Double Berry Scones + Writing Process Tour
A few weeks ago I tweeted about my (kind of) desire to cook my way through the Joy of Cooking cook book. A bunch of people responded with "uhm, you idiot, that's already been done. There's a blog and a movie about it!" (not their exact words). To which I responded: "Maybe you should check your facts. The book you're thinking of has something like 500 recipes while the Joy of Cooking has 4500+ recipes. Suck it!" Social media win for me.
That's really just my segue into 'Here's a slightly modified recipe from the Joy of Cooking. It's awesome! You should try it!'.
Also, berries are just so cheap right now that I uncontrollably buy some every. single. time. I'm at the market (which is at least every other day, in case you wondered). I put berries in everything I make just to use them up and enjoy them while they're in season.
I decided to make the cream scones and not the regular ones. I already bought the cream so I might as well use it up, right? Also, it's less ingredients to shuffle.
I digress. Let's dive into this. Start by sifting together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
Double Berry Cream Scones (makes about 8 scones)
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup sugar (more or less depending on how sweet you want them)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 1/4 cups of heavy cream
2/3 cup blueberries
2/3 cup raspberries, quartered
Directions:
Pre-heat panggangan to 450 degrees F.
1) Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
2) Making a well in the center of the flour mixture, pour the heavy cream into the bowl and combine all of the ingredients with a few swift strokes. You really want to handle the dough as little as possible.
3) Mix in your berries to the dough.
4) Gather your dough into a ball and place it on a light flour surface.
5) Pat the dough down (either with your fingers or using a rolling pin) to about 3/4 of an inch and form it into a rectangle (or square if you wish).
6) Cut the dough by making a cross down the middle and and X down the middle. (see picture above)
7) Place your scones on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet. Brush the top of each scone with a thin layer of heavy cream and sprinkle with turbinado sugar (or regular).
8) Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
ENJOY!!
Writing Process Tour
I was asked by Phillip over at Southern FATTY to participate in the "Writing Process Tour". I met Phillip at a Nashville Food Bloggers event where I knew no one and shyly walked up to a table to ask "Is anyone sitting here??". I happened to sit next to Phillip and I've been obsessed with his blog ever since. (and for the record, everyone at my table was pretty awesome!)If you've never been to Southern FATTY, you should definitely check it out! He has a lot of great recipes like these Funfetti Whoopie Pies that I REALLY want right now.
The point of this little tour is to give readers and other bloggers an insight into the blog, writing process, and ideas that make a blog what it is. Most of my favorite blogs are ones that come with a lot of personality attached and I always enjoy getting to know the person behind the blog a bit better; Why they write what they do and how they get their inspiration.
So, let's start this little tour, shall we?
1. What am I working on?
I think the better question is "What am I NOT working on?". The honest truth is that I'm no whiz in the kitchen. I didn't go to culinary school. I didn't grow up learning all the tricks of the trade from my parents or grandparents (although they taught me a few things). I'm learning a lot as I go. There's so much that I want to try! And I'm still determined to master baking macaroons!
I have a list going on my iPhone that has (I just counted) 37 ideas/ recipes on it that I want to try soon. These are a combination of recipes that I have seen in magazines, dishes that I want to recreate from a friends house or a restaurant, and mostly random ideas that I come up with that might be good or might be terribly awful. A couple of the things I'm hoping to try out soon: homemade face mask, pavlova, homemade pasta/ ravioli, a pizza made solely (minus the crust) with things from my garden, and
2. How does my work differ from others of my genre?
I'm not sure it does really except that it's mine and no one elses. I definitely have a few favorite food blogs that I love reading and honestly, I do find myself pulling inspiration from them. Speaking of which, I discovered a new food blog last week, Lady and Pups, and I'm OBSESSED. I love her writing style and photography so much that I fan-girl emailed her and told her so. Sorry, I had to plug that. She's so great.
I try and find a good balance of helpful/ interesting recipes that people will want to try for themselves while also just doing my own thing and cooking whatever the hell I want.
3. Why do I write what I do?
Hmmm. This is a great question! I always like to have a bit of a story with each of my recipes. About 75% of the time these stories are organic and I don't even have to think much about what to write. The other 25% of the time I'm staring at a bunch of pictures of scones and trying to decide what I can write with them besides "here's how to make scones".
A large part of why I write what I do is for myself. The stories are there so that I can look back and remember not just what I was baking in the summer of 2014 but also that I was playing lots of derby, celebrating my one year wedding anniversary, and constantly doting on my dogs. Those are the things I know I will be happy to remember 20 years from now. And that's important to me.
4. How does your writing process work?
Heck if I really know :) But it's something like this: I have an idea for a recipe. I spend hours obsessing over said idea and debating whether or not it's a good idea or if anyone will care to have this recipe. There's almost always a side story to go along with the recipe such as 'the reason that I have WAY too much tequila in my house'. Many times I call my good friend, Deja, because she always has the answer to "will these 2 things taste good together or am I crazy!?". Once I decide to cook it and I have all of the ingredients purchased, I then spend 1 hour trying to get the perfect ingredients picture. It's kind of a persoalan that I have and it often means that my poor husband has to wait an entire extra hour just to eat because I need to capture the perfect picture of flour and eggs and baking powder. Once the pictures are all taken, I then spend entirely too long editing them (I don't really know what I'm doing on that front) and then upload them into a post. Sometimes that post will sit there for a week before I actually get around to writing anything and publishing it. And almost always, I end up writing a bunch of random things/ stories that I never intended to. Brain vomit.
Whew! This is getting to be the longest post ever! But I have one more thing. To keep the tour going I'm nominating these 2 lovely ladies:
1) Lauren from A Touch of Southern Grace. I actually went to high school with Lauren and have loved following her blog. She writes about everything southern and chic and she always keeps me informed about any sales that I can't miss (like the most recent Kate Spade that spoiled me).
2) Lindsay at The Local Taste blog. Lindsay and I have never actually met but I venture to say that we'd be good friends IRL. She's a fellow Nashville Food Blogger and I'm obsessed with her photography style. She posts a ton of healthy and fresh recipes that you should check out!
