Garlic Scone; the weekly update

Well…..

We’re not quite ready to move in the easy chairs… 

But progress is being made.

It’s the little things that always puts one behind schedule, especially when working with an old house.

He had to remove the door that goes into the pantry in order to lay the tiles.

It took almost 2 hours to get the screws on the hinges out…..

Now we have to figure out what to do with the fireplace.

It’s the only fireplace I’ve seen that Santa actually could slide down.  When the chimney sweep cleaned it he put a ladder up inside the chimney….

And climbed up!

I’m not sure what that chain is for… A cooking pot, most likely.

It appears as if the original fireplace was cut into the wall of the house.

I’m guessing there was no raised hearth; the fire burned on the the floor and the fireplace was very shallow.  That is a typical fireplace in the big old houses in the area.

It looks like they put in a, more modern, raised hearth and built out the sides of the fireplace – the light colored stone.

Why?  I have no idea….

Maybe to make it more efficient or to make it draw better.

The original big wood mantel is above and behind the ‘new’ big wood mantel.

There is a huge steel plate on the hearth, to help heat, I assume and an iron fire wall in the back that you can see part of in the photo.

Mon mari hasn’t decided yet what he’s going to do with it all – We’ll be keeping all the added on stuff, he just needs to figure out how to make it look decent.  Someone painted the outside stones brown and the front stonework is a bit crumbly.

Another unexpected project.

Since it’s well into soup season, at least in the northern parts, I thought I would share the easiest and quickest bread in my repertoire.

Turning on the oven to slathering on the butter is less than 30 minutes.

These are delicious warm, but, like many biscuits, barely edible the next day. This is actually half of the original recipe, but it’s perfect for two. Double it and make two scones if you want more. This is not going to look like nice bread dough before baking, but it manages to come together in the oven – magic!

Garlic Scone

1 1/8th cups flour (1/8 =2 tbs)
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tbs butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder or 2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/3 cup milk

Mix all dry ingredients in medium bowl. Cut in butter with pastry cutter or fork until it looks like ‘crumbs’. Add milk and stir until sort of combined.

Dump the whole floury mess onto a non-stick baking sheet and pat it into a 3/4 inch (2cm) thick round with your hands – but don’t handle it a lot. If possible, knead it once or twice, then just pat and push into shape. It will be 5 – 6 inches in diameter.

With a long knife carefully divide it into 6ths, cutting about 1/2 way through. Bake at 450F (230C) for 12 – 14 minutes, until lightly browned.

Remove and cut alone scored lines. Split open, slather with butter and eat.

We may hang some wall paper this week.

Maybe….

Exciting times…..