Cabin breakfasts

New at the cabin this year: Mix-and-match Fiestaware. I am a happy camper.

For years we stayed quite happily at the Shoreline motel in Grand Marais, and we could happily stay there again. But we've discovered the joys of booking ahead so we can check ourselves into a cabin and check out from the world. One of the perks, to my mind, is control over the breakfast factor. With these scones formed ahead and ready to bake, I’m about 25 minutes from rolling out of bed to a nice, home-baked breakfast.

Freezer scones

Adapted from “Happy Holidays From the Diva of Do-Ahead” by Diane Phillips. Yes, of course I own a book called that. She called these Heavenly Blueberry Scones, for those keeping score. In our world, they are freezer scones, a highly useful commodity.

Ingredients

2¼ cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon salt

½ cup dried fruit (blueberries are swell, but other fruit like dried cranberries or cherries work too)

1½ cup heavy cream

Optional egg wash of 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon cream

Up to 2 tablespoons sugar for garnish

Method

Preheat the oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment. (Or, say, a 13-by-9 cake pan in this case since the cookie sheet that was here the last two years is MIA. Slightly different browning pattern, but oh well.)

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Mix in dried fruit. Gradually mix in cream with a wooden spoon until dough comes together.

Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead a few times. Roll out into a circle ½-inch thick. Cut into 12 wedges. (At this point you can freeze the scones in a freezer container between layers of wax paper. Then thaw in the frig overnight and proceed as directed.) Place on parchment paper on baking sheet. Brush with egg wash, if desired. Then sprinkle with sugar and bake for 17 minutes or so until golden. (I only had cream on hand, so these didn't get quite the usual effect.)

Rating: Not one of my ultimate scone recipes (note that it contains no butter, so it doesn’t have quite the traditional consistency or height), but very, very serviceable. And that make-ahead thing? That’s above price. The cranberries work, but I’m much fonder of the blueberry version, which also seems much more North Shorish. At any rate, these are one more reason to schlep the mega cooler north with us each year.

Don’t worry, if you’re one of the people invited to join us on a vacation, I’ll kick it up a notch to my usual B&B fare, but for just us kids, this is a lovely way to greet the day and the Lake. Speaking of which, it's dark and choppy today, with a fog bank a ways out. The birch leaves are dancing to some rustic folk tune; I'm thinking Bartok. Did I mention that KSJN comes in here?  But we don't have it on right now so we can listen to the waves crash into the rocks.