Almost 15 months after lockdown, when our whole world was turned upside down, more so for some than others, at last our world is slowly returning to a more recognisable and more comfortable place to be. Will it ever be the same as before? I’m not sure. I think we’re all finding our new normal. For kids things will soon be as if all of this never happened and they will move forward with the enthusiasm and energy that kids have. I know some will have suffered a bit more than others but I really hope everyone is looking out for this and they can get the help they need to get back to enjoying their childhood. The right of every child.
For us we are moving forward with caution. Both fully vaccinated and with most of the people we socialise with and indeed our neighbours all vaccinated there is a sense of it being safe in their company. If, as we are to believe what we’re being told, and the vaccine is working then this is fine. The problem for me is being out there with people we don’t know especially when we see them not socially distancing or wearing masks. Even although we are protected it feels slightly stressful, and to be honest I can’t see putting myself into situations I’m not comfortable in achieves anything. We for the minute will avoid busy areas, and continue to support local businesses. We will go out to eat and meet friends but I think it will take a bit of time before I’ll feel entirely comfortable in places full of strangers. But I will go, and slowly my new normal will be reached. I think it will be different for everyone and we need to be aware of this. No pressure, no unrealistic expectations.
So for now we’re having friends visit, it’s so good catching up after all this time, meeting neighbours in the garden, weather permitting, but now with the option of moving indoors makes it so much easier. We have had a very busy week. Not used to it 😂. Friends for lunch yesterday, drinks with neighbours outdoors last night and friend for coffee today. Phew! It’s been so long.............
One thing I’m loving though is being able to bake and not to be eating it all ourselves 😂. Blueberry cake yesterday, and with a request for a doggy bag it left us with a reasonable piece to enjoy.
I had anticipated I’d have more left over for friends to enjoy with coffee today but a good excuse, not that I need it, to bake some scones. Managed to time it well and they were coming out of the oven just before our friends arrived. I have discovered putting scones into the fridge for 15 minutes or so before cooking seems to help with the bake. I have tried many scone recipes over the years and think I’ve finally hit on the one! Always successful, light and fluffy and simple. What’s not to love about a recipe like this? I’ll be using this one and discarding all the others which I’ve had varying degrees of success. Recipe follows.
SCONE RECIPE
350g SR flour, 1tsp baking powder, 3 tbsp caster sugar, 1 tsp salt, 85g cold butter (I keep it in freezer and grate into mixture) 175ml milk (warmed)1tsp vanilla extract, squeeze of lemon juice.
Oven 220c
Put dry ingredients into a bowl and grate in frozen butter. Rub gently together. You’ll still see little bits of butter. Doesn’t need to be breadcrumb like.
Add vanilla and squeeze of lemon juice to warm milk and pour onto dry mix.
Combine quickly with a knife then tip out onto mat and bring together with hands. Quickly and gently pat it into a round about 3cm deep.
Use 5cm cutter. Cut out then bring remaining dough together to get more cut out. You should get 9 or 10 scones. Place on baking tray and brush tops with beaten egg. At this stage I pop them into fridge for 15 minutes or until ready to bake. When ready to put in oven brush once again with egg mixture. Bake for 10-12 minutes turning tray half way through bake.
So as we move forward and start meeting the world once again I don’t think any of us will forget what happened to the world in 2020/2021. A time we wish had never happened but also a time which has made us realise just what and who is important to us.
So over next few months I am looking forward to once again adding dates into my diary, to catching up with friends and family and feeling like everything is going to be okay. I so hope we are now seeing the end of social distancing, bubbles and all the things that have been in our lives for 15 months, that Covid-19 will fast become a thing of the past that we’ve all had to make huge sacrifices to overcome the challenges it brought into our lives.
Life will be good again. Stay safe and enjoy moving on.
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