Christmas Lute

I was telling a close friend that he should come over and check out our Christmas loot. He looked suspiciously excited. Indeed, he thought we had brought a lute back with us from Hawaii. While we did see a man at the Hilo Farmer's Market on the Big Island selling lutes, that is not what we brought back from our holiday trip.

Christmas Loot!
Not pictured: Alinea cookbook, rectangular pizza and baking stone, much-needed coasters

Shockingly--or perhaps not so shockingly, let's be honest--kitcheny items comprised the bulk of our haul. My dad gave us SmartWool goodies which have been very handy during this coldsnap, as well as an assortment of small electronic gizmos from Costco, his favorite store. Above [counter-clockwise from far left], you can see that we got 3 new pairs of different kitchen shears, two GIANT soup spoons, two sporks/snorks, a honey dipper, two jars of honey, Baking: From My Home to Yours, The Art of Simple Food, Macrina Bakery, a hot chocolate pot with milk frother, two pounds of mochiko flour, three different kinds of shoyu (soy sauce), and three jars of homemade preserves. In the background in that awful wrapping paper is a loaf of stollen.

With our stores of good preserves and honey now going through the roof, I decided it was time to bake some scones and tuck in. Below, my two favorite scone recipes of all time.

Basic Scones
I make these when I want to have sweet mix-ins like mini chocolate chips, or dried fruit. I also make them in times like these when I want to highlight some spreads I have on hand. If you are a nut like I am and enjoy making butter, this is a great use for the buttermilk you end up with.

• 2 c all purpose flour
• 1/4 c sugar
• 4 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 t baking soda

• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 c buttermilk
• 3 T butter, softened

1. Preheat your oven to 400.
2. Thoroughly combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. In a medium bowl, roughly combine the wet ingredients.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry bowl and mix until just combined. You don't want to overwork the gluten or you will have hockey pucks for scones.
5. The dough will be extremely sticky. I like the high buttermilk content because its acidity reacts with the baking powder for a very fluffy scone. If you do not like the sour tang of buttermilk, you can sub out some of the buttermilk for milk and/or butter. The final product will be different.
6. Drop large spoonfuls of dough onto a lined cookie sheet, shape a little if you wish. Try to fit them about an inch apart. Having them close keeps the sides from burning, too close and you have a giant scone mass.
7. Bake for about 12 minutes, until lightly golden on top and not too brown on the bottom.

Cheese Scones
These are one of those items that I will make, leave for a few minutes, and find have gone. You can play infinitely with cheese and spice combinations. With great success, I made some parmesan sage ones. If using a drier cheese, be liberal with the buttermilk. The dough should feel springy and be moderately sticky. If it is annoyingly stuck in all the crevices of your fingernails, you've got it right.

• 3 c flour
• 2 T baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1 T sugar
• 1 t salt

• 8T (1 stick) butter, softened somewhat
• 1 c cheddar, grated
• 1 T coarse black pepper
• 3/4 to 1 c buttermilk

1. Sift together the first 5 (dry) ingredients.
2. Cut the butter and cheese into the flour mixture.
3. Stir in the black pepper and buttermilk. I like to do a scooping motion to fold the ingredients together without beating the gluten into a frenzy. Imaging scooping rice out of a deep pot with a small spoon.
4. Let dough rest 30 minutes in fridge.
5. Preheat your oven to 400.
6. Pat into a roughly 1/2" thick disk or rectangle if you're good.
7. Cut dough into triangles.
8. Arrange wedges on a lined baking sheet.
9. Bake about 10 minutes until golden-golden brown. *

* The cheese scones bake to a darker color than the basic scones.