Mr. Bogey

Every so often, there are customers that come into the bakery that leave you smiling every time. The man that I'm writing about in this post does just that. He is a 85 year old scottish man, with white hair and glasses that sit on the tip of his nose. He would come into the bakery every Sunday and order a "rrrrraisin bread" (imagine thick scottish accent) and put it under the name Bogey. Bogey is not this man's name. I don't know his name. For the past 4 years all he's gone by is Bogey, which was the name is his adorable dog. He would come in every weekend, pick up his bread and be on his way. For a period of time we stopped baking raisin bread on Sundays and he would come in and ask "Can't ya just stick a couple rrrraisins in a loaf for me?"...we did. How could we not? He is a cheerful man that you loved like a grandpa because he was just that cute.

For a while he stopped coming into the bakery and we all thought the worst. Turns out, he was fine, sadly Bogey the dog was not. When Bogey passed, we didn't see him for a while. I felt so badly I wanted to find him and personally deliver raisin bread to his door every Sunday. Then, out of the blue, Mr. Bogey appeared. This time though it's different, he doesn't order raisin bread as often, but he does make a point to go for a walk everyday, and when he does pass the bakery, he will stand and wait, and wait, and wait until someone behind the counter sees him and gives a little wave. He waves back, and then he continues on his walk. I hear he does this to the girl's at Lululemon as well. Adorable. He is one of the few customers that I look forward to seeing because he's friendly, knows what he wants, and then off he goes. The perfect customer.

I decided it was fitting to post a recipe that had-what else? Raisins! Personally, I have to be in some sort of foodie mood to eat raisins, some days I love them, other days, I'm picking the raisins out until each one has been removed and thrown away. These scones are delicious, especially heated and with either butter or jelly. If you have a couple free hours on the weekend, I definitely recommend giving these a try!

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 cup raisins
3 eggs divided
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk, divided

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Spray a large baking sheet with vegetable-oil cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut butter into flour mixture until particles are the size of small peas; stir in raisins.

In a medium bowl, beat 2 eggs lightly with 1 cup milk. Add to flour mixture; stir just until mixed.

On a lightly floured surface, knead dough gently. Pat or roll out the dough into a circle 1/2-inch thick. Using a lightly greased and floured 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut into rounds, cutting close together to generate as few scraps as possible. Dip cutter into flour as often as necessary to keep dough from sticking. Push scraps of dough together so that edges join; firmly pinch edges with fingertips to make a partial seal. Pat this remaining dough to 1/2-inch thick; continue to cut 3-inch rounds. Space 1-inch apart onto prepared baking sheet. When making scones, work the dough quickly and do not over mix.

Note: Scones can be cut into any shape you desire. Use a drinking glass to make circles, or cut into squares or wedges with a knife. Dip the edges of the cutter in flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Do not pat the edges of the scone down; instead leave the cuts as sharp as possible to allow the scones to rise in layers.

In a small bowl, combine 1 egg and 1 tablespoon milk; brush onto scones. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and serve warm.

Tips: When the scones are cool, wrap airtight and hold at room temperature for up to one day or freeze to store longer. To reheat, unwrap scones (thaw wrapped, if frozen) and place onto a baking sheet. Bake in a 350 degrees oven 8 to 10 minutes or until warm.

Yields 12 to 14 scones. 

The Beginning: Always a good place to start

When given the assignment to create a blog, my mind started racing a hundred miles a minute. I really couldn't decide on one particular topic that I thought would be interesting for me to write about on a weekly basis, but more importantly, interesting for others to read. By the end of that day I made a list of subjects that I deemed had potential. I started with beauty tips (too personal), fashion advice (who am I to say who has style?) travelling (I really only go to two places). Needless to say the list ended up being crumpled up, and thrown into recycling. I find that my best ideas come to me when I'm not trying so hard to think of them, and this time was no different.

The idea to create a blog about my experiences past/present about the influence baking has had on my life seemed like an obvious choice that I for some reason had disregarded. Believe it or not, baking has greatly impacted who I am today--from childhood memories, to my first job, to baking for others. It's something that has been a constant thread of enjoyment amidst times of happiness, sadness, confusion and frustration. I've decided to streamline the topics discussed on Confessions to really focus on my experiences at the bakery I currently work at, and the people I've met over the years while working there. It is amazing the type of people that walk into the bakery-there's something about the smell of freshly baked bread that gives people a sense of comfort, which in turn can turn into a confessional. I've learned that you can never put a label on someone, and that regardless of background, life experiences, etc people everywhere simply want to be listened to and heard.

With each blog entry, I intend on posting a recipe that I think goes along with the story or overall theme of the post. Over the years I've collected and sampled hundreds of recipes so don't worry, you can trust me when I post a recipe that it's going to be good.

So that's it. First post: finis.

-Erin

P.S. I decided because it was the first post, to share a picture that I love of me, my nan, and my older brother Mike rather than a recipe. It's my blog, I can do what I want.