TWD – “Really Exceptional” Apple-Cheddar Scones.

Come on in and set a spell. I have some stories to share. Have a bit of tea and a “really exceptional” scone, to quote my husband. I’ll get to these luscious, cheesy scones in just a bit. Continue reading after the jump . . . .

As some of you may have read, I recently returned from a vacation/business trip. We were gone about two weeks, a very long time for us, indeed. And I’m sure most of you would agree that just getting ready for a trip – stopping mail delivery, arranging for someone to watch your house, etc. – can be hectic enough. You don’t need any more difficulties.

And that, my friends, is when life happens. The Flying Fickle Foot of Fate kicks you right in the backside. First, our dog care person bailed on us. Then our backup person said she couldn’t cover the full two weeks. Mayhem ensued, as I researched and interviewed multiple doggie day care/cage-free boarding places. I chose one and drove the dogs there three days per week for three weeks to get them used to the place. That was two hours total of driving time each day, folks. In the end, everything turned out great, but I’m sure you’ll understand that I could not entrust these pups to just anyone.

We had last minute medical appointments, wherein my surprised orthopedist told me that there was, indeed, something wrong with my knees, and gave me a cortisone shot in the right one. Imagine his amazement when the MRIs confirmed that it wasn’t my female imagination!

Then, (1) the refrigerator went on the blink (to go along with the microwave), (2) I had to get some plants in the ground and do some serious weeding, (3) our T.V. cable went out, (4) we had terrible thunderstorms and tornadoes that led to a 12-hour power outage (several days in other areas), which (5) threatened to spoil all the raw food that my dogs eat, not to mention the frozen chicken backup that I keep for Master Chow. Add to this the fact that I was cleaning out a large storage unit, with a goal of having it emptied by the end of June. Oh, and our printer has been broken for 9 months, telling me that the brand new toner cartridge is “empty.”

Fast forward to about 12 days ago, when we got back. The pups did GREAT at their boarding facility. I actually posted my TWD Mixed Berry Cobbler entry on time. I continued to clean out the storage unit, and succeeded in emptying it by this past weekend, but caught some sort of upper respiratory infection in the process of dealing with all the dust and other nasty stuff in there. We bought a new printer.

Oh, yes, the printer. You see, I was looking for something with good reviews, that would handle large work-from-home print loads. So, I ordered a particular Dell model. About 5 days ago, this showed up on my front door step (photo, right):

“Wow,” I thought. “That is one BIG box. They must have a lot of packing material in there.” Nope. It housed the Mother of All Printers:

I feel like I was in the market for the Millennium Falcon, and ended up with the Death Star.  The thing is almost three feet tall.  And it works! Hooray!

I managed to make my Daring Baker’s Danish Braid and post on time, too. The pastry gods were with me – with the heat index, it was over 100 degrees F around here, and I was working with a laminated dough. I am one grateful Daring Baker.

To rest up (heh, heh, heh), I whipped up this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie’s assignment, Apple Cheddar Scones, which comes to us courtesy of Karina of The Floured Apron. Thank you, Karina, for giving us something easy this week! I find myself in need of another vacation. How about Hawaii? 😉

We absolutely, positively loved these scones. I rate them in my top five favorite Dorie recipes to date. I used an extra sharp cheddar, and substituted some half-and-half for the apple juice. I whipped them up in my food processor, using butter straight out of the freezer. The cheddar was frozen, too. My dough was not excessively sticky, and I plopped it onto the baking sheet (lined with a Silpat) and formed it into a rectangle right on the sheet so that I would not have to transfer anything.

The end result was flaky, buttery, faintly cheesy, with a delightful sweet hit from the apple rounded out by the crunchy cornmeal. Master Chow and I each had two. For dinner. I then ate a salad to cancel out the butter.

I will be making these again!

For the recipe, please check out The Floured Apron, or Dorie’s book,Baking: From My Home to Yours. And for other creations, you can find the TWD blog-roll.

And even though you-know-what happens now and then, things usually work out. I am grateful for my life. I have a good one.