Scone-da-monium

About this time of year, my friend Kerry Sims and I bake up some batches of scones and find a few neighborhood folks to invite over to indulge in a few too many fat grams and to talk about the neighborhood. Last year was the first time we did this, and it was intended to be more of a competition between Kerry and me. But the people who attended didn't want to start a neighborhood feud, so they declared all the scones excellent.

This year, our friend Anne Bachle-Fifer is hosting. She and her husband Mark just got done remodeling their kitchen, so they have some nice space.

This year, I once again made my toasted oatmeal cinnamon chip scones, which are in the bottom of the top picture. This is a more involved recipe, but still not all that tough to get right. The recipe I start with is the oatmeal scone from America's Test Kitchen. The only augmentation I make is to bake my scones on a preheated baking stone and to add a scant cup of cinnamon chips. I also make sure to cook them plenty long. Nothing is more disappointing than a mushy scone.

The cinnamon scones are rather sweet and crispy, while the other recipe I typically use is more bready and lean (although they are basted with butter before baking). This second recipe was shared by Kerry, and is good for getting creative with the "goodies." This year I made dark chocolate chip with a raspberry stuffing. I've never done these before, so we'll see how they go over. In the past, I've done dark chocolate ginger, dark chocolate orange, cranberry almond, butterscotch chip, and probably some other assortments.

Kerry is reportedly going to try lemon pistachio for tomorrow. He's pretty daring. But he'll be making he espresso, so we won't be too hard on him if they taste strange.