MommyCoddle

give scones a chance

Since my "season" of being oven-less, I've had a hankering to bake a number of things. One of those being a batch of scones. Don't ask me why, but I've had scones on the brain. I neeed to make scones.

But lately, most of my attempts at any sort of dessert baking in the toaster oven have been pretty disappointing. I seem to be hitting the over-baked and under-baked marks, and have yet to find the perfect balance.

Maybe it's being snow-bound. Maybe it's pregnancy cravings. But this afternoon, I decided to give scones a chance. 

In this house, scones are a perfect dessert. Dan drinks a cup of coffee after dinner each night and likes "a little something" to go along with it. Yet he's not big on anything super-sweet or super-rich. So scones, with a touch of sweet are perfect. And with a small handful of chocolate chips thrown into the dough, it makes everyone happy. 

This recipe is from Alton Brown on the Food Network. You can find the original source here. They were light and fluffy, just a touch buttery. So, so good. (I admit, I sampled one pre-dinner.)

Chocolate Chip Scones

2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoons salt

1/3 cup sugar

4 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons shortening

3/4 cups cream

1 egg 

(we finally have two hens laying again so our eggs were farm-fresh. yay!)

What I did: Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and "sift" with a fork to combine. Using two knives, cut in the butter and shortening. In a separate, small bowl, add the cream to a beaten egg. Make a "well" in the middle of the dry ingredients. Add the egg/cream mixture to the well and mix until combined. It will be sticky. Stir in a handful of dried fruit, chocolate chips, etc. (Here the recipe calls for you to turn the dough out onto a floured surface and cut into biscuit-sized shapes). I like "free-form" scones and just dropped them by spoonfuls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes until lightly browned. 

(For baking in my toaster oven, I "eeked" back the temperature a bit and babysat them while they baked, cutting back the time by about 1 minute.)

Show & Tell : moleskine

  

 
 

 I have a problem. Maybe even an addiction. And I'm pretty sure this is a safe place to admit it. To come clean. Because something tells me there are other addicts among us. 

I am addicted to journals and planners. All things organizational. All that blank space for ideas and lists. 

It used to be that almost any journal could suck me in --lined, unlined, spiral, hardbound, wide ruled, college ruled...

  

 

But with time and experience and as I've honed my addiction, I've come to realize that there is one company that just gets it right. That has managed to think of all the things I want in a journal/planner -- from a tiny pocket in the back, to the "feel" of the page, to the amount of writing space. 

That company would be Moleskine. They have really managed to capture the perfect balance between planner space and journal space, and they do both very well. 

 

 

So I am really excited this morning to be able to offer a bundle of moleskine goodies to TWO lucky mommycoddle readers.  

 

 

Each bundle will include a Color-A-Month calendar and a pocket sized address book, as well as a few other tidbits, that I know you'll use and enjoy. 

Be sure to check out all that Moleskine has to offer as well as their new colors--blues, pinks? I love it.

In order to enter, simply leave a comment on this post and I'll announce the two random winners on Thursday. Good luck!

*Please note: I will be shipping out the winner's prizes myself, so I am asking each winner to pay for shipping (via paypal). Please be sure you are willing to do this, before you enter. Some of the products have been removed from their clear plastic packaging for "inspection" for my review, but are in perfect condition, otherwise. 

worth sharing

Yesterday morning, cleaning up breakfast dishes in the kitchen, I found myself thinking, "I can't remember what kinds of things I blog about." I think we all go through these blog-phases where it doesn't seem like there is much to be said. Although this seems to contradict my thoughts just a few posts ago...hmn. 

But if I really stop to think, there are plenty of things each day worth noting...

*I'm beginning week 4 of no oven. It's a challenge, let me tell you. Someone wrote and said they hadn't used an oven in two years. That blows my mind. Especially when I'm itching to revisit my Artisan Bread book after Erin's post, and cookies just don't turn out well in the toaster oven, and I'm really wanting to whip up a good scone recipe, and make granola and, and....  Dan said to me last night, "Why don't you just try using it again? What's the worst that could happen? You blow up the house?" Yes, exactly. I'll wait for a new one, thank you. (He was kidding, of course.)

*We got a little snow yesterday and of course my chore companion was still happy to join me to let out chickens and feed the cats. The chickens weren't as fond of the snow as she was. You'd think they were walking on fire, the way the avoid stepping in the snow. Poor things.

*I went to the "baby doctor" yesterday. The baby is breech. And I'm measuring almost 36 weeks instead of 32. She also told me to "take it easy" after some "incidents" the week before. Taking it easy isn't so easy. Dan said maybe we should think about starting to get prepared... What!? The one measly sweater I've managed to knit for this baby isn't enough?? How am I ever going to fit in the knitting of this blanket I'm dying to make?? 

*There are new faces over at habit. 

*I'm really liking the discovery of the NewYorkTimes skimmer. For someone who doesn't (often) read the newspaper and never watches the news, it's a quick and easy way for me to stay current. 

*I found this article about snacking yesterday. It was really eye-opening and interesting to me. 

*Does anyone have a good solution for crazy-static-y child hair? My girls' hair is crazy and it's driving me crazy.

*The final season of LOST is here. I remember thinking when it started, "There's no way I'll last all the way until 2010 to see how it ends!!" Yet here I am.

*I'm inspired by Rachel's "thrifted wardrobe" set on flickr, once I get out of these maternity jeans.

*After a brief hiatus around the holidays, I'm back to collecting goodness on tumblr. Go take a peek. (And click on the "following" link. You may see what a few familiar faces and names are "collecting" as well.)

See? I guess there were a few things worth sharing. As always, friends, hello and thank you for stopping in here. 

thank you

Even though I turned off the comments on my last post, the outpouring of emails, phone calls, messages on twitter, has been overwhelming. I turned off the comments because I didn't want anyone to feel pressure to say anything. I turned off the comments because sometimes it's just good to say what you need to say and be done with it, expecting nothing in return. But that isn't to say that the messages from all of you that have still reached me, haven't touched me deeply, because they have. 

If you ever question the goodness and care of people, the relationships that have been forged through blogging, I can attest to the fact that both of these things run strong and true. 

The trip to Hopkins with Mary was eye-opening and reassuring. I left feeling nothing but impressed with the care and concern of the doctors, with the way they communicate with each other and respect what each one brings to the table. You know that you are in good hands. 

Again, sparing the details, and after much back and forth with the doctors we are going to take a cautious, but relaxed approach to what has been going on with her. All those difficult words and procedures are going to be put on the back burner, hopefully never to be brought up again, if the course of action we are taking right now takes care of the problems at hand.

They were optimistic. Cautious, concerned, but optimistic that we didn't need to jump in the deep waters of diseases and treatments.

Again, I cannot say it enough, thank you. I hope that I haven't worried you all too much, but frankly, I was worried. All those possibilities and probabilities were a bit daunting to think about. But I feel good about where we are now. 

Sitting in the crowded waiting room of the Hopkins Children's Clinic, one can't help but be overwhelmed. I found myself catching eyes with other mothers, filling out forms, juggling babies on laps, pulling entertainment out of our bags of snacks, crayons and coloring books. They were looks of curiosity -- why are you here? of understanding -- we're going through something too. I sat in my seat and watched a mother testing blood sugar on one child and dolling out snacks, and filling a syringe and giving a shot in the arm of another child sitting in the stroller beside her. I went to the bathroom where a mother had every stall filled. Her son with no arm below the elbow, a toddler waiting patiently on the changing table, another in the other stall. And she was juggling it all with grace and patience, and even had the energy left to joke with me about taking up all the room. 

As we were leaving, Dan said to me, "It is amazing how well we can adapt." How suddenly when faced with something difficult that we think we could never or would never handle, we do. You look across the room at another mother and say, "I could never do what she does." And yet, if you needed to, you would and you could. 

I was thankful to walk out of that clinic with answers. With a good outlook for the future. With an end in sight. But I was also impressed, strengthened and inspired by the families that surrounded me in that waiting room. 

weathering the storm

Stuck to my fridge are two sheets of paper ripped out of a spiral notebook. They are scribbled with notes and words, addresses, appointment times. Some scary words that I don't want to think about. Some possible procedures and roads that I hope we don't have to travel down. 

Without getting in to a lot of the details, every day last week found us in another doctor's office or lab. We are trying to piece together some of Mary's medical history and make sense of what might be the root of some of her troubles. The migraines. Some issues with her feet. The Lyme's Disease.

It's funny, but I find that I'm not overly worried yet. At least I don't think so. But I'm anxious for answers. Tomorrow we head to John's Hopkins to see a few specialists. I'm grateful to have such great medical care at our back door. 

But I would be lying to say that all of this isn't weighing me down. The back and forth to doctor's offices. Mary's deep fear of each new person we see, each blood test we have to take. It's agonizing. Even things like when do you fit in the grocery shopping? suddenly become extremely complicated issues.  

On Friday, I felt myself snap. All these worries, and exhaustion and back and forth suddenly came spilling out as I found myself lashing out at my children. It was totally uncalled for. It really had nothing to do with the problem at hand but had everything to do with my need to relieve some of the pressure bubbling up inside me. 

After sitting at the kitchen table alone for awhile, letting some of it go, I finally got up, took a breath, found them and apologized. On the outside, I was better, I was okay, but this aching funk still lingered on the inside.

It seems my first reaction in these kinds of moments, days, weeks is to walk away from this blog. It feels like the last thing I could muster up are words. I'm good at learning lessons and reflecting after the days have passed, but when I'm in the thick of it, I don't want to talk about it or think about it. But these days have got me thinking about what exactly it is that pulls me out of these funks. How do I shake the cloud hanging over my head?

I still don't know the full answer. 

But one thing I do know, is that there is healing and relief in writing it down. There is value in telling your story. There is comfort in putting words and sentences together, even if it is only a few. 

There is something about writing it down that sheds light on the situation -- whether it is a lesson learned, a new perspective or a releasing of some of that pressure. 

And still, still, in the midst of all of this, there is still so much to be grateful for. As I sit here at my desk and the sunset is hitting the cornfields and the little stone church across the road, after a day of grey and clouds, the light is already changing.