Scones and other new obsessions

The garden is on auto-pilot for now with the exception of weeding. So now is as good a time as any to update the blog.

Today I'm going to rave about a few of my new finds. Things I think are totally cool. The first is a French coffee bowl. In Quebec with Sebastien, I saw his sister drinking tea from a bowl. I asked Seb why and he explained the French coffee bowl to me. Used primarily for breakfast so dunking is easier. Had to get some. So while out shopping in Quebec, Seb bought me 6. Merci Beaucoup!!!!!!!

The next thing, also thanks to Seb's sister, is Organic peach juice. I found out the hard way that finding just plain peach juice anywhere is difficult. Why is that? You can find just about any juice you want except peach juice. Seems so simple but there must not be a demand for peach juice. Some juice producer somewhere needs to change that. Pronto.

Annnnnd....Maple Butter or Maple Cream. Ohhhh yes. Also another find from Seb's sister (yes, she's cool). It looks like creamed honey, Same concept except maple. Use it in oatmeal and on toast. So good I'm sure there are a million other uses for it also. Order online unless you are fortunate enough to live near a maple farm.

Then's there's scones. (I feel like I'm doing an "Oprah's favorite things" episode) Yes, we Americans have gotten good at eating scones but...not the real way. With clotted cream. Seb and I stayed and a B&B in Niagra on the Lake and the owner served scones with Clotted Cream. Never eaten it that way before. What a great combination. Made a good scone into a fantastic scone. So today I am going to make maple oat scones. Going to tweak the recipe so it has no dairy. (Trying very hard to eliminate most dairy from my diet. Yes, I know clotted cream is dairy) After I make my scones I can use my French coffee bowl to dunk them.

Just sharing the good stuff
Maple Oat Scones
For The Scones
1 cup oats (quick or old-fashioned)
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 1/2 tablespoons cold butter (small pieces)
1 large egg
1/2 cup half-and-half or 1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2-3/4 teaspoon maple extract
2/3 cup coarsely chopped pecans


Maple Glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
5 teaspoons water
Change Measurements: US Metric

Directions:
Prep Time: 25 mins

Total Time: 25 mins
1 Preheat oven to 425°F.
2 Using a food processor or blender, finely grind oats.
3 In a mixer, mix flour, oats, sugar, salt and baking powder.
4 Add maple syrup and butter and mix well.
5 In a small bowl, beat the egg with the cream and maple extract.
6 Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix well.
7 Add pecans and mix just to incorporate.
8 Place dough on a floured surface. Knead and pat dough into a 8 to 10 inch circle and cut into 8 wedges.
9 Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place wedges on top and bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until light brown.
10 Remove scones from oven to wire rack. Let cool about 3 to 5 minutes.
11 Mix glaze ingredients until smooth. Adjust the amount of water to get to the desired consistency. I like the glaze to be rather thick. Spread lots of glaze over each scone and dry about 15 minutes before serving.