Rhonda Anderson > wrote in
.5:

> Wayne > wrote in
> :

>> I suspect the similarity between your scones and our biscuits has a
>> lot to do with them both being an everyday staple. I don't think
>> most USians consider scones as such.
>>
>
> I think biscuits are probably more of an everyday staple as they're
> served with the meal. I don't think scones are so much of an everyday
> staple (in my experience, anyway) nowadays. You can certainly buy them
> at bakeries, cake shops, supermarkets and pretty much every cafe has
> scones with jam and cream on the menu. However, I don't think a lot of
> people sit down to a "proper" morning or afternoon tea most days -
> certainly not a homemade one. Once upon a day, a home baker was judged
> by her sponge cake and her scones. If they weren't any good, it didn't
> matter how good the rest of her repertoire was!

Well, clearly I'm not well-versed in the details of scones, and they're
definitely not offered here in the same way as in the UK or Australia.
Shops that sell them here are typically coffee shops and I've never seen
them offered with any additions, not even butter. Often they are too old
and dry.

> I got up early one morning a few weeks back and baked a couple of
> batches of scones to take to work. They were eaten up fairly quickly,
> accompanied by strawberry jam and King Island cream (the sort that's
> so thick you can stand a knife in it). However, I don't make scones
> very often. They don't keep well, and should be eaten the day they're
> made so I would really only make them if I had visitors coming, or was
> taking them to a function etc.

Last Fall I did something similar; I baked a couple of batches of cream
scones, one with dried cherries and the other with dried currants. I
also took an ample amount of sweet cream butter to spread on them. The
reaction was interesting...most people didn't know what they were at
first. Once tasted, they were all gone in an hour! I think a lot of
folks here have never tasted a scone even if they've heard of them.

You're certainly right that they don't keep well. Even the richest
variety tend to be dry and hard by the next day.

> Now I'm getting hungry for scones - see what you've done! Mmm, got
> some pumpkin in the fridge, maybe I'll make some pumpkin scones.

Me, too, but I'll probably wait until the weekend before firing up the
oven to bake some. It was 108 degrees F. here today.

> Rhonda Anderson
> Cranebrook, NSW, Australia
>



--
Wayne in Phoenix

Big on natural foods?? 82.38% of people die of "natural" causes.