Beauty...it's in the Eye of the Beholder

I was happy to have ended today with a "win" in the baking department. 

It was kind of a rough day to begin with.  

Aaron woke up at 3am asking for milk.  I reminded him of our rule that he can't have milk until morning...so, he climbed into bed with me. 

Luckily, we have a king-size bed.  But, for some reason, Aaron needs 16" of space between him and the edge of the bed.  So, I was smooshed between him and Mike...and he proceeds to flop his arm over and smack me in the face, punch my boob, and kick me repeatedly in the legs.

Then he had to go potty.

Then he wanted to go back to his bed.  But needed me to come cover him.

Then, around 4:30 when there may have been a glint of sun, he tried the milk card again and argued that the sun was coming up.

I literally got ZERO sleep between 3 and 6am.  It was definitely a grumpy mommy morning.

I wish I could wake up in such an instance and mutter some sarcastic remarks...but still manage to whip up some beautiful layered smoothies á la Mama Pea.  But no.  My child got some blueberries & raspberries...and a bag of Pirate's Booty (his request...and I wasn't in the mood to argue).  I set him up with a Veggie Tales movie on my computer, in bed with me, and I dozed off to the sounds of Silly Songs with Larry. 

When the movie (and my nap) was over, I found my sheets covered in a generous dusting of Pirate's Booty cheese with a couple red raspberry smears.  Lovely.  I had 3 loads of laundry to do anyway...might as well add in the sheets.

The entire day wasn't awful though.

We had a definite turn-around mid-afternoon.

I got my NCLEX test results online - I PASSED!!  I still have to wait for the official licensing from Oregon and I'll then have to apply for an endorsement from Washington...but, that horrible exam is behind me!! I think two of my stress zits went away immediately.  (Is it OK to talk about zits on a food blog??)

Then, in the mail, I got my copy of Peas and Thank You.

I also got word from the TV station where she's appearing on Monday that I can bring Aaron to the taping.  I'm beyond thrilled.  Not sure if my child can be quiet through an hour-long live show taping though.  I'm thinking I'll bribe him with a trip to the Space Needle (we have a free set of tickets from Mike's work) and a ride on the monorail.  Wow. This post sure is showing off my amazing parenting skills.

I was happy with how dinner turned out.  I made a Vegan Yellow Split Pea soup inspired by some that I had at our last trip to IKEA.  I found a random recipe online and then tweaked it.  I'll have to share it another time. Then, we had some homemade honey-wheat bread...and, for dessert, I made these yummy white chocolate raspberry scones.

Mike even said, "These are the best scones ever.  I'd pay money for these." 

So, you know they're good.

Something about the raspberries - they added more liquid or something when they got smooshed.  It ended up making them look all weird.  But, nonetheless, they're delicious.

White Chocolate Raspberry Scones

         2 cups all-purpose flour

         1/3 cup sugar

         1 teaspoon baking powder

         1/4 teaspoon baking soda

         1/2 teaspoon salt

         1 stick of unsalted butter

         1/2 cup white chocolate chips

         1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

         1 large egg

         1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

         Sugar for dusting (coarse sugar would be best, but regular sugar works too)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place rack on the lower-middle position.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Cut butter into small pieces and then use a pastry blender to mix it into the dry ingredients.

Blend the butter into the dry ingredients until they're little pea-sized clumps.  Then, add the white chocolate chips.

In a small bowl (or your measuring cup) whisk together the yogurt and egg until smooth.

Use a fork to stir the yogurt/egg mixture into the dry ingredients until large dough clumps form.  Add the raspberries here.  (I forgot to until later...) Then, use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. 

It will be pretty sticky at first and you will swear there is not enough liquid.  But keep pressing it and it will come together.  I promise.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7 or 8 inch circle. Sprinkle with sugar and use a knife or pizza cutter to cut it into several triangles.  Depending on how big you want them, you can do big or small.

Place the triangles about 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Let cool for a few minutes after removing from the oven.  Then, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tell yourself you'll only eat 1/2 of one - just to try them.

Then (after you've eaten 3 WHOLE ones) put the remaining scones into an air-tight container.

So yeah, like I said, not beautiful - but we can't always be perfect. 

On the bright side, they taste amazing...and it's a clean sheet night for me!!