-difference. In a separate, small bowl, add the cream to a beaten egg. Make a “well” in the middle of the dry ingredients. Add the egg/cream mixture to the well and mix until combined. It will be sticky. Stir in a handful of dried fruit, chocolate chips, etc. (Here the recipe calls for you to turn the dough out onto a floured surface and cut into biscuit-sized shapes). I like “free-form” scones and just dropped them by spoonfuls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes until lightly browned.

(For baking in my toaster oven, I “eeked” back the temperature a bit and babysat them while they baked, cutting back the time by about 1 minute.)

8 Comments

Show & Tell : moleskine

I have a problem. Maybe even an addiction. And I'm pretty sure this is a safe place to admit it. To come clean. Because something tells me there are other addicts among us.

I am addicted to journals and planners. All things organizational. All that blank space for ideas and lists.

It used to be that almost any journal could suck me in –lined, unlined, spiral, hardbound, wide ruled, college ruled…

But with time and experience and as I've honed my addiction, I've come to realize that there is one company that just gets it right. That has managed to think of all the things I want in a journal/planner — from a tiny pocket in the back, to the "feel" of the page, to the amount of writing space.

That company would be Moleskine. They have really managed to capture the perfect balance between planner space and journal space, and they do both very well.

So I am really excited this morning to be able to offer a bundle of moleskine goodies to TWO lucky mommycoddle readers.

Each bundle will include a Color-A-Month calendar and a pocket sized address book, as well as a few other tidbits, that I know you'll use and enjoy.

Be sure to check out all that Moleskine has to offer as well as their new colors–blues, pinks? I love it.

In order to enter, simply leave a comment on this post and I'll announce the two random winners on Thursday. Good luck!

*Please note: I will be shipping out the winner's prizes myself, so I am asking each winner to pay for shipping (via paypal). Please be sure you are willing to do this, before you enter. Some of the products have been removed from their clear plastic packaging for "inspection" for my review, but are in perfect condition, otherwise.

I have a problem. Maybe even an addiction. And I'm pretty sure this is a safe place to admit it. To come clean. Because something tells me there are other addicts among us.

I am addicted to journals and planners. All things organizational. All that blank space for ideas and lists.

It used to be that almost any journal could suck me in –lined, unlined, spiral, hardbound, wide ruled, college ruled…

That company would be Moleskine. They have really managed to capture the perfect balance between planner space and journal space, and they do both very well.

So I am really excited this morning to be able to offer a bundle of moleskine goodies to TWO lucky mommycoddle readers.

Each bundle will include a Color-A-Month calendar and a pocket sized address book, as well as a few other tidbits, that I know you'll use and enjoy.

Be sure to check out all that Moleskine has to offer as well as their new colors–blues, pinks? I love it.

In order to enter, simply leave a comment on this post and I'll announce the two random winners on Thursday. Good luck!

160 Comments

good finds / home / IN MY KITCHEN / life on thomas run

worth sharing

Yesterday morning, cleaning up breakfast dishes in the kitchen, I found myself thinking, "I can't remember what kinds of things I blog about." I think we all go through these blog-phases where it doesn't seem like there is much to be said. Although this seems to contradict my thoughts just a few posts ago…hmn.

But if I really stop to think, there are plenty of things each day worth noting…

*I'm beginning week 4 of no oven. It's a challenge, let me tell you. Someone wrote and said they hadn't used an oven in two years. That blows my mind. Especially when I'm itching to revisit my Artisan Bread
book after Erin's post, and cookies just don't turn out well in the toaster oven, and I'm really wanting to whip up a good scone recipe, and make granola and, and…. Dan said to me last night, "Why don't you just try using it again? What's the worst that could happen? You blow up the house?" Yes, exactly. I'll wait for a new one, thank you. (He was kidding, of course.)

*We got a little snow yesterday and of course my chore companion was still happy to join me to let out chickens and feed the cats. The chickens weren't as fond of the snow as she was. You'd think they were walking on fire, the way the avoid stepping in the snow. Poor things.

*I went to the "baby doctor" yesterday. The baby is breech. And I'm measuring almost 36 weeks instead of 32. She also told me to "take it easy" after some "incidents" the week before. Taking it easy isn't so easy. Dan said maybe we should think about starting to get prepared… What!? The one measly sweater I've managed to knit for this baby isn't enough?? How am I ever going to fit in the knitting of this blanket I'm dying to make??

*There are new faces over at habit.

*I'm really liking the discovery of the NewYorkTimes skimmer. For someone who doesn't (often) read the newspaper and never watches the news, it's a quick and easy way for me to stay current.

*I found this article about snacking yesterday. It was really eye-opening and interesting to me.

*Does anyone have a good solution for crazy-static-y child hair? My girls' hair is crazy and it's driving me crazy.

*The final season of LOST is here. I remember thinking when it started, "There's no way I'll last all the way until 2010 to see how it ends!!" Yet here I am.

*I'm inspired by Rachel's "thrifted wardrobe" set on flickr, once I get out of these maternity jeans.

*After a brief hiatus around the holidays, I'm back to collecting goodness on tumblr. Go take a peek. (And click on the "following" link. You may see what a few familiar faces and names are "collecting" as well.)

See? I guess there were a few things worth sharing. As always, friends, hello and thank you for stopping in here.