If you were worried that there wouldn’t be anything to get up and knead and roll and shape in your quiet-morning-everyone-is-sleeping-or-watching-cartoons kitchen, no need. Here you go. We’ve got scones!
Way back when the sun shone and we wore T-shirts (Summer, Fall? I can’t remember–all I see now is cold), I did a sauerkraut demonstration not far from here. It was one of the events in the book tour for The Homemade Pantry, and I chopped and squeezed and salted under a tent behind a big white church. The audience was made up primarily of empty folding chairs, but the girls sat in the front next to Joey, although Rosie often vacated her chair to hop up and down the ramp to the little stage. My cousin and her partner were there, and my friend, Paige, snuck in too, as her kids happened to be manning the snack tent in front of the church. Besides that, there were 2, maybe 3 people I didn’t know.
I told myself every presentation is an opportunity, that usually I make sauerkraut alone in my kitchen, and compared to that, this was a huge crowd! And by then it had been a big Spring and Summer, and I had already learned from previous events that drew all of 5 or 6 people that there was always an upside. I would talk to someone, or I would have some random experience that I never could have predicted. It’s not the glitz you might expect from a book tour, but it had its own sort of magic mixed in with the awkward.
During the sauerkraut demonstration, I asked for volunteers, and thank the sweet lord of fermentation–a lovely woman stepped up on the stage and thrust her hand into the crock.
I was grateful.
After the event, the kraut hero and I chatted a little as we compared our purple stained hands (I always favor purple cabbage). Her name was Elizabeth, and she asked me if I had seen the Flour cookbook. I had not. “Now that is an excellent cookbook. That cookbook has the best scone recipe in it, ever.”
See? Like I said, magical things that I never could have predicted.
I agree with Elizabeth. My scone journey has ended, or at least come to a rest for a while. This is it. I have the book out from the library, and I’ve already made 3 recipes, all supreme winners. Sadie has challenged me to bake my way through the entire book, and while I am making dinner, she has taken to reading me the recipes as if they were fairy tales. She has post-its on almost every page, except the things with raisins. I’m going to have to let go of my book buying hiatus and go for this one. It’s a gem.
Recipe is here.
A bit of reading here, here, and here (while we’re talking book tours–this one made my laugh so hard, I cried) too.
Happy weekend, friends!
Occasionally I teach workshops, and I have one coming up this fall. Join me and stellar novelist 
I love scones, and yours do look delicious. I made some once with dried apricots and crystallized ginger that have not faded from my memory.
The author of Flour writes for Fine Cooking on occasion, she introduced me to the joys of creme caramel. I will see if my own library has a copy.
I never miss reading your blog, you have such a way with words! Thank you for sharing with us.
Ooohhh! Perfect! Scones were this Saturday morning’s plan and these look delicious! Thanks!
I can take scones or leave them, but please tell Sadie I’m 100% in agreement with her on raisins.
~MS
The oatmeal maple scone recipe from FLOUR is my go-to for every breakfast where I have friends over and for whenever I happen into GB to visit a favorite shopkeeper. Alana – meeting you that day and jumping up on stage was a joy and an inspiration. Now I cut up cabbage and get my hands purple with abandon. I hope always to be in your crowd and at the ready…
Next time you have a book tour, bring it to British Columbia. I would jump a the chance to cook with you. My other half is mooning over the scones as I type. Thank you!
Off to the library……
(I made some lemon tea cookies tonight. They were odd, but I loved them anyway, because, well, you know why: I MADE THEM!
Pictures on tomorrow’s post.)
Good reads! I too laughed quite a bit over the last one. Thanks!
Have a nice week…
I love scones! So does my whole family. I also love sauerkraut, and I just looked up a recipe for it because I was in a crazy mood to have a Reuben. Unfortunately, when I saw it needed a few days I opted out of it. But I have a feeling that will be on the agenda in the future!
I’m reading my way through Dinner: A Love Story right now (which I think I’ll have to buy>, will have to add Flour to the ever-growing hold list at my library… That apple cake you made the other day (from Instagram) looked yummy! (And I figured out my chia seed-banana-date muffins…great success!)
Thank you, Alana for sharing this recipe. Having had great success with your Car Snack #3–my 8 year old who shuns all nuts loves them and I feel good about them as a protein source in her lunch box–and your instant oatmeal–much less mess than when the kids make old fashioned oats in the microwave and then add sugar and whatnot separately–I made these scones Sunday morning. Well, with lots of frozen blackberries instead of the currants, with orange zest and vanilla extract, and they were a perfect Sunday breakfast with coffee.
I just bought this cookbook a few weeks ago and have been trying to perfect the chocolate chunk cookies before moving on to the other recipes…. I have a brunch coming up on Sunday and will absolutely try the scones. We’ve never met, but thanks for everything!
You must try her lemon ginger scones. They are my family’s favorite! I’ve made them with 1/2 white whole wheat and no one minds.
Those are definitely next on my list!
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