Recipe of the week

After 13 years of marriage I am finding myself in a rut when it comes to meal preparations! Now with a budding chef in the house we watch an awful lot of the Food Network but it somehow does not rub off on me. Lately, a few of my blogging buddies have started posting some recipes, complete with pictures! This seems to work better. Don't know why for sure but I guess that since another 'Mom' finds it achievable I'm not so daunted...besides, I have the pictures and narrative that I can keep going back to reference unlike the T.V. shows. (Yes, we are DVR-less and no TIVO either!)

I'm going to embark on this recipe posting path in the hopes that more blogging buddies will jump on the bandwagon and create a renewed interest in meal planning! Now my first recipe is not technically a meal. More like a snack or a dessert but something I've made recently that I think others may like...and which I remembered to take pictures of as I worked!!!!
 

The recipe is called "Scones ala Agnes". This recipe is not my original but a gift to me from my sister-in-law Agnes. You remember her, the lady that pushed Patrick and I together?!?!?

 

That would be the proud new grandma on the right in this picture! Well Agnes was born and raised in County Mayo in Ireland. Needless to say, she is well versed in the Irish repertoire and scones would be her forte!!! You know that one thing that people always ask you to bring? When it comes to Agnes it's always our request that she bring a batch of her scones!! Once we moved out of the city and started the whole child centric lifestyle, it became harder and harder to get our scone fix so Agnes came one afternoon and conducted a tutorial! Turned out to be  waaaaaay easier than even I could have imagined and now it's one of the things gaining in requests in my repertoire! Give them a try...you'll see how quickly they become 'comfort food' at your home too!!!

The ingredients are as follows:

2     Eggs

1     Stick of Softened Butter/Margarine (I only ever use butter)

1     16oz tub of Sour Cream

3.5   Cups of Flour

1      Cup of Sugar

2      Teaspoons Baking Powder

1      Teaspoon Baking Soda

1      Generous Cup of Raisins/Currants/Dried Fruit of Choice

In a large bowl combine the first 3 (wet) ingredients and beat with hand mixer ONLY UNTIL blended.

  

 

In smaller bowl or large measuring cup combine the next 4 (dry) ingredients. No need to sift the flour but just take care not to pack it either!!

Then add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix by hand! (The electric mixer tends to over work the dough making for a tougher scone!!!) You just 

want a fairly coarse mix.

Then add the fruit of your choice. No need to rehydrate as the moisture in the dough will steam the fruit as it bakes resulting in perfectly plumped fruit!!!

 

Now most of the time I use raisins. This is only because they are usually on hand but we prefer currants as they are just as sweet but smaller resulting in more per scone...and I'm also veeeery heavy handed with the fruit measurement as well (:  You can use can use any dried fruit you like or as my girls prefer....chocolate chips!!

The finished dough will be just ever so slightly wetter than drop cookie dough. If it seems too wet then add a pinch more flour. Too dry then add a drop of milk!

 

Drop in generous spoonfuls onto aluminum foil lined cookie sheets. No need to 'shape' as the whole idea of the scone is a simple quick bread!! Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until they are golden brown on top. Cool on wire racks if you can keep the scone snatchers at bay long enough...the smell of them baking usually draws a crowd though.

 

Not only are they delicious fresh baked but if stored in a ziploc bag they can be brought out later and a quick 10-15 seconds in the microwave will bring them back to their fresh baked goodness. No surprise but in this house they are usually accompanied by a generous amount of butter and washed down with a strong mug of tea.