Scones

If it can be served at high tea, you can be dadgum sure I will want to eat it, make it, pet it, love it, and call it my own.

Scones fit neatly into that category.

I still remember my first attempt in eighth grade home economics... nasty, hard little pebbles of... well, nastiness.

Since then I've baked scones more times than I care to remember, and thankfully have never recreated those disasters. My tricks are a phenomenally hot oven, as little handling as possible, and an old-school grandma recipe. They always make the best, don't they?

Ingredients

2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
30g butter
3/4 cup milk

Method

1. Preheat your oven to astronomical proportions. Ok, 350-400C. I usually take it up to as hot as it will go, but my ovens have all been models from 1872* and don't get very hot.

2. Put flour, salt and sugar into a bowl. Rub in butter with fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. (I absolutely hate this bit, as I cannot stand getting my hands dirty. Feel free to sponsor Veggie Mama with a pastry cutter!)

3. Mix in combined milk and water, very carefully. I like to use two knives, pulling away from each other. Turn onto a floured surface and knead very lightly until the flour is all mixed.

3. Pat dough out to about 1inch thick, and cut into rounds. I didn't have any cutters for these scones, so I cut them like a pizza into triangles. It's just not the same!

4. Place quite close together in a greased tray. Brush tops with a little milk and bake 10-15minutes until golden brown, and the bottoms sound hollow when tapped.

5. Put the kettle on. It's the law.

* I KNOW there were no electric stoves in that time. You may or may not substitute 1965 for 1872...