Monday 22 June 2015

Weekend, Midsummer's Day, the lovely Alys Fowler and A Father's Day Treat :: Man-sized Old School Scones




Summer is here and it began with an explosion of flowers. There were lots of Gardens in the Wild to visit this weekend but we only had a morning to spare and I had tickets for the lovely Alys Fowler's talk, How to have your garden and eat it: Growing flowers and vegetables together. I learnt so much and it seems that so far I'm doing all the right things for our smallish garden. She's even prettier in real life and very entertaining and amusing too, even if I did catch Ahmad with his eyes closed at one point...Just for a few seconds...

We'd been away for two days to London a quick dash for  Ahmad to see his friends, and stock up with our favourite Persian foods. It's amazing just how much happens in your garden in two days. We spent most of the weekend weeding and planting, watering and harvesting the radishes before they bolt, and strawberries before something else eats them, leaving some plants to go to seed and planning what to plant next. I can't believe that it looked like a building plot complete with JCB not too many months ago. 

So it was a quiet weekend just peppered with the whirring sound of wheels and a mad dash for the camera and bumping into neighbours doing the same thing as 'A' dashed out to catch a shot of the cycle race rooted through the village. 

These scones are genuinely my old school recipe complete with imperial measurements. As with all school recipes it's basic but also tried and tested by thousands of school children so pretty fool proof too. 

Old school scones

Ingredients:

  • 8oz of flour (I used self raising)
  • 2oz of butter
  • one egg plus a little milk
  • 2oz golden caster sugar
  • 2 to 3 oz of fruit
  • 1/4 pint of milk
Method:
  1. Rub the butter into the flour
  2. Add the sugar and fruit
  3. Add the beaten egg and milk leaving some to brush onto the top of the scone and combine all the ingredient making them into a firm dough. 
  4. I put mine in the fridge to chill for about half an hour before making the scones. It's much easier to work with when a little cold.
  5. Either roll out the dough on a floured surface and cut into small scones or if you want nice big hearty man-sized ones like I made, just form the dough into a roughish circle shape and cut into four pieces. Form each one into a smaller circle and flatten a little. Place all the scones onto a prepared baking tray or pans.
  6. Brush the top of the scones with the reserved egg/milk mixture.
  7. Bake regulo 8 for 10 to 15 minutes. 
You can link to a conversion chart here for metric measurements. 

These are scrumptious served with clotted or double cream and strawberries or jam...or both...

...that's just a bit of my weekend...how was yours?

10 comments:

  1. sounds like a lovely one!!! (thanks for the recipe....scones, I believe should be a food group unto themselves!!!) On my 'agenda' today is the weeding....gone a week here and they are ready to totally take over my whole garden! Always wonder why the rest of the plants don't grow as well?!?

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    1. They are lovely and easy to make Steph. It's nice that they bake so quickly and are delicious fresh from the oven. I know...what is it with all the weeds...we laid a new lawn from beautiful green turf and bind weed and dandelions keep springing up from nowhere! I suppose I could make dandelion salad and tea?!
      enjoy your day.
      debx

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  2. I love scones and with clotted cream? Oh my goodness!
    Gardening is an every day event around here, but now
    that the heat has gotten so bad I am kind of over it, at
    least until fall.
    Enjoy your day and thanks for the recipe, I will be
    preparing them in the morning. :)

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    Replies
    1. Ahmad is a big fan of clotted cream and with the strawberries out I thought it would him a perfect treat. The garden can get a bit overwhelming especially when it's really hot. I love to garden in very fine rain or if there's a nice breeze.
      Happy baking. Enjoy your scones.
      debx

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  3. mmm, count me in as one who loves scones :) Lovely weekend and the fresh new plants are making me want to go shopping and starting our garden. We've been too busy with wedding stuff so far but it's on the list.

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    Replies
    1. I'm only just getting back into baking but these are such a nice easy foolproof recipe. You must be so excited with the wedding plans. It will be nice to look forward to doing the garden when afterwards.
      debx

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  4. You had me at the picture of the cute little caravan. Gardens have a mind of their own. We have to weed daily or it's overwhelming. Those scones look wonderful. What a time to go on a diet!

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    1. It's so cute isn't it? I think it's a shepherds hut. I try to plant as much ground cover as possible to keep the weeds down but as this is a new garden there's plenty of bare ground for the weeds to invade.
      Take care and good luck with the diet.
      dx

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  5. hello debby,
    it sounds after a beautiful day.alys fowler is really a wonderful gardener with many ideas,especially for little gardens.her garden is a dream. i have the thrifty gardener and the edible garden from alys fowler and i like both books.
    i love scones and i have baked a lot last week. clotted cream can i not find in my supermarket ...I use creme fraiche..thanks for the recipe!
    my sister in law came from leeds.

    wish you a beautiful evening,
    hugs and love regina

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  6. Hi Regina. Thank you for your lovely long comment. It was a lovely and I learnt so much from Alys, I can see from all your lovely fruits that you are following the advise in her books too. It's a shame that you can't find clotted cream but creme fraiche is lovely too. I thought your sister in law must be English. I hop that you have a lovely week too.
    debx

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