Tuesday Tea at A Lovely Thought...Would you like to join us for Elvensies? Great Scone recipe!

Posting this photo for Rayanne's Tuesday Tea Linky Party at A Lovely Thought

Would you like to join me for 'elevensies'?  Ky of The Miss Ky Way was explaining to me what elevensies meant the other day. This word was made famous (in my boys' minds) by Pippin in the Lord of the Rings movie. We all thought it was a slang word made up for the movie which just meant a mid-morning snack..  Actually, it's the common English term for afternoon (or I assume morning) tea. 

Rebekah and I love having tea and after reading about 'bikkies' and Lady Grey tea at The Miss Ky Way, we decided to make scones. Wow! They aren't just American biscuits cut out in a pie shape. The recipe really is quite different.

Our first batch of scones--in the oven and ready to bake.

I don't think I've ever tasted anything quite so heavenly! What with the added sour cream and the frozen grated butter (real butter of course), it was a taste sensation.

Rebekah added frozen blueberries to one batch and plans to add cinnamon and dried apples to the next batch.  She said that she thinks we should have used fresh blueberries. But I don't know--I thought these tasted fantastic! I think she is right that they added a wee bit too much moisture to the recipe.

We also had blackberry jelly,. real butter and Blackberry Sage tea with our sugar sprinkled scones.

Our scones, fresh out of the oven! MMmmm!

This is not a good idea for those of you who are always craving a 'little smackeral' of something like Pooh and I. What I SHOULD have eaten was a piece of homemade whole wheat toast and a slice of cantaloupe. It's all Rebekah's fault for tempting me. Do not let anyone make these in your house if you are on anything resembling a diet. Scones will derail you in a flat second.

Here's the recipe for those of you who are interested. And if you really like them, then just drop by Ky's place and tell her thank you for telling me about bikkies and elvensies.

Simple Scones

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen

1/2 cup raisins (or dried currants)

1/2 cup sour cream

1 large egg

Directions

1. 
   
   

   Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. 
   
   

   In a medium bowl, mix flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; use your fingers to work in butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal), then stir in raisins.

3. 
   
   

   In a small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until smooth.

4. 
   
   

   Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (The dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.)

5. 
   
   

   Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp. of sugar. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper), about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

Do you ever take time for 'tea'?  I think we have really missed out on the concept of 'taking a break' in America. Other cultures seem to understand this concept so much better than we do. What do you think?


Happy Homemaking!