Socially Distantancing Blog

I imagine that you with more time at home are doing projects around the house, baking, watching more tv than usual, reading, doing puzzles and all that jazz. That is what is happening for me. In addition, I have been making t-shirt yarn, going through old pictures, cleaning drawers and closets. Well, you get the idea.

Like everyone else, I also have been making masks. Luckily I had a lot of remnants in my material bin and my daughter ordered elastic for me after I ran out. It seems that I have gotten the process down to a science and can do 10 masks in less than an hour.

Recipes

Orange Scones *sprinkle some sugar

Fresh Orange Scones

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

25 minutes

Yield: 8 scones

Ingredients:Orange Scones1/3 cup sugarzest of one large orange or two medium oranges2 cups all-purpose flour1 tsp baking powder1/4 tsp baking soda1/2 tsp salt1/2 cup unsalted butter, frozen1/2 cup sour cream1 large eggOrange Glaze3 tbs unsalted butter, melted1 cup confectioners’ sugar1/2 tsp vanilla extract2-4 tbs freshly squeezed orange juice

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and set oven rack to the middle position. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl, gently toss flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a separate small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until completely smooth. Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir sugar and orange zest together until sugar is moistened and zest is evenly distributed. Pour in flour mixture and toss to combine. Grate frozen butter into mixture. Using your hands, work in the butter until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Gently stir in sour cream mixture until just about combined. Do not over work the dough! Again, very gently press the dough against the sides of the bowl a few times and form a ball. The dough will be sticky at first but will come together as you form it.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and lightly pat into an 8″ circle about 3/4″ thick. Use a very sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles (like a pizza). Transfer triangles onto prepared baking sheet. You can arrange them in two rows, 4 in each row, or arrange them in a circle shape – leaving about 1″ between each one.

Bake scones for 15-17 minutes or until the tops begin to golden. Don’t take them out too early or they will be too soft. Allow them to cool for 10 minutes on the pan before transferring onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely. During this time, prepare glaze. Stir together melted butter, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla and orange juice until smooth. Once completely cooled, go ahead and either dip the tops of the scones into the glaze or drizzle it on top with a spoon.

Projects

One of the crafty things I have done lately is to make a wreath using strips of old denim and leftover fabric I had. Since we are heading toward Memorial Day I did it with a patriotic theme. I even had the wire wreath form already that I had purchased at Dollar Tree, “where everything really is a dollar”.

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All I did was rip trips of fabric about an inch wide and then cut them approximately into 7 inch lengths as measured by my hand (measuring trick below). Then tied them in three rows around the wreath. You can do any pattern you would like. I chose to do 4 denim strips and two colored. I wanted to emphasize the denim since the red and white fabric would have no problem standing out on their own.

Hacks

*Measuring 7 inches with your hand is a trick I learned from my friend Karen. We would frequently use that method to measure things at a household or yard sale to see if they would fit where we wanted them to when we got them home.

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The distance marked in blue is pretty darn close to 7 inches. It is a handy little measuring device that you never leave home without.

*Place a paper clip at the end of the tape on a roll of clear package tape. It makes it so much easier to find the end of the roll. I even do it on masking tape just so the end is easier to get a hold of.

*A twin size sheet fits over a normal size picnic or fold-able table to be used as a tablecloth. It stays put even with the wind blowing.

I sincerely hope that all of you are well and that something in this post is useful to you. See you next time!!