Food Friday - Scones, a royal treat!

In honour of the royal wedding this morning, I thought I would post a recipe for a tried and true British snack - Scones!

For those of you who are not familiar with Scones these little delights, when baked perfectly, have a crisp exterior and an interior that is light and fluffy with a rich buttery flavor.  These can be closely compared to "American" biscuits however they tend to be a touch sweeter.  Scones are quite lovely just warm from the oven and are often served with jam, lemon curd, Devonshire, clotted or whipped cream. 

The recipe I have provided below is for plain Cream Scones however a variety of items can be added before baking to spruce up this delicacy.  (dried fruit, cheese, bacon, nuts, chocolate chips)

Ingredients:

- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup cold unsalted butter (cut into bits)
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup milk, half&half or heavy cream

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, place rack in the middle of oven, line baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease with butter or cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or your fingertips (the mixture should look like coarse crumbs).  In a small measuring cup whisk together the cream, beaten egg and vanilla.  Add this mixture to the flour mixture.  Stir just until combined.  Do not over mix or the scones will be heavy and flat instead of light and fluffy. 

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently for or five times and then pat into a 7 inch round.  Using a lightly floured 2.5 inch round cookie cutter, cut the dough into rounds.  Place the rounds on the prepared cookie sheet, spacing a few inches apart.  Brush the tops of the scones with a little cream, this helps to brown the tops of the scones during baking.

Bake for about 15-18 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the centre of a scone comes out clean.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

Makes about 10 - 2.5 inch round scones.

Scones are best the day they are made but can be covered and stored for a few days or can be frozen.  Scones are also very good as the base of a strawberry shortcake.

Note:  This recipe was found at www.joyofbaking.com a video tutorial can be viewed at http://www.joyofbaking.com/scones.html

Make it Monday - A 'Super" Outfit!

So this is a little late but it is still Monday!  This weekend we had some unexpected events which left our home smelling of sewage and our sinks unable to empty, and on top of everything our little boy is teething and decided that 4:30am would be an appropriate time to start the day.  But I felt that I could not miss my very first day of my blogging schedule so here we go...

For my premiere tutorial I will be showing you how to make a little super hero outfit.  Today I will show you how to applique and tomorrow we will add a cape.  Techniques that will be used are; making and applying appliques, buttons and button holes.

To complete parts 1 and 2 of this tutorial you will need the following items:

- 1 onesie
- fusible webbing
- light interfacing
- material for cape
- material for superhero symbol
- 3 to 5 buttons or snaps

First decide on a superhero symbol.  There are many tried and true superheros out there or you can create your own.  For today's example we will be using batman.

When we are finished the applique process the shirt will look like this:

Step 1:  Trace superhero symbol onto card stock and cutout.

Step 2:  Trace logo onto paper side of fusible webbing.  Remember if the symbol is not symmetrical then make sure you are tracing the reverse of the image onto the paper.  Iron fusible webbing onto fabric.  Cut out symbol.



Turn shirt inside-out and reinforce the area where the symbol will be sewn by applying interfacing.

Turn shirt rightside-out and iron symbol to interfaced area. 

After symbol has cooled zig-zag stitch around the edges.

And there we have a superhero symbol on a onesie.

Come back tomorrow and we will add the detachable cape!

Introducing 'Make It Mondays' and other great things!

Hi everyone,

So I have come up with a way to keep me on track with some regular blogging - a schedule!

From now on Mondays will be known as 'Make it Mondays'.  Every Monday will feature a DIY tutorial.  Join us this Monday for my first ever tutorial which will feature a super outfit for your super boy (or girl!).

Here are some sneak peak pictures:

 

The superhero suit - complete with detachable cape!



Now you will see a couple pictures of the superhero suit in action:



The superhero looking cute as usual, but what is that?  Is it a hint of worry?



Yes it is worry!  Oh no!  Our superhero is in jail, whatever will he do now?







But with lightening quick speed he swerves left, he swerves right!



and then flys to safety!





For more adventure visit us Monday!