Finally, a recipe: Best Ever Currant Scones

Well, another night of next to no sleep . . . maybe the room switch wasn't such a good idea after all. But at least for now the boys are both happy eating their french toast and watching a movie.

So, I think I mentioned that I made a batch of scones while we were in Houston - three to be exact, two of which I strayed from my original recipe a bit to see if I could get them a little more like my dad prefers them. You see, these scones are incredibly tender and just melt in your mouth - but consequently they tend to fall apart in your hands as well.

I am, however, returning to the original because, to be honest, I like them just as they are. And I like to slice them, butter and jam them and eat them with a fork - they may be a bit difficult to slice cleanly, but I'm willing to sacrifice aesthetics for awesome flavor.

And, by the way, I think dad would now agree . . . he found some fig preserves that taste like those his mother used to make from fig trees in her back yard. He likes to slather sour cream on the scones before spooning the whole preserved figs over them. I must say, the figs are amazing; I may have to request a jar in the mail.

Helen's Currant Scones

2 1/4 cup All purpose Flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp kosher salt

1 Tbs baking powder

zest of 1/2 lemon

6 oz unsalted butter, chilled and diced

1 cup heavy cream, cold

1/2 cup dried currants (or other dried fruit if you prefer something else)

Preheat over to 400 degrees. In the food processor bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder , and lemon zest. Pulse a few times to mix. Add the cold, diced butter and process until the largest pieces of butter are the size of small pebbles. Add the currants and pulse a few more times.

At this point I prefer to dump all of this into a large mixing bowl and complete the dough by hand or with the paddle attachment of a Kitchen Aid mixer. Either way, add the cold cream and mix until just combined, pressing the bits of dough together to form a ball, being careful not to overwork the dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and press into a disk shape.

Lightly flour a board and place the dough on top and roll or flatten it with your hands until it is about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut rounds with a biscuit cutter or slice it with a knife into triangles - I find the rounds work better for these particular scones.

Place on a parchment paper lined sheet pan and brush the tops with cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for approximately 20 minutes on the middle rack until golden brown on tops and bottom. Best eaten immediately.

(playing with Picnik again . . I can waste a lot of time on their site)

When all the fam came over to eat the scones the day before we left to return home, we were also lucky enough to enjoy my sister in law Debbie's Meyer Lemon Marmalade. Wow, it was incredible! Bob and Debbie have a flourishing Meyer lemon tree in their back yard with huge, luscious meyer lemons littering the branches right now. Apparently Debbie made Meyer Lemon Gift Baskets for a fortunate few, which among other things included a jar of the marmalade and a bag of candied meyer lemon zest ( I tasted my niece Emma's vigilantly guarded stash which was so delicious - the sweet Meyer lemons really make a difference; absolutely no bitter pith flavor).

Have a fantastic weekend everybody!