Ode to Vermont and Canada

I'm so not feeling the Christmas spirit this year. I want a shirt that says, "Bah. Humbug." However, the bright sunny morning cheered me a little and I decided to celebrate the first day of me not checking my Blackberry all day with some scones.  Not just any scones -- maple-glazed pumpkin scones to be exact. I wanted to make these over Thanksgiving, but a family emergency kept me from my kitchen most of my time off.

You've seen the scone recipe before, so let's get to it. It starts pretty much the same; pulse dry ingredients in the food processor.  Add cold butter.

Here's the departure:  make Trader's Joe's Pumpkin Butter your friend. Y'all might even be best friends after this :-)

Mix it into the cream really well. Instead of a full cup of cream, I used 3/4 C. Add the cream to the flour mixture. 

CI has you do this by hand, I just added mine to Miracle and pulsed until it formed a dough.

                                     

Now comes the messy part. Dump the dough on the counter. Knead very gently to incorporate all the dry bits. Form a ball or two, depending on how you will shape your scones.

I made two balls because I used a 6" cake pan so I could have mini scones.

Press the dough into the pan.

Invert.

Slice (do a better job than I did.) Remember to press straight down. I'll show you what happens later when you don't.

I did better on the second round.

I started with refrigerated instead of my usual frozen butter, so I parked these in the refrigerator while I took a bacon detour. 

I did say MAPLE pumpkin scones. No way I was going to have a hot oven, maple syrup on the counter and bacon in the refrigerator without making maple-glazed bacon again.

Back to the scones.  I heated some butter and maple syrup together.

I gave the scones a beautiful brush-on tan and to the oven they went.

Here's what I got.

Absolutely delicious! The texture was closer to a biscuit or even cake. I prefer my scones on the drier side, but the flavor made up for the break with tradition. The pumpkin butter was pretty sweet, so I would knock out some of the sugar when I try these again. The maple syrup kept the outside of the scones from getting hard, so next time, I'll make half with the glaze on before baking and put the glaze on the other half after baking to see which I like best. 

With Teavana's English Breakfast Tea, these made a wonderful morning treat. On a side note, here's another vote for Silpat -- the burnt syrup just flakes off. Easy cleanup.

Remember my note to press straight down when cutting? Here's what happens when you don't. He's all crooked :-( I'm working on a granite counter, so I use my bench scraper to cut dough. Moving to a cutting board so I can use my knives is too much work. And even still, I think it's just the way I cut and lack of wrist strength. I sometimes have lopsided biscuits too.

Tools of the trade

• Kitchenaid Food Processor
• Wilton Cake 6" Deep Pan
• 2-Cup Pyrex Measuring Cup
• Silpat
• OXO Pastry Brush
• OXO Bench Scraper

My Drug of Choice

I’d like to thank my coworker for becoming my pusher. I was bumming a ride home with her and she asked if I wouldn’t mind making a stop with her. No worries. We walked into Teavana and I felt the cosmos shift.

I stood there amazed by all of the neatly organized tins. I fingered the expensive electric kettles. I was in olfactory heaven when the salesperson let me smell the teas. Of course I got hooked on that first free hit. (My pusher treated me to some Earl Grey.)

I am no stranger to tea. I started with Celestial Seasonings when I was a kid. Now that I think about it, I would get excited when Daddy would bring home sassafras. It made a great tea. 

The grownup me had fallen in love with Republic of Tea and Revolution -- all teabags. Although I had a nice teapot and matching teacups, I never graduated to full-leaf teas. (I had the best of intentions.)  Enter Teavana and its seduction.

I was back the next payday, eagerly handing over my cash. I decided that I’d eat soup or beans for a couple of meals so that I could get some tea! (It is a recession, you know.)  I walked out with Earl Grey, Earl Grey White, Moroccan Mint and Tiramisu Treviso Rooibos. I couldn’t have made better purchases. I’ve already picked out what I’m buying on my next trip! My pusher has hooked others as well. Teavana ain't no joke.

I knew saving my Republic of Tea canisters would come in handy!

Earl Grey is my favorite tea. Bergamot is just amazing. I also have it as an essential oil. I tried many a brand to determine that Republic of Tea was the brand of choice for me. Then, I had a properly brewed cup of Teavana Earl Grey. My Lord … Earl Grey White? The beautiful flavor of Earl Grey in a super healthy white tea? I’m all over it. Everyone should try this.

Here are the Earl Grey teas.

White tea is the least processed and black is the most processed.  Look at the difference once they are steeped.

For my green tea, I picked Moroccan Mint. I’m not a big fan of green tea. I’ve tried it flavored and the only one that does it for me is a mint blend.

Red tea – Oh how I love thee, let me count the ways. Red tea is made from Rooibos. Republic of Tea’s Safari Sunset, Red Chai and Good Hope Vanilla are my staples.  Let me speak for a moment about this Tiramisu tea.  It is the most fulfilling dessert you'll ever have for zero calories!  It reminds you of tiramisu (one of my favorite desserts) with a hint of almond.  It's so good, you can drink it unsweetened.  (Add honey for the full dessert effect.)

Speaking of sweetener, what I use depends on the tea.  For my dessert teas, I go with the traditional honey.  Honey is also good in black Earl Grey too.   My preference for most teas is agave nectar.  It adds a very light sweetness that doesn't mask the other flavors. It works extremely well in white tea.

Sipping tea also feeds into my love of kitchen gadgets.  You need a teakettle, teapot, strainer and/or infuser. My next kitchen toy will be a Taylor Connoissuer Tea Thermometer and Timer. The different types of tea require different brewing temperatures and brew times.  You can burn white and green tea if the water is too hot.

That's all for now.  I'll add new posts as I try new flavors and replenish my stash (I'm out of my favorite Revolution tea, Honeybush Caramel. and Republic of Tea's Ginger Peach.