TENDER PEACH SCONES

I can only stay out of the kitchen for so long. I had my other eye surgery last Tuesday. Wednesday morning I went for my 1-day post op. The doctor said the left eye had healed nicely and the right eye that had the cataract removed the day before was looking good. Unlike with my left eye, I won't go back this coming Wednesday but will wait until September 4. Since it would be three weeks, I wanted to make sure I knew what I could and shouldn't do. The instructions I got after the first surgery was no housework for 1 week, among other things. When I went back after a week, he said still no housework for a week. Well at the end of the second week I was having the second eye done. Once again the instructions I got when I left was "no housework for a week". So I asked the doctor if I was still restricted from housework for a second week. He nodded yes and then looked at my husband and told him "no housework for 6 months". (I really think he was kidding.) I'm willing to restrict myself for another week, but I will go crazy if I have to avoid it for 6 months. I know that sounds crazy since I have never claimed to be a great housekeeper and have said I would rather be doing something else. That doesn't mean that I never did housework though.

Saturday, I woke up and decided it would be okay for me to make some peach scones. We bought six pounds of peaches almost two weeks ago and I planned to peel, slice them, and then freeze the slices. Well, the peaches weren't great even though they looked fabulous. I only needed 1 cup chopped fresh peaches so I hoped I could find that much in the peaches. As it turned out the two peaches I picked out, were good and I gave me the 1 cup of chopped peaches. I got the recipe from King Arthur Flour.

Just in case you were wondering, my husband cleaned up my mess in the kitchen so I actually didn't do any housework. (I have also learned to squat instead of bending over to keep my head above my heart.)

Click here for a printable version of just the recipe.

TENDER PEACH SCONES

2     cups flour
1/2  teaspoon salt
1/3  cup granulated sugar
1/2  teaspoon nutmeg
1     tablespoon baking powder
6     tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
2     large eggs
1/3  cup full - fat or low - fat (not nonfat) vanilla yogurt or sour cream (I did use the yogurt)
1/2  teaspoon almond extract
1     teaspoon vanilla extract
1     cup diced peaches (fresh, frozen, or canned) (I did use fresh peaches)
coarse white sparkling sugar (I used regular granulated sugar)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a large cookie sheet. Set aside.

I peeled, and chopped my peaches and placed them in a bowl with lemon water to keep them from turning dark while I mixed up the other ingredients. (2 cups cold water with 2 tablespoons lemon juice.)

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, nutmeg, and baking powder.

Work in the butter using your fingers, a fork, or a pastry cutter.

In another smaller bowl, beat the eggs, yogurt, and flavorings til smooth.

Add all at once to the dry ingredients and

mix together.

Add the peaches stirring or mixing just until peaches are distributed evenly in the batter.

The dough will be wet and sticky.

Drop the dough by 1/4-cupful or use an ice cream scoop that measures about that much onto the cookie sheet.

(I ending up making 14 scones instead of just 12.)

Sprinkle the scones with the coarse sugar.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until they are a light golden brown.

Allow to rest on pan on wire rack for a few minutes before

removing to the rack to cool completely.

Serve warm or at room temperature. Store at room temperature, well-wrapped, for several days.