A rainy day in Fort Myers…

Yesterday, I drove down to Fort Myers with my SIL Jenna for a book launch party at Barnes & Noble. Jenna blogs over at Making The Grade and wanted to meet author Trish Doller whose YA book Something Like Normal just came out. You can read about Trish and her book at her website Trish Writes Books.

Because I have to, I took a picture going over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. I don’t know when I started doing it, but every time I drive over it, I have to take a picture. Weird? Maybe. But no two pictures are ever the same. It was a wet and rainy drive all the way down.

 

 

Poor Jenna didn’t feel good when we arrived and I felt so bad for her! Finally, after some food she felt better. We met up with Jenna’s book-blogging friends Sarah and Shanon, and Olivia who doesn’t blog. After an early dinner at Applebee’s, we braved the rain and headed over to Barnes & Noble for the book launch party.

 

 

I did not know that Trish actually worked at the B&N that her book launch party was at. How cool is that? She was really nice and I enjoyed listening to her talk about her book (which I can’t wait to read!) and about her writing process, her family, and more. She has a great sense of humor.

 

 

After she talked about her book and answered questions, she signed books. I bought one (of course!) and had it signed. Thank you Trish! It was great meeting you!

 

 

Trish’s daughter made cupcakes which were color coordinated to the book. They were SO good. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the inside – they were marble with the same color as the icing. I love that Trish had her husband, daughter, and mom there with her.

 

 

During the party, it was announced that the tropical depression was now Tropical Storm Debby. That was definitely going to make for an interesting drive home!

 

 

The drive home ended up not being too bad. Despite the rain, we actually made it home faster than it took to drive down. It’s not often that I am on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge at night, so this was a fun picture to take…

 

 

It was a fun day! Jenna and I make great road-trip companions and I enjoy tagging along with her on these book adventures and meeting new author’s and people. Thanks Jenna!

Saturday in the kitchen…

Happy Saturday everyone! Since my blog schedule is all out of whack this week, I figured it wouldn’t hurt if I did my “in the kitchen” post on Saturday instead of Sunday. Tomorrow we will be celebrating my hubby’s birthday and Father’s Day so I won’t be doing much cooking.

After the crazy week I had, I wanted I wanted to make something new and yummy this weekend. I decided to make scones, specifically a recipe in a book I am currently reading for a book club. The book is called A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg. Her blog is called Orangette and you can find it here. (I will discuss this book in more detail in a later post, after our book group get-together.)

It’s actually written by a blogger-turned-author and the recipes in it are to die for. I am so used to reading recipes that are healthy or low-fat or low carb and these are just wonderful, no worries about the calories, delicious recipes. And since I love scones, I knew when I saw the recipe, I had to try it, even it was a modified version.

The recipe in the book is for Scottish Scones With Lemon and Ginger. I decided to modify it and try something a little more simply the first time around, since I have never made scones before. I left out the lemon and ginger and just added cinnamon. Since hubby doesn’t like scones (i.e., has never had them before, therefore he thinks he doesn’t like them), I am sharing them with my SIL Jenna. She likes cinnamon, and so do I, so there you go!

Here is the recipe as I made it, which varies from the actual recipe in the book. If you’d like the actual recipe as it is written in the book with lemon and ginger, I can reference it for you. If you happen to already have this book, it’s on page 174.

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons cold salted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup half-and-half, plus more for glazing
• 1 large egg
• Cinnamon
• Brown sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Using your hands, rub the butter into flour mixture, squeezing and pinching with your fingertips until mixture resembles a coarse meal and there are no butter lumps bigger than a pea. Add the sugar and cinnamon (to taste, I like a lot!), and whisk to incorporate.

Pour 1/2 cup half-and-half into a small bowl or measuring cup and add the egg. Beat with a fork to mix well. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture, and stir gently just to combine. The dough will look dry and shaggy, and there may be unincorporated flour at the bottom of bowl. Don’t worry about that. Using your hands, squeeze and press the dough into a rough mass. Turn the dough, and any excess flour, out onto a cutting board or countertop, and press and gather and knead it until it just comes together. Don’t overwork the dough,  ideally do not knead more than 12 times.  There may be some excess flour that is not absorbed, but it doesn’t matter. As soon as the dough holds together, pat it into a rough circle about 1 inch thick. Cut the circle into 8 wedges.

Place the wedges on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Pour a splash of half-and-half into a small bowl. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the tops of the scones with a thin coat to glaze. I sprinkled brown sugar on the top of half of them. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes, or until pale golden. Transfer them to a wire rack to cool slightly, and serve warm, with butter, if you like.

Store in airtight container if you plan to eat in a day or two. For longer storage, seal in a heavy plastic bag and freeze them. Before serving, bring to room temperature. Either way, reheat them briefly in a 300 degree oven. Makes 8 medium scones.

I failed to take pictures of each step as I made this picture (shame on me!), but I have pictures prior to them going in the oven.

                                                         Ready to go in the oven!

                                                             Hot out of the oven.

                                                                 Ready to serve.

                                                        Warm, yummy goodness.                     

                                                       Served warm, with butter.

These came out of oven every bit as delicious as they look. In my opinion, warm is definitely the way to serve them. I imagine they are fabulous for breakfast with a hot cup of coffee. I plan to make them again and my options are limitless. I would love to try them with blueberries or raspberries, or orange or cranberry.

They were really very easy to make. I hope you’ll try them!

Happiness Is…

A day late on my Happiness Is… post for the week. Better late than never!

Happiness Is…

• Looking forward to a family day. Today we are celebrating Easter, and my sister and dad’s birthday. Jenni and Daddy always celebrated their birthday’s together. When we celebrate Jenni’s birthday, it is second nature to honor my dad’s birthday as well.

 

• Going to breakfast Saturday morning with my hubby. We always have so much going on and I am always trying to get a run in on the weekend mornings. I decided yesterday it was a great day to go out for breakfast since we were both home with no real plans. Off we went to Village Inn for a delicious breakfast. It was a great start to the day.

 

• Having time to finish reading a fantastic book, Starters by Lissa Price.

 

• Getting good news at my mom’s follow-up appointment on Wednesday. Still very happy – and thankful – with the results and knowledge that she is cancer-free!

 

• Making a delicious dinner last night, without worrying about how many points it is. Sometimes you just have to not worry about it, and that’s exactly what I did.

 

• Being okay with not running this weekend because I got a run in Friday morning and I know I’ll get two morning runs in this week.

 

• Knowing that last week I met my goal of 3 runs for the week!

 

• The gorgeous weather we’ve had this weekend. It cooled down Friday afternoon and has been so nice!

 

• Seeing my sunrise photo from last Tuesday featured on the Largo Patch website and Facebook page. I knew when I took the photo that it was a great one.

 

Happiness Is…

I haven’t done a Happiness Is… post in quite sometime. After reading one yesterday, I thought today would be a good day to do it!

 

Today, Happiness Is…

• Today is finally THE day for the Mutt Strut and even more exciting is that it’s at the park across the street from our house. It is put on by the Humane Society of Pinellas where we adopted our sweet Ozzie boy from and they always do a great job. The last few years it has been at Honeymoon Island State Park which was always nice, but I love that we can walk to it today AND not pay for parking. It’s sure be a super fun family day!

 

• On Monday, one of my fabulous aunts from California is flying in to be here while my mom has surgery and to stay with her. We can’t wait to see her and are so thankful that she is able to come out. I know that if my other aunts could come along, they would too. They will all be here in spirit.

 

• Having the whole weekend ahead of me. I have been so busy lately, I don’t know which way is up. There are so many things I want to do, along with the things I need to do. Regardless of what I accomplish, I hope that there is a nap and reading time in there somewhere tomorrow. I love a nice Sunday nap.

 

• Having a hubby who gets up early on Saturday morning and goes to get me a yummy soy latte from Starbucks. And he brings it back OCD-compliant as I like to have it.

 

• The smell of orange blossoms. I can smell them in our backyard, thanks to our neighbor, and at the park.

 

• Having 2 crazy, sweet, adorable dogs. They are a handful and they do drive me crazy at times, but I love them. They are my babies.

 

 

What makes you happy?