And then we had scones.....

I had to apologize to the company we had visiting for being to "carb-y"... but a bad combination of heat, recovering from the sickness (thanks, civilization), and now dealing with "the cure being worse than the sickness" (thanks, prescription drugs)..its all left me a little whoozy and the only thing I want to eat are baked goods. So when I had a few minutes and a bowl of leftover blackberries from the crisp lookin' at me... well, what else could I do but bust these out:

Best scones ever. 

My recipe notebook says these are from Martha Stewart in 2003... thanks, Mar! Original recipe was for blueberry scones, but I just used the fresh blackberries and left out the lemon.

Perfect scones
    * 2 cups all-purpose flour
    * 3 Tablespoons sugar, plus more for sprinkling tops
    * 1 Tablespoon baking powder
    * 3/4 teaspoon salt
    * 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, I used my cheese grater to shred
    * 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries, picked over and rinsed
    * 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
    * 1/3 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing tops
    * 2 large eggs, lightly beaten ** I used duck eggs

Heat oven to 400*

Sift together flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter and gently stir in berries (and zest). Turn out on a clean work surface (I have a marble top table).

Mix together cream and eggs in a liquid measuring cup. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients, pour in cream mixture, and use a fork to incorporate...then use a pastry scraper to mix just until it comes together. But don't squish the berries.

Pat dough into a 6-inch square and cut into 4 squares, then cut on the diagonal so you have 8 scones.

Brush with cream, then sprinkle with sugar and bake at 400* for about 20 - 22 minutes.

We had these with butter I made by shaking cream in a jar. Fabulous.

After chores we had a scramble with eggs, the first cherry tomatoes, goat cheese, and fresh herbs. We waved good bye and were so glad to have such good company.