Mother's Birthday

Valentine's Day means Moth's birthday. If it were required of me to express truly how much love and adoration we feel for this glorious woman, I would say it were an impossible task; I know the rest of my family would be quick to agree.

And so it was that Fath, Bee and Beak got together the night before our celebration to concoct this ice cream cakepie. I imagine their time in the kitchen was a joyous one, stumbling about in a fit of inebriated giggles. It was as simple as:

prepared oreo crust

orange sherbet ice cream

mocha chip ice cream

and stuck in the freezer for the night, as the household snuggled deep in their blanketed beds.

Dollops of whipped cream were added just before serving -- the only contribution I made . From the tales, I was surprised at how well it turned out. But ice cream is hard to mess up I suppose. It was tasty; it was easy-peasy.

Valentine Scones

I love British food. These scones were for my dearest Mother's birthday, which happens to be on Valentine's Day. That's the only reason she could stand something sweeter-than-toast for breakfast.

This particular scone was blackberry-lemon; the following recipe was split in three and flavored with:

1. Blackberries and lemon juice

2. Maple syrup and chopped walnuts

3. Chocolate chips, cocoa powder and vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp baking soda

4 cups flour

1 cup white sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp salt

1 cup butter

1 egg

1 cup (total) of add-ins above

First, blend the sour cream and baking soda in a small bowl. Then, mix flour / sugar / baking powder / cream o' tartar and salt in a larger one. Cut the butter into the dry mixture until it's crumbly and pie-crust like. Then stir in the sour cream mixture and beaten egg until it's all moistened.

At this point, I split the dough into three smaller bowls, and added the extras in no precise quantities. They were extremely dry and not sticking together at all, so like with pie crust, I added more water. It appeared to have been a problem of not-enough mixing, though, because in the end I had to knead in extra flour to make up for the added liquid.

I formed each round into a disk about an inch tall, cut them into 6 triangles each, brushed with egg white, sprinkled with sugar, and baked on an ungreased sheet at 400 degrees for probably around 18 minutes. My large-appetite family seemed to like them alright, and we offered leftovers to guests that appeared throughout the day, but there were still enough for me to take one of each back to school with me. FUEL FOR STUDYING? If I did any, that is...