dried currant & cranberry scones; the instructions

ingredient list:

2 cups of flour
4 teaspoons of baking powder
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup of sugar
4 tablespoons of butter, salted
2 tablespoons of shortening, chilled
3/4 cup of half and half
1 medium egg
handful of dried currants
a sprinkle of dried cranberries

instructions:

preheat oven to 375 degrees

in a medium bowl, combine your flour, baking soda, salt and sugar – mix. cut butter into small pieces (make sure your butter is room temperature) and add it to your mix. add your shortening.

in a second bowl, beat your egg and mix in the cream. once mixed well, add to the dry ingredients. mix together until all of the dough is saturated – make sure not to overwork the dough when you do this. as you’re mixing, add in your handful and sprinkle of dried fruit.

grab an ice-cream scoop or spatula and place dollops of the dough on a cookie sheet (i prefer mine with parchment paper for less sticking!). once doled out, place 1-3 dried currants on top of each scone for garnish. recipe yields a dozen scones.

bake for 15 minutes or until the outline of the scones shows a medium brown and the top a golden brown. tastes best with jam, honey or butter on top.

 

recipe altered from alton brown’s scone recipe

Valentina – Wolves

a new to me artist, with little to no information that i can find about her on the internet. but this song? it’s perfect. the album and the vinyl are available.

How to Love the Dead by Jack Gilbert

She lives, the bird says, and means nothing
silly. She is dead and available,
the fox says, knowing about the spirits.
Not the picture at the funeral,
not the object of grieving. She is dead
and you can have that, he says. If you can
love without politeness or delicacy,
the fox says, love her with your wolf heart.
As the dead are to be desired.
Not the way long marriages are,
nothing happening again and again.
Not in the woods or the fields.
Not in the cities. The painful love of being
permanently unhoused. Not the color, but the stain.

bicycle

for Christmas, Santa dropped off a black large-frame bike for a very tall husband of mine. he wasn’t kind enough to drop one off for me as well, so i’m in the market to find one.

cycle university is our local bike shop, and they let you test ride bikes. the Specialized 8-speed step-through i tried was a lovely bike. but it wasn’t quite as good as this one – i hope to test ride it soon.