The Stuff of a Life…and scones

February 7, 2016March 25, 2016 by M+N In Food, Other, State of Mind 4 Comments

Thinking about stuff lately. You know, the Marie Kondo, bring you joy stuff.  A few weeks ago, my sister and brother and I went to South Carolina to clean out our father’s house.  It turned out we couldn’t make a dent. So we struck a deal with a man and an auction company.  He could have it all, if he cleared it away.

A small retirement house on a lake.  All the detritus of our childhood long gone.  Should have been a breeze.   Mom had moved them in, organized, labelled, put things in their place. But Dad had been alone for almost 13 years: the house now a bachelor pad. You could feel traces of her. Cabinets stocked. Perhaps, Dad never opened the cabinets again. In front of every cabinet, new stuff: glasses, plates, gadgets, and food, food, food.

Ironically, Dad was a diabetic; he tracked every calorie. In the office, piles of journals that neatly, meticulously, painstakingly, recorded daily every morsel that entered his body. Cheese-Its, 22 boxes, each one opened.  One handful or so removed, the bag carefully re-rolled and clipped.

Every surface full. A few places to sit.  A space at the table in the sunroom. Two arm chairs, one by the TV, one by the computer.  In the kitchen just one small surface free for food prep. Three freezers and a fridge jammed full  with prepared food. Years past dated.

Papers. Dad was a filer. Each file fastidiously labeled in his mechanical engineer printing. A box or two for every year.  Marion went through 27 bins to find the important papers. Dad filed interesting junk mail.  A lifetime learner. He had countless information topic piles. A pad on the kitchen island, “Why didn’t they think  of…”, several pages of noteworthy ideas. Ideas for his next books and patents. Michael saved the tools. Workshop a treasure trove of multiple implements for every task.  Dad was a fixer.

We sorted and despaired of a life and its remains. We each salvaged. For me: draftsman tools, kept in cigar boxes, decades untouched.  His several fuse and artillery patents, never noted in our childhood, his Patterson High School yearbook.  The stuff I want to define the intent of my father.

What will our five children remember when they go through our stuff.  What will they want?  What will define our lives?

After we left, it took Billy, the auction man, and his six helpers countless truckloads to clear things out.  Our realtor said, “Wow, there was a lot stuff in that house.”

It makes you think about stuff.

Preparing our house for sale, I am overwhelmed by how much stuff we have.  Good stuff. Really good stuff.  But we are not taking it all to Chapel Hill for an auction man to someday haul away.

What to do with it now?  That’s the task ahead.

Dad was a traditional man. Born in ’29, child of the Depression, first in his family to go to college.  His older brother became a well known boxer in Patterson and then a cop. Dad did not cook, clean, make beds, do laundry. But he did make scones. With a great floury mess.

The scones were much like Dad, utilitarian and practical. So here are my Abby’s scones, a thing of beauty.  Just like Abby.

Strawberry Cream Scones    
(from Joy the Baker and King Arthur Flour)

Makes about 20 to 24 small scones.

These simple scones have only a few ingredient. Measure  carefully.  

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cups heavy cream plus more for brushing the top

3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh strawberries

1/3 cup chopped white chocolate (optional)

turbinado sugar for topping

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.  Set aside.

In a liquid measuring cup mix together vanilla extract and 1 1/3 cups cream. Drizzle the cream mixture into the dry ingredients tossing and stirring as you pour it in.  Add the strawberry and white chocolate chunks (if using).  Toss together.  Add 2 more tablespoons of cream if necessary to create a moist, cohesive, but not sticky dough.

Dump the dough onto a lightly floured work surface.  Gently gather and knead the dough into a dish and press the disk out into a 3/4″-thickness.

Use a small biscuit cutter to cut small 1 1/4-inch circles from the dough disk.  Brush each circle with heavy cream and sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar.

Place 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.

Remove from the oven and serve warm.  

Photos: Diana Ritter, Flying Dreams (Instagram)