Catching Up + Scone Recipe

I hope everyone had a great holiday break! I go back to work tomorrow, which I am sad about. A few days off is just not enough but oh well, what can you do. I spent Christmas day with my dad and brother. We never make a big deal out of it so it was just like any other day off, except I did lots of cooking and ate so much. I baked scones in the morning (recipe below) and made a roast.

I spent Christmas day catching up on Gossip Girl. I started watching the show back in 2008 and my, how things have changed. The show grew more over the top with each season and I stuck by it out of loyalty even though it sometimes got incredibly tiring, especially all of Blair’s antics. I’m glad I did and I’m glad it has ended. I now need to find a new show. Any recommendations? And no, I don’t want to watch Vampire Diaries, no matter how “good” it’s supposed to be. I just refuse.

House sitting has been going well. I’ve had to come back home a few times so it hasn’t really felt like I’ve been living out of home for two weeks. The cats are lovely; Bear is really warming up to me. He even climbed into bed with me one morning and proceeded to purr like a snotty child. I found a local pub that does trivia on Tuesdays and Sundays so I’m pretty excited about this. The local Savers has proven to be quite fruitful: I found a very 80s floral dress that has been helpfully altered to suit my short legs. I might head back there this week to look for some more things. I need more summer dresses.

Mum had her surgery this morning. She’s had to remove all of her reproductive organs. We skyped for a bit after her surgery, even though she was incredibly tired. My uncle had to hold the ipad horizontally so we could see her. It was a bit freaky: she had all these tubes coming out of her nose and she wasn’t allowed to lie on a pillow. Nonetheless, everything seems to have gone very smoothly. We’ll contact her later tonight. My uncle and aunt are in the hospital to look after her so that’s good. My uncle took a photo of her reproductive organs. They were rolled up into a ball and perched on top of a yellow biohazard bin lid. Her bits looked like a pig’s heart.

It’s been a slightly sombre holiday period but I’m trying to be positive. I’ve been reading a lot this month, thanks to an awesome Christmas gift from Liam. He got me a kindle and he loaded it with Agatha Christie novels and Harry Potter. It’s been great because I’ve noticed I’ve been watching less TV and reading much more. I want to keep this up.

I mentioned earlier I made scones for Christmas. I’ve never properly made scones before. I remember in primary school, we made them at camp and they were hard and gross. In high school, we made pinwheel scones, loaded with tomato paste and cheese. However, I’ve never made the classic scone. I found a recipe online and tweaked it very slightly. It’s very easy so do try it out.

Scones
adapted from Janelle Bloom’s recipe on the Ready Steady Cook Website.
Makes 6 - 8

Ingredients:
2 cups of self-raising flour
200 ml of cream
150 ml of milk
1 dash of lemon juice
Plain flour, for dusting
Whipped cream and jam, to serve

Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 200ºC (I use a fan force oven)
2. Stir lemon juice into milk
3. Sift flour into a large bowl and add milk mixture and cream. Use hands to combine mixture. Do not over mix.
4. Spread dough onto floured surface. Make sure the dough is of 4cm thickness
5. Cut out the dough using a cookie cutter and place on a tray lined with baking paper
6. Put the scones in the oven for 12 - 15 minutes
7. Enjoy with whipped cream, jam and a cup of tea

My Notes:

- The scones came out really well. They were very fluffy and perfect.
- My friend, whose grandmother made scones for soldiers in WW2, told me you need to use milk that’s been curdled. Adding a dash of lemon juice to the milk does the trick and they turned out great!
- Don’t over mix the dough. My dough mixture was sticky but not wet. I think that’s a good consistency.

What did you get up to these holidays?