Everyone wants a piece

Just a few minutes ago I opened my email to a whole list of promotions all begging me to use up the last of my money on their products, promising that they had that perfect item that would complete my list of Christmas gifts.

They all want a piece of me this Christmas. In our materialistic, consumer-based society, it seems like everyone wants a piece! The stores want our money, our jobs want as much work as they can get - giving the least amount of holiday time possible, our friends and family want our time, the charities want our donations and volunteer hours, the special shows and concerts want our attendance, and the cameras want our smiles. 

Sometimes it feels like we aren't just doing the consuming, we ourselves are, in fact, being consumed by this holiday season. Piece by piece by piece. 

And yet, it's "the most wonderful time of the year"! The time of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. Funny that, our greatest desires during this season are usually never realized. Our hopes for a peaceful, joyful celebration surrounded by those we love, celebrating the greatest gift of all, usually go unmet. We have spent so much time consuming and being consumed, that when it all comes down to it, we have nothing left. 

Everyone around us wants a piece, but really... what we all want more is peace. Something we can't get from each other or even ourselves. We ache for that great hope of Christ's return and we pray that we will be filled with joy and love from above. 

At least I hope we do. I hope we stop and let go a little bit this season. Don't be consumed by the holiday, but rather, be filled.

For "every good thing and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation of shifting shadow" (James 1:17). 

Scone Confessions: DIY

As per request, here are a couple of the recipes of the scones mentioned in my previous post, Scone Confessions. Beware... you may have your own confessions to make soon...

Note: These recipes are not my own. I gratefully found them here and here. Though I often find for the majority of the scone recipes I look up, I have to make alterations, these two were perfect as originally directed. 

Blueberry Lemon

These were my first and remain my very favourite scones. They are so amazingly soft inside and just slightly crunchy/flaky on the outside. Using fresh lemon juice to make the glaze is spectacular, don't skip that part!

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
2 lemons zested
1/2 cup cold butter
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 egg
1 cup blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the dry ingredients and lemon zest then cut in the butter (with a pastry blender!!! It's the only way people. Gotta go old school and do it by hand!) until the mixture resembles coarse sand.

In a separate bowl whisk together cream and egg. Add these to the dry mix and combine. This part gets a little tricky because you can either add the blueberries before and mix all together but they are more likely to burst that way. Or you can add them after the dough has formed but I found that they didn't incorporate well. So I like to mix the wet into the dry a little bit first then add the blueberries and mix a little more.

I am very particular with my scones and careful not to over-mix. It's okay if all the dry isn't all combined or the dough isn't all formed together. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and carefully knead it gently together and pat down to form a circle about 1 inch thick. (I really don't knead much at all, just mostly pat it enough to keep the dough together.) Cut into 8 triangles and transfer to baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes. The bottoms will be slightly browned but these scones stay pretty light on top.

For the glaze:

Combine 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice (I usually do half of a small lemon). You want a glaze that is thick but still runs. Drizzle over the scones after they have cooled a bit.


Voila! Best scones EVER.

Raspberry Almond Scones

These darling scones are a little more effort because of the added steps of toppings but equally delicious. The crunch of nuts perfectly compliments the sweet raspberries hidden amongst the soft layers of scone.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sliced almonds (finely chopped)
1/2 cup cold butter
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 tsp almond extract (however I do not like almond extract so I used vanilla and it was delightful)
fresh raspberries (approx a cup - and they don't have to be fresh, I used frozen but these have a tendency to break into pieces)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients and almonds in a bowl and cut in the butter (remember... pastry blender). Add cream and almond extract/vanilla, mix together. Add raspberries and gently stir to combine.

This dough is a little more wet than the blueberry scones above. Careful with those raspberries as they are prone to mush (or break) - however DON'T add them before the wet...you don't want dry ingredients filling up their hollow insides! Not so tasty...

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a circle 1 inch thick. Cut into 8 pieces. Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown. Cool 5-10 before topping.

Toppings:

Mix together 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup of almond crumbs

Raspberry sauce:

1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup raspberries

Add all ingredients to a saucepan. Set over medium heat and heat until mixture comes to a light boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Pour through a sieve to remove the solids and allow to cool until ready to use.

Dip cooled scones into the syrup then into the sugar/almond topping. This makes them pink and sparkly on top. Super cute and delicious.


P.S. We used the extra syrup on ice cream a few nights later and it was delish!

And that's all for now. I'll have to post again with some more because my chai scones turned out AMAZING.

Scone Confessions

So I bake scones for therapy? What you gonna do about it? 

The answer is, come over and help me eat them.

Seriously. I am on such a scone kick over here that my family is threatening to take away my pastry blender... or they would, if they thought of it. Because I refuse to make scones with anything except an old fashioned pastry blender, without it...I'd be lost.

Raspberry Almond

Not that they don't like my scones or are sick of eating them - no the real problem is that they like them TOO much! See, they are worried about their waist-lines...and so they should be. It isn't exactly the most health-conscious pass-time to pursue I guess.

But lately, it's my stress-reliever, my fallback, my happy place.

Blueberry Lemon

Just me and the pastry blender and the soft dough. And when that perfect, warm, flakey, yet fluffy pastry comes out of the oven... well its almost bliss. Almost.

It started with the blueberry lemon scones (those are still the favourite) and grew from there. Raspberry almond, strawberries and cream, banana maple pecan, and tonight it was chocolate hazelnut. I'm pretty much stoked for autumn and all the new flavours that it inspires (think: cinnamon, apple, pumpkin, CHAI, and vanilla)

Then I made mock devonshire cream. Best idea ever. I guess I'm secretly British at heart, or at least... in the taste buds.

Chocolate Hazelnut

Snail Day

Wet wet wet

Grey skies mirrored in shallow puddles

Flattened grass, moist earth

Dripping tree branches

The snails reign

Leaving slimy trails along the sidewalk

Curly shells perfectly designed

Each pattern unique

Beady eyes searching and twitching

Slow, steady, soggy adventurers 

Speedy Snail

Peek-a-boo Snail

U-turn Snail

Stand-off Snail

Explorer Snail 

The arms that rocked me

As is always fitting on a bright Mother's Day Sunday, Pastor Don preached a message all about mothers today. He quoted from an old poem, you may have heard it: The Hand that Rocks the Cradle. 

It got me thinking about those hands who did so much more than just rock a cradle. They cleaned, they bandaged wounds, they caressed my hair, they taught me to crochet, they showed me how to knead bread, they held my own as we walked down the street. Those arms held me tight on countless occasions, from the rocking chair when I was a child unable to sleep, to the floor when I collapsed in distress, to the airport as I left home... and they are always open to me. 

Those hands that I know so well, always moving, always busy, always fulfilling another need. Those hands and the woman to who they belong have taught me well. About life and love and faith; about work and rest and play; about tears and joys and pain; about gentleness and strength and endurance. 

This Mother's Day, I am thanking God for those hands, those hands who have influenced countless lives besides my own and which I hope to one day be able to mimic with my own.