Whose Halo

I saw a baby today! O.M.Goodness. 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/insightimaging/3695471693/

It was all wrapped up in a fluff of Pink, and I am positive that there was a halo. In a McDonald's on I-5. It seems impossible, but that little corner table in the back was a small slice of heaven. 

The halo seemed to have enveloped the two women who were with the baby, for they positively glowed. You could tell just by looking that this was the first baby to grace this mother and grandmother. Grandmother was feeding this tiny and precious thing a bottle. It may seem mundane to the uninitiated; but to those few of us who happened to see, it was the Earth.

Of course, I wanted a photo. But though I longed to pull out the phone and click away, I just couldn't. And I'm all the better for it, too.

The young mother was weary, it was plain to see. Her baby was perhaps two weeks old, and we all know the changes that little household has gone through. But although tired, she was obviously blessed - and knew it.

I stood several feet away trying not to be too obviously enamored - but failed. The grandmother glanced up, and smiled. She was tired too. But in that moment, being tired meant nothing compared with the sweet bundle she held.

But it was time to go, and I tore myself away. As we neared the door, I whispered to my husband, "Honey - look at that Baby!!"

We glanced back, and saw the tiny head being patted by both women. In the instant just before we left, I caught the look between them. Mother, daughter. It is an ageless look, really; one that I treasure myself. And it happened in a McDonald's. On I-5. 

There is a phrase for moments such as this one, coined by a friend: 

Sacred Mundane

See you along the way!
the SconeLady

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photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/insightimaging/3695471693/">Insight Imaging: John A Ryan Photography</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>

photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ellasdad/310175676/">Ella's Dad</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>

In A Northerly Direction

It didn't turn out to be a travel day, after all. The SconeLady and her husband packed, and loaded, and even left the house. They only got a few blocks, for suddenly the SconeLady felt poorly and was swiftly getting worse. Alas! It would have been such a strategic day to travel, but these plans were interrupted. Tomorrow, then. We will go tomorrow.

In the meantime, I will share some of my favorite pics from yesterday's party:

A Blue Gill is caught and revealed

These kids have pretty much grown up fishing from a dock, and now it is as natural as anything to thrill to that tug on the end of the line. Not just once or twice, but multiple times yesterday this little one trooped up the steps to the house with a dramatic announcement. "Mommy! Grandma! We caught ANOTHER ONE - come see!"

It was the sweetest thing.

To add to this, they 'made' their own fishing poles to try. They have regular ones, of course, but then they found two long sticks that could work as poles. They rigged them up, cast off, and then actually caught fish with them. We were all astounded. Even perplexed.

We do not think they would have ever stopped fishing. We think it could have gone on all night long. They never tire of it. It's the hope, I think. Once you have caught your first fish, you always have the hope that another one will strike. These guys have caught it, Big Time. Their grandpa is thrilled.

In the midst of all this fishing, and catching, and drama, some of us were in the kitchen eating scones:

The All'Scone recipe delivers

By this time, all of the Lemon Poppyseed ones had disappeared. But since there were more Butter Scones left, we generously imbibed (it could be this which set the SconeLady up for feeling poorly, next morning. Not sure. Just sayin'..). 

(Or - the follow-on scone she had first thing this morning might not have helped..). But we will try again, tomorrow. All our bags are still packed, and we are both still ready to go. Somewhere North, our mothers (the two most beautiful ladies ever), and brothers, and sisters patiently await. 

How can two people be so incredibly blessed?

See you along the way!

the SconeLady

The Brits Do It Best

Cornish pasty bite is oh, so good

Previously..

I think we have discovered that Americans love Cornish food and want more of it. At least, they love their pasties, if today's response is any indication. The level of salt turned out to be perfect, the golden brown crusts glistened, and I heard that at least one person enjoyed two of them. The SconeLady was charmed by this show of appreciation.

But if I may say, the scones outdid even the pasties. We had a choice of two kinds: Lemon Poppyseed, made by the SconeLady's sister, and the butter scone recipe from The Little Book of Scones, provided by the SconeLady. Both kinds received high marks from all participants. Who wouldn't love them, what with all the fresh butter, blackberry jam, and whipped cream? The whipped cream was seen to be piled high on many a scone. I, for one, felt almost uncomfortable at the end and had to recline in order to recover.

I am not sure Cornish Pasties were meant to be so closely followed by a Cream Tea. But the scones were too delicious to be resisted, pasty or no pasty. 

And everyone survived.

Now that the party is over with and the kitchen is tidy once more, I can sit here and think about the fun all of those cousins had together. They certainly did get to swim; to hot tub it; to ride in and even drive the party boat; and to FISH from the dock! Besides this, they had permission to grab a soda from the laundry room refrigerator throughout the afternoon. This permission earned the SconeLady their undying gratitude, to be topped only by her additional provision of Corn Dogs for their lunch. 

Children always appreciate a tasty Corn Dog and soda pop. And when it was time for them to go home, only one of them was eager to. The smallest had a fever and felt poorly, and had surely suffered enough. After his grandmother had placed him in the van, he saw her striking up a conversation with one of his aunties. 

He watched them. He sat patiently as they chatted about something or other, but when finally he could bear it no longer he stated, "Grandma? Can't we please just hit the road?"

So they hit the road. Which is what we must do, tomorrow. It will be a travel day, to parts north. But there is snow up there! Yikes. The loveliness of sunny California has lulled us into a comfort zone which I fear must now be shattered.

Looks like it's boots and snow caps all over again. And puffy coats. And scarves. And hoods. And....oh, brother.

See you along the way!

the SconeLady

It's A Party

18 Cornish pasties now safely reside in my refrigerator. I meant to do them tomorrow morning before everyone arrived. But my nervous energy got the better of me and suddenly I was chopping away. 

Parties are such fun to experience, and even more fun to plan. That's odd, I know. But I have truly been loving this one because it reminds me so much of beloved England. Fixing and eating things I ate over there is a bit like looking at a photograph over and over. Only a lot more tasty!

And oh what a flurry of cleaning has been taking place at the SconeLady's house! The dear old thing doesn't know what hit it. Perhaps a tornado. It isn't just because of guests coming. They would be happy with or without the gleaming tile grout. It's just the feeling of being back home after a long trip, and reacquainting oneself with it. 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/86571141@N00/311153243/

Having family over is a lovely part of the fun, and I intend to enjoy every minute of it. Having made the pasties already will help me do that. Imagine making 18 pasties on the morning before a luncheon party! Unimaginable. Unthinkable! Nearly nightmarish.

But I shall have no nightmares, tonight. My dreams will be filled with the fun anticipation of boating, and fishing, and swimming, and laughing, and - eating! But most of all, I shall be thinking of the 19 wonderful people soon to be making their way, their kindly and cheerful way, to me.


See you along the way!
the SconeLady

photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/86571141@N00/311153243/">podchef</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>

The SconeLady Tackles Pasties (part 2)

Previously: Part 1

It was what I would consider a 100% success! The grownups loved it, and only one child wasn't so sure. This was due to the fact that a Cornish Pasty lets different foods 'touch' each other. Different foods aren't supposed to do that, apparently.

But just take a look at this fabulous looking food item - it fairly glows:

Pasties from the ovens of SconeTherapy

Ladies and gentlemen, I suggest to you that it can't get much better than this. This is comfort food in its finest hour. 

And here is how I got there:





I brushed the unbaked pasties with an egg wash (i.e., one beaten egg) and placed in a preheated oven at 400F. It took  a little longer than expected to bake (about 45 minutes), but I just watched it closely and could easily see when it was brown enough. I wrapped each pasty in foil individually, so that when we reached the lovely daughter's house, they were still hot and ready to eat. 

We all sat down to the dinner table together. I passed around the pasties, and discussed the proper way to eat one (holding it with both hands along its ridge), the origins and reasons for a pasty (to feed hungry miners below ground who don't have time to come up out of the mine for lunch), the sturdiness factor of a pasty (in case it accidentally falls mid-bite), and the ingredients of a pasty (meat and multi-vegetables). Explaining these things to one's grandchildren is fun because it is fun to talk about England. If I can't be there, I can at least be talking about it.

Our trial run was indeed a success, and one change even came out of it: we determined that the crust could use more salt. Therefore our Cornish pasties for Saturday will have that addition. There just didn't seem to be enough salt in a mere 'pinch'!

And so the day of our Cornish Pasty Party approaches. Today is Thursday - it happens on Saturday! We will start with the pasties, and work our way toward scones, this time with our cream whipped - not clotted. Yummy. And here's a heads up: no one is allowed to consider any dietary restrictions. 

One must just enjoy. That is the only option.


See you along the way!
the SconeLady

The SconeLady does not think of dietary restrictions.

Unaware

"Look at that little boy's boots!" the lady exclaimed. "They are adorable!"

We were in Jo-Ann Fabric, which they love and feel right at home in. After all, they have strolled its aisles since before they were born.

This time they were each pushing a cart, 'helping Mother'. And both were doing a careful job of it, too. Just enough space was between the two carts so as not to crash into one another. Their mother and I realized this was skirting disaster, but she wisely decided to see how things transpired naturally. So off we went. Down the aisles.

"Oh my goodness, how old is he? His BOOTS are sooooo CUTE!"

Three or four other commenters followed in quick succession. Little girls, mothers, grandmothers, and even one elder gentleman - they all felt that they absolutely must comment on the boots. The man looked at us as we passed, with something resembling nostalgia in his eyes. "Oh those boots just bring me right back to my boyhood. I begged my mamma to get me some o' them, until she just had to. Got 'em when I was just knee high, and wouldn't take them off for nobody. Had to sleep in 'em!" 

This was sweet. I tried to keep an eye on the carts while responding to the man. "Oh yes, he just loves these boots. His other grandmother gave them to him."

Thankfully there was still plenty of space between the two carts. This can be important for the comfort and sanity of everyone in the store. One does not want to get entrenched in a cart war (not that those darlings would ever, ahh -)

Grandma was keeping a close eye on events but was momentarily distracted..and *bump* went the second cart into the small girl pushing the first."Hey!" she of course said. But Grandma giggled and said, "Oh dear, that happened to me and your uncle, when he was a boy."

"What, Grandma?" she asked.

"Well, your uncle was pushing the shopping cart behind me at the Commissary, and I was afraid he would run into my heels with it. 'DON'T bang into my heels, please - yikes, be careful now, don't hit my ankles. STOP!! you almost bashed..' and so on. Then I became distracted while pushing the cart, and - WHAM! into his heels I ran - after all that nagging! I'm afraid he was not very happy.."

As we four proceeded down through the store, people kept commenting about the boots. "Mommy! look at that boy's cowboy boots!" said one little girl. "I want some just like his. PLEASE???"

The small boy had no idea of the reaction his cowboy boots were producing around him. None. It happened, but he was blissfully unaware. One day he will notice, and everything will change. But until then we can all rest in the knowledge that he, and his boots, can be adorably anonymous, together.


See you along the way!
the SconeLady

The SconeLady Tackles Pasties

They haven't been baked yet, but they are formed. And a rather lovely job I have made of it too, for a first try. The SconeLady makes Early Autumn Cornish Pasties!

Today was the practice day, because I was not just quite sure I could pull it off. My faithful brother had watched our progress throughout England and Cornwall, wishing he too could taste the scones and the pasties. So we have planned a party, and he will taste! 

It was rather a long process, it must be said. Mostly, chopping. There was a lot of chopping. This is what I chopped:

• skirt steak
• onion
• potato
• courgette
• carrot
• butternut squash

Had you heard of 'skirt steak'? I may have, in some distant time past. But I was not just sure the nature of skirt steak, so to the butcher I went, and asked. He gave me a lovely package of it, calling it 'the good stuff'. 

So, there was the chopping, and then there are the spices, and the bit of olive oil; then I tackled the 'short crust'. It was different from my Betty Crocker crust in that it had a 'pinch' of salt, rather than one or two teaspoons of it. In fact, Betty herself calls for one tsp for each 2 cups of flour. You will see that this recipe stated a pinch of salt with 4 cups of flour! But salt or no salt, it will be fabulous.

I cut the cold, unsalted butter into small cubes, and used my fingertips to mix it into the flour+pinch. It turned out, with the 3/4 cup water, to be very soft and pliable. I liked that. It was easy to divide into 6 sections, to roll out each, and to place the filling to the side of the dough.

Once the filling is on, you brush the edges of the crust with beaten egg. This helps keep the edges stuck together - a very handy thing to have done when you pick up a pastie (remember, it is supposed to be 'strong enough to survive a fall down a mine shaft').

"Confidently fold the pastry over the meat and vegetables." This was an encouraging statement. And the dough went up and over the filling neatly, and the whole thing stuck together like magic.

Tomorrow I am going to brush all over these pasties with egg wash, and bake at 400F for 30 to 35 minutes. And then, the real test - the SconeLady's husband is looking forward to that.

This was a perfect project for Veteran's Day - I did it in between eating lunch at Applebees, and dinner at Chili's: both restaurants were feeding Veterans FREE today! Wasn't that nice of them? Walking in to both, we were greeted warmly by staff and thanked for serving our country. Special menus were given to my husband, and there were American flags all over the place. 

At various booths and tables, other Vets sat with their families - eating, laughing, talking with other Vets. It was the sweetest thing. And it was nothing to do with government, or elections, or arguments about politics. 

It was a hopeful feeling.

See you along the way!

the SconeLady