Things that are pleasant when one is awake in the middle of the night

1. The sound of the creak of a floor board underneath the carpet

2. The quiet

3. The fact that one has shaken off an unpleasant dream.

4. The knowledge that one can go back to sleep.

Memo to God

To: God
From: Me
Re: The weather

God,

I was just wondering whether something was wrong with the sun or something. We'd like to see it. It's one of Your finest creations, and we've been missing it quite a bit lately. Some of the most suspicious among us have begun concocting wild theories that somehow it has gotten broken and replaced with a bank of low wattage fluourescent lights, but You're sorta embarrassed about the whole thing and still tinkering with the set-up, and that's why the light is so low and there has been no break in the cloud cover for what, the last three weeks????

C'mon, big guy. Break out Your squeegee and clean off the sky, wouldja? Because there are some light-starved people down here who are ready to set some pretty big fires or nuclear explosions or something if they don't see the sun soon. Between You and me, they're kinda scary. Really, we don't want them to get out of control.

/pk

Hogwarts!

Best. Dollhouse. EVAH!

Thanks to circehellene for the link.

Twelfth night scones

Tomorrow is Twelfth Night, the last of the twelve days of Christmas, and in our household, we celebrate it by having a Twelfth Night breakfast with special scones and cocoa for breakfast. I have miniature stockings at each place, which I fill with Christmas stuff that's on sale. If you would like to make some Twelfth Night scones for your own farewell to the Christmas season, here's the recipe, taken from the 2004 Pillsbury holiday cookbook:

Scones
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/2 cup white vanilla chips (I used chocolate, since that's what my fussy girls prefer)
1 tsp grated orange peel
1/2 cup vanilla low-fat yogurt
1/3 cup buttermilk (Note: to substitute for buttermilk, use 1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice plus milk to make 1/3 cup)

Topping
1 to 2 TB buttermilk or milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tsp grated orange peel

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease cookie sheet with shortening. In large bowl, stir together flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

2. Stir in cranberries, vanilla chips, and 1 tsp. orange peel. Add yogurt and 1/3 cup buttermilk, stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.

3. Shape dough into ball; place on cookie sheet. With floured fingers, press or roll dough into 8-inch round. Cut into 8 wedges, do not separate.

4. Brush dough with 1 to 2 TB buttermilk, in small bowl, mix 1 TB sugar with 1/2 tsp. orange peel. Sprinkle over dough.

5. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until edges are light golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet, place on serving tray. Cool 5 minutes. Cut into wedges. Serve warm.

[Note: you can prepare scones up to the point of adding the liquids the night before you bake them; cover and refrigerate. The next morning, stir in the yogurt and buttermilk, shape and bake.

Prep time: 20 minutes (ready in 45 minutes)
Servings: 8 scones

Serving size: 1 scone
calories: 325 From fat: 110

Total fat 12g (18% daily value)
Saturated 7g (35% DV)
Cholesterol 20 mg (7% DV)
Sodium 310 mg (13% DV)
Total Carbohydrates 49g (16% DV)
Dietary fiber 1g (4% DV)
Sugars 27g
Protein 5g

Exchanges: 2 Starch, 2 1/2 Fat, 1 Other Carbohydrates
Carbohydrate Choices: 3