Tuesday, April 29, 2008

A Recipe worth Sharing

Now I just know you all thought this was going to be an entry about some "recipe for life" crap.. LOL... but it's not.. I wanted to share this recipe that Kim found for the scones.  We made another batch this morning for breakfast and we were all smiling by the end of breakfast.... they are THAT good.

 

The Basic Scone Recipe

You can make numerous kinds of scones. Find your favorite basic scone recipe and you can add any extra flavor to it. For example: almonds, cinnamon bits, chocolate chips, any type of berry, There are so many possibilities.

* This recipe has currants or raisins... this is the ingredient that you would substitute with your pick of flavor you wish for your scone.

Remember: The trick to good soft scones is the less you handle the batter the better. (And this is why scones are not very pretty. And so my saying goes: "The uglier the scone the better!")

INGREDIENTS:

1 ¾ cups all purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

¼ cup white sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

½ cup dried currants or raisins

½ cup milk

¼ cup sour cream

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk

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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

 

Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large bowl.

 

Cut in butter using a pastry blender until it is in pea sized lumps.

 

Stir in the currants/raisins.

 

Mix together ½ cup milk and sour cream in a measuring cup. Pour all at once into the dry ingredients, and stir gently until well blended.  (It should resemble biscuit dough)

 

Either put scone dough in a circle and cut with pizza cutter into eight or more wedges, depending on the size you want, or you can flatten the dough and cut out with biscuit or round cookie cutter.

 

Place on cookie sheet making sure they don’t touch.

 

Scones do grow so you will want to place them at least an inch apart.

 

Whisk together the egg and 1 tablespoon milk. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash.  Let them rest for about 10 minutes.

 

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the tops are golden brown, not deep brown.  Break each scone apart or slice in half.  Serve with butter or clotted cream and a selection of jams- or even plain.

 

**I traded the currants for mini chocolate chips and also made a batch with blueberries this morning.  When we made these for Kim's class, I used margarine and the batter was much looser, so we dropped them by tablespoons on the cookie sheet (made more for the class that way).  With the smaller drop biscuits, I only needed 10 minutes of cooking time. Today's batch used butter and the dough came out like it should and I sliced it into the triangular shapes of the traditional scone.  These scones today needed the full 15 minutes of baking time.

 


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Saturday, April 26, 2008

Family Genetics

(L to R: Tracy (27), Kim (16), Kendra (19), Tina (29)

 

This is a picture I took at Christmas time Of my two girls with my brother's two girls.  LOL... Now, I may be biased, but I have always been amazed at how much my two look like his two.  I have picture proof at last.  Especially Tracy and Kim. 

Probably more bizarre is the number of mannerisms these sets of two have in common, without having actually grown up in the same town together.   

Anyway, I just wanted to share this pic of my four darlings.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Scones, burns, blisters

Kim had a project due today in English.  The project had to do with "personal heritage". Each student had to present an interesting piece of information of one of the countries from which they have family AND bring a food item from that country to share with the class. (Her teacher admits to liking to eat, so I suspect this was a sneaky way to have an "end of the year" party.

Kim elected to do something about England and she decided her food contribution would be scones.

She found a really simple recipe on line last night and after Grey's Anatomy, we started baking. I finished up around 10:30 pm.  We did a bit of adjusting for ingredients that we didn't have in the house and the results were very good. (Chocolate Chip Scones).  

During the course of the baking I discovered that I need to replace my oven mitts.  OUCH!!!  The heat of the pan went straight through the mitt onto my hand. It hurt so freaking bad and all I could think was "don't drop the pan".   LOL.. I didn't want to have to make another batch of scones (she needed at least 30 for the class size).

The burn was so bad that I blistered.  I spent another two hours after the scones were done alternating cool water and an ice compress on my burns to relieve the pain so I could go to bed.

Two small blisters in the area between my thumb and pointer finger.  They hurt a lot less today, but are still very sensitive to touch. 

On the grocery list: new oven mitts!

Thursday, April 24, 2008

We think we have a winner!

After much searching, we think we found a puppy for Mac. We are going to meet her this weekend and see if she's a good match with him.  I hope so... she's certainly a cutie to look at.   Here are her pics.

She has been staying with a foster family with her mother and sister.  She is a beagle mix, and I'm hoping she doesn't get much bigger than "medium" size.  At any rate, we're looking forward to meeting her this weekend and really hoping that we can arrange to bring her home after May 1 (her spaying is scheduled for May 1).  All that is left is a "home visit" before they will place her with us.

Mac is over the moon excited to meet this little girl.

 

Friday, April 18, 2008

Computers suck!

I have been without internet access from my computer this week.  Apparently the modem is not on speaking terms with the program.  At any rate... I've been forced to use Paul's laptop to do my internet stuff and I am not happy about that.

Paul will have time on Sunday to do desperate measures on the computer to get it working (I hope) again.

Today we are taking off to GA for the REN FAIRE.  Should be a blast. 

I stopped and looked at some puppies yesterday (side of the road).  The lady claimed they were chihuahuas but damn they were huge puppies for chihuahuas... at least I thought so... two were all cream and two were cream with darker brown markings.

Mac wants a bigger dog than that (and so does Paul), so I passed. On Monday we'll get serious about this search.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

The Puppy Hunt Has Begun

Mac has been asking for a dog for years.  I am not a dog person, I am a cat person.  But somehow that cute face managed to convince me that we should get a dog.

Last week we installed a fence for our back yard.

On 22 April, we are going dog hunting. We have a couple of good prospects in a nearby town (trying to rescue a pup as opposed to paying a breeder).

What lengths we moms go to, to make a family member happy.

 


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Wednesday, April 9, 2008

I find it funny that...


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The reality show: The Bachelor cannot seem to get a couple to the alter (save Trista and Ryan), but the reality show : Biggest Loser has managed to create two married couples:

Suzie Preston and Matt Hooper from the first season of Biggest Loser.

Amy Hildreth and Marty Wolff (from the third season) married on March 29.

Maybe the Bachelor could take a lesson from The Biggest Loser on how to create romance and love?

Friday, April 4, 2008

Pondering the next step

I have been toying with the idea of going back to college. There are two areas of interest that I think I would enjoy and in which I think I would be good.

The first area is elementary education.  I have loved homeschooling my children and while I am anxious to see the end of this year when Mac returns to the public high school, I am also going to miss that part of my life.  So, I am considering finishing my degree in education and becoming a school teacher. I think that I can bring an interesting perspective to the classroom.

The second area is nursing.  Most of my earlier career has been in the medical field, working in doctors' offices as a med assistant or clerical positions.  I really enjoy working with patients.  I have learned that one of the local colleges offers two nursing programs.  One is an 15 month LPN course, the other a two year RN program. 

I have mentioned my interest to Paul.  He never says no.. and he never really says yes. What he has been saying is how much he wishes the Army would release the education benefits to officers' families (they have already done this for many enlisted MOS's).  Something tells me that his biggest concern is the money... with one kid already in college...I think he worries that my education might just stretch the budget a bit more than he'd like.

I can appreciate that. These kids are definitely in the more expensive age range at the moment and we have two more coming up for college.  But I think that what we might lose out on in the short term, we'd more than make up for once I had a degree and could work in my chosen field (with nursing of course offering more money than teaching).

I figure I have some time to play with the numbers and really get my information together before I present Paul with the facts.  And I may be reading all the wrong things into his comments, but somehow I don't think so.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Thank you Russ- Answers to the Movie Meme

I may have jumped on the bandwagon a bit late, at any rate.. I do thank Russ for playing and rather than leave this up any longer, here are the answers for the rest of the quotes.

 

1. I feel like a defective typewriter. (Grease)

2. A little more caution from you, that is no trinket you carry. (Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring)

3.Thirty years from now, when you're sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee and he asks you, "What did you do in the great World War II," you won't have to say, "Well... I shoveled shit in Louisiana."     (Patton)

 4. After all, the wool from the black sheep is just as warm. (Sound of Music)

5. You're gonna need a bigger boat.  (Jaws)

6. He's ruining the play! He's ruining the whole play!  (Parenthood)
 
7. Hallo. Vould you like a roll in ze hay?   (Young Frankenstein)
 
8. I love this internet. It's part fantasy, part community, and you get to pay your bills naked.  (Must Love Dogs)
 
9. You are not special enough to overcome a bad marriage.  (Terms of Endearment)
 
10.  It's spooky! She knows more about you than you do!  (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)
 
11. My secret weapon is PMS.  (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
 
12. Boy, it sure would be nice if we had some grenades, don't you think?  (Serenity)
 
13. You think a sweater vest would look good on me?  (Dave)
 
14.  I'm adjusted.  I eat all four food groups, and look both ways before crossing the street... and take long naps... (Lilo and Stitch)

15. Come back to me. (Somewhere in Time)