Sweet Scones

2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. butter
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup currants, raisins or dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender, blend in the butter until crumbly. Add the milk and dried fruit. Stir with a wooden spoon. With your hands, form the dough into a ball. If it is too dry, add 1 tbsp. of milk. If it is too wet, add 1 tbsp. flour. Dust a clean table top with flour. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick with a rolling pin. Using a round cookie cutter or tho open end of a drinking glass, cut the scones into circles. I used the dough scraps to make more scones by patting the dough into a round, flat circle and cutting into four wedges. Place on cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until they start to brown. Let cool 5 minutes, then serve.

We served them the Scottish way, with jam and whipping cream spread on the insides and put together like sandwiches. We had a Scottish afternoon tea party today while studying the country of Scotland.

Finnish Meatballs

1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup plain bread crumbs
1 yellow onion, minced
1 egg
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground allspice (I didn't have allspice so I used French Onion Dip Mix instead)
1/4 cup butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/2 cup whipping cream
salt and pepper to taste

Mix the ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, egg, cream, salt, and allspice in a bowl with your hands until evenly mixed. Roll the mixture into golf ball-sized spheres.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook about half the meatballs in the melted butter until evenly browned on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes; remove to a plate and repeat with the remaining meatballs, keeping the liquid in the skillet when finished.
Sift the flour into the skillet drippings; cook the flour in the skillet drippings until brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Slowly stream the milk into the skillet while whisking vigorously; pour the cream into the mixture and stir until smooth. Add salt and pepper. If you aren't good at making gravy and end up with some lumps you can pour the gravy through a strainer. Return all the meatballs to the skillet; stir to coat with the gravy. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until the meatballs are cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.

Vanilla Ice Cream

2 eggs
scant 3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 1/2 cups homogenized milk
2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract (I use real Mexican vanilla - fake extract won't taste the same)

In a heavy saucepan, combine the first five ingredients. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat a metal spoon and reaches at least 160 degrees F. Remove from the heat; cool quickly by setting pan in ice and stirring the mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight or freeze immediately. When ready to freeze, pour custard and vanilla into the cylinder of an ice cream freezer. Freeze according to the manufacturer's directions.

Making a cooked custard really makes better homemade ice cream. I tried the no cook recipes and they freeze quite icy and have lots of ice crystals. You can add extras into this recipe for different flavours or just add your favourite topping when serving this treat!