Fig and Honey Scones

I have been thinking about fig trees and how much I would like to plant one in the garden.  My poor old ash tree is dying a little bit more each year, but as it is a very large tree and it is expensive to cut down we have been procrastinating on it.

There is some disease that gradually came up the Eastern Sea board of the USA and it has just destroyed my tree in the last eight years.

So when I saw this recipe, fig related, I thought, they would be good to try.

Fig and Honey Scones

Dried figs, sweet honey, and chopped toasted walnuts are the star ingredients in this delectable scone.

Fig Honey Scone

2 1/2 cups sifted bread flour

3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dried figs
1/2 cup finely chopped toasted walnuts
2 1/2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream, divided

• Preheat oven to 400˚.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, whisking well. Add figs and walnuts, tossing gently to combine.
• In a small bowl, combine honey and 2 tablespoons cream, stirring to combine. Add honey mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until combined. (If mixture seems dry, add more cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, until a dough forms.)
• On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to a 1/2-inch thickness. Using a 2-inch square cutter, cut 12 scones. Place on prepared baking sheet.
• Brush tops with remaining 2 tablespoons cream.
• Bake until light golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. 

Enjoy!

Christy

My Day

Today is rainy and cool, a layed back day, we all need that now and then don't we?

Yesterday was good,  service in the morning, then stopped by my friends yard sale just to say Hi!

Met up with two girlfriends and went to lunch at a delightful Thai restaurant down the street.  I just had lemon grass soup, refreshing.  Next door is a hand made chocolate shop we were going to buy one lovely candy each for desert, a turtle but the lady there gave us one each as a sample, that was so nice, pecan nuts and chewy caramel with chocolate, yummy.

Dottie was craving a coffee, I had already bought one in the morning while out, so opted for a chai latte, hit the spot.  We grouped three leather armchairs and chatted, that was nice, although a nearby older gentlemen I think  mistook Starbuck's for the library, no I do not think there is a silence code at Starbuck's.

Back to Dottie's for movie watching.  Hitchcock biography of Tippi Hedren and his abuse of her, Wow! not so sure I'll view those movies the same, The Bird's and Marnie.  The movies are good but Hitchcock um!

Onto another movie The Tourist, that's a good movie, all the time sipping wine, cheese and crackers, fruit and chocolate, yes just one of those special times with friends that you wish you had more of.

Hope all you dear folk had a great weekend.

Christy

Hazleton, PA Plant Tour And Top of the 80's Restaurant

Last week was a very busy week at work and then throw in a plant tour in Hazleton, PA almost a two hour drive each way.

Hazleton's biggest industry used to be coal, of course that all changed in the sixties as coal died out.  The printing plant I toured was built in the sixties.  Since they started in Brooklyn, the reason they probably built a printing plant in Hazleton was because there were very good government incentives to do so and it's on some major trucking routes.

Once you get away from the two big cities of Pennsylvania, which are Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, many towns in PA seemed warped in moments of time.

The top of the 80's restaurant that we went to seemed just that and was about seventies to eighties decor.  The most winning and outstanding feature of the lunch that we had there was the view.  The top photo does not do justice to it, and I forgot to take my camera, well it was a business trip.  But if you took that photo times three lengths then you would understand the panorama of the view, meant to be fantastic in autumn.

The food was mediocre, but the view fantastic.

Weekend was pretty busy, I worked under the oak tree stacking odd pieces of wood that were buried under all those oak leaves that never decompose, and just tidying up that whole area.  So I felt good getting that done between the rain on Saturday.

I got to use my Vera Bradley $20 coupon over the weekend, I love their coupons, straight $20 for $20.  So if you choose an item that is $20 or less, you just pay tax so it's a great deal.  I found a bag on clearance, plus they were having a 40% off sale for Mother's Day and then my coupon.  The design is called Happy Snails.

Doesn't that design just make you feel happy?

Didn't take my camera yet again and missed the classic pose of three men sitting together on a bench at Vera Bradley's, yes it's a chick store.

Let's see I also went to Charming Charlie, which everybody says you must go to for cheap jewelry and because it's not on what I call my beaten track I had yet to visit.  They had some fun pieces, but from a girl who can and does make many pieces of jewelry herself I was not overly impressed, very plastic  But if you look you can find some different and interesting pieces.  I did get a pretty white necklace for the summer which I think will look quite good.  Just need to look and look.

I did get an idea to make my own hair band out of beads, don't know why that didn't come to me before.  I do not like those rigid bands, because although they look great, after a while they give me a headache, but I thought if I used beads at the top then brought it down into elastic that goes under ones hair, that might be more comfortable.  You could coordinate that with matching earrings, or matching any piece of jewelry.

After all this, Mr Bit Brit and I finished off our day with an ice cream sundae from Friendly's, mine was waffles and caramel with almonds, quite yummy.  Guess what Mr B. had yes you know double chocolate.

Mr B. was very patient with me.  So nice to get out together and the day was windy, but sunny.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend.

Christy

Clifton House Historical Society

Items preserved here at the Clifton House, from the Old School House down the road.

The Old School Bell.

What do you think the above item is used for?  I would love to hear your guesses.  I'll let you know in another post.

In the above photo the portable camp chair was used by ladies to sit and watch the battle, seems pretty gruesome to us, but it reminds me of Vanity Fair, with Beckie Sharp, going out to escort the soldiers.

Love this china inkwell.

Copy of an original French wallpaper design.

Christy

African Rag Bead Necklace

This is my latest creation, an African rag bead in the center with black and white water buffalo horn beads from Asia.  I bought the African rag bead a few months ago, just because I liked it, but had no idea what I was going to do with it, then I remembered that I had these beads from eons ago.

The little black ones, some of which have silver inlay.  These are of course dyed to the black and white, but you can get them in natural horn colour and the variety of beads is endless.

I find stringing beads very soothing, thinking up the design and seeing what works, until I get to the bit where I have to fasten the ends, and especially when you have to tie in five strands, then it becomes very fiddly.  Bringing all those together and connecting it in with the clasp.

Now don't get upset these water buffalo are an everyday working animal in this part of the world and are of more value to the farmers alive.  But when they die they recycle every part of the animal.

Please see here a quote from one of the farmers:

"To my family the buffalo is more important than I am.  When I die they will weep for me; but if my buffalo dies they may starve."

Christy

Calla Lily Tea Sandwiches

I ran across this tea sandwich recipe, which I thought was just delightful.

                

Calla Lily Tea Sandwiches

Makes about 4 dozen

1 (5.2-ounce) package garlic and herbs cheese, softened

1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup finely chopped toasted walnuts

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

48 slices white bread

Paprika

2 carrots, peeled

Garnish: green onion

1. In a small bowl, combine cheese, cream cheese, walnuts, red pepper, and black pepper. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.

2. Using a 2 1/2-inch cutter, cut 48 rounds from bread. With a rolling pin, roll each bread round to 1/8-inch thickness.

3. Spread about 1 teaspoon cream cheese mixture on each bread round. Sprinkle center with paprika, and fold bottom of prepared bread round over, pinching end to seal. Cut small pieces of carrot, and place in center of each sandwich for flower stamen. Garnish with green onion tops to form stems, if desired.

I.E. Boursin garlic and fine herbs cheese.

     

Enjoy!

Christy           

Blossoms

Spring has been long and chilly, but in a way I like that better than going from 30 f to 90 f over night, which seems to happen some years and hardly a spring at all.

As I said before, because it has just been plain cold nothing has bloomed before it's time then been frozen, as so often happens, so the blooms this year seem to have been exceptionally beautiful.  You wish they could last longer.  And I never even got to take photos of the magnolia trees.  One on my way home from work was exceptional, just for one day it's beauty was at it's zeneth, with blossoms on the tree and a carpet of pink at it's base, what a joy to behold.

My neighbours apple tree.

I love this photo with the little stone wall.  This is my neighbour's bush.

Christy

Home and Garden

Getting the yard cleaned up after the winter is a lot of work, especially if you have a huge oak tree in the garden because those leaves never decompose, raking and raking and bagging.  I said to my husband that "you'd think they'd have the decency to decompose like any other leaf."


My loo roll plantings, I don't think they were that successful but these broccoli seemed to do quite well.

Some flower seeds planted.  I took every left over pack I had ever bought over the last years and planted all,  let's hope it's a lovely little bonanza of flowers.  We'll see what happens.  All these little seedlings will need to be replanted.

The wisteria, so fragrant it reminds me of a pungent Indian night, or a shawl fringed boudoir.  Very exotic smell.

One evening I got home from work last week and planted all this.

Peppers, Chinese Giant, Corno di Torro, Honey Crisp and Red Majesty.  Tomatoes, Brandywine Pink, Black Krim, Ox Heart, Rutgers, Roma and Cherry.  Plus cucumber and beetroot seeds.

I amazed even myself.

One flower arrangement with forget-me-nots, then a week later I did the arrangement below.  Still using those little purple flowers Mr B. gave me.

My lilac both a deep purple my very favourite and white.

A lace runner picked up from the NSH yard sale .50 cents.

Just makes me feel so good seeing the lilac on my dining room table.

Christy