jaunthie | Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a pleasant New Year's Eve and a joyous ringing out of 2008.

fisherbear and I spent part of the evening with MamaBear and my family, watching little nephew Jack be a very cute and surprisingly well-behaved almost-toddler. I made turkey vegetable soup for dinner from the stock Mom made (and how she always manages to get hers to gelatinize and I never do is a mystery; I suspect it has something to do with the inclusion (or not) of the wingtips) and we all enjoyed it. Around nine-ish we made our exit and went back to our place to prepare for

monkeybard and NordicBoy's infamous New Year's Eve party. MamaBear decided to sit it out, but fisherbear and I went and had a very good time. I fit into the "cheese and wine" theme by baking and bringing cheese scones, which turned out rather more bready than scone-y, but tasty nonetheless. We had a good time chatting and catching up with people, and rang in the new year with style.

Note: all measures are approximate, as I didn't measure anything directly except the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. I'm an off-the-cuff baker.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl, add:

3 cups of flour. I used half whole wheat and half white, but if you want scone-y-er scones, you'd probably better use all white

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

several grinds of black pepper

1 generous pinch kosher salt

1 generous pinch sugar

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add:

4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

2-3 ounces extra sharp cheddar, shredded

2 ounces gruyere, shredded

All cheese amounts approximate; just use up what you have handy, and the sharper the cheese, the better. Mix in thoroughly, and then add:

4 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Mix together with your fingers, pinching the lumps of butter (and occasional bits of cheese) until the mix has a "sand and pebble" look. When thoroughly combined, add:

1 to 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Add the first cup, and mix. If it all holds together in a moist but not too sticky dough, great; if not, keep adding buttermilk until it does and then form into one giant ball. Split the ball into four equal parts. Knead each quarter 4-6 times, gently. Form into a ball and then press flat until you have a disc about 1 inch thick. Coat the top with grated parmesan. Slice the disk into eight pie-shaped wedges (cut the disc in half, cut the halves in half, and then cut the quarters in half, easy as pi). Place the wedges parmesan-side up onto a nonstick cookie sheet (or use parchment paper on a plain metal cookie sheet; just don't use nonstick spray). Repeat process with other 3 quarters. Bake 15 minutes. Serve hot, or cool them on a wire rack and serve cold, or reheat by splitting them in half and toasting them. They're good any which way. Makes 32 small scones that actually taste like cheese, not just "hey there's something in this scone but I can't quite tell what" scones. If you want bigger scones, split the ball into thirds instead of quarters and follow the same process.

Happy 2009!