Recipe #2: Donna H’s Blueberry Scones

Growing up, I was pretty convinced that I was born in the wrong decade. I took swing dancing lessons, wore wing tips and cardigans with my initials sewn on, knew every episode of I Love Lucy by heart, and spent my Friday nights watching old musicals I rented from the library. And yeah, I had a crush on Taylor Hanson like a lot of other girls, but Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley were the ones who I really swooned over.

When the movie Pleasantville came out my sophomore year of high school, I was obsessed. Could I please get sucked into a 1950’s sitcom where my closet was filled with poodle skirts and my boyfriend gave me his letter jacket? Truth be told though, the neighborhood that I grew up in shared a lot of similarities with the one in the movie. It was the kind of place where there were so many kids your age that you never had to worry about not having anyone to play with. One where the annual 4th of July cookout with cakes made out of strawberry stripes and blueberry stars was the big event of the year. And one where you could expect a crowd gathered around your new car when you drove it home from the lot. In other words—it was awesome.

Our Pleasantville neighborhood was also equipped with our very own domestic goddess, my best friend Sondra’s mom, Donna. Donna is an absolute master at all of her many crafts—cooking, baking, sewing, embroidering, you name it. And the best part is that she’s super generous, always making an extra loaf of English Muffin Bread for you, or mailing you a pair of hand knit mittens just because. So when I wanted a delicious scone recipe, there was really only one person to turn to.

A few days after my written request, I received a card from Donna containing a bunch of different recipes for scones. I’ve been sitting on them for a few weeks now, so I decided to dedicate Saturday morning to trying out the blueberry ones. I was a little nervous that they wouldn’t come out just right—scones have a very particular consistency—but low and behold they turned out great (not as great as Donna's, but I knew that was impossible). Now that I have confidence in my scone making abilities, I’m excited to try the other recipes that she sent and to make the amazing lemon ginger scones from my Flour Bakey cookbook. The recipe that I tried is a little lengthy (like this post turned out, whoops haha) so I didn’t post it, but let me know if you’d like me to pass it along.

Thanks Donna!

p.s. Yes, I know, I should be photographing these delicious things, coming this week!



A photo of Donna and I in Tortola last year