Morning bliss

It's been one of those mornings...you know, one of those mornings. The kind where your hubby is out of town enjoying a "man weekend" for a bachelor party, the kind where you wake up and realize how very quiet it is, the kind where your to-do list can wait just a little while...the kind of morning where I make something tasty, like scones.



Loving wearing slippers on this chilly morning, makes me think of fall, my FAVORITE season...and yes, that IS the infamous green carpet that you're seeing....but guess what? It will be GONE in 3 weeks!


Must light a candle when it's cloudy and cozy out...and look at you, you're getting a sneak-peek of my new counters and faucet, lucky you. =)



One thing I haven't been enjoying while pregnant has been coffee. A girlfriend once told me she knew she was pregnant because her desire for coffee was gone. I remember thinking "I don't think I could EVER not feel like coffee"...well, guess what? About 2 days after seeing those pink lines, coffee sounded horrible, and has, until the last week or so. We had quite an event the other night when I announced to Mark "I think I'm going to the store to buy some decaf coffee and cream". It was a big deal. So much of a big deal, in fact, that he went with me. So the last couple days, my trusty old coffeemaker has come out of retirement.



Are you wondering what I dumped on top of my grounds? It's a secret...no, not really. A bit of cinnamon. Have you ever tried it? DELISH. It's best when you use plain creamer, so you can really taste the cinnamon.



A new scone recipe I tried today. I always tweak things a bit, but this was a good start.


I'm loving my new oven. Let me remind you that this was the oven that was $2400 brand new, but we bought this one on Craigslist for $400. Unreal, right? It's awesome.


A tip about scones from my baking mentor, Ina Garten. Never use a mixer with the metal "whisk-like" things to make scones. I usually don't use a mixer at all, (I just hand-mix) but if you do, use the "paddle" thing. I cut my butter into pea-sized pieces before I add it. Don't over-mix. Would you like to have flaky, delicious scones or hard, rock scones? Flaky, I bet. That's why it's important to allow the butter to stay in pea-sized chunks. What happens is that the water in the butter evaporates during baking and gives you that flaky, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside yumminess.

Another tip: When your dough is ready, make sure you have a lot of flour on your counter and put the mound on there. Move the mound around so it gets flour all over it, then start patting it down into a flat circle, about half-inch thick. You can use a scone pan, but I never have...why dirty a pan when you can just cut it yourself? When your mound is flat, cut it with a floured knife like you would a pizza, that's how you get those even, cute little triangle scones. I then sprinkle just a bit of sugar on top of the scones before popping them into the oven- I prefer raw sugar because it looks prettier, but I was out, so regular did the job.

And voila, look at the crackle on the top...perfecto. What a great start to the day. Although I am so ready for our home to be filled with baby cries and babbles, I do realize I have a short window of time to enjoy mornings like these all to myself...I'm doing a pretty good job taking advantage of that, don't you think ? =)

- click on the picture to really zoom in and drool over that crackle.