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Summer is here

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Sometimes, it feels like we are in the Philippines, minus the humidity.

The heat has been getting unbearable and Tobi and I are arguing over my habit of drinking iced water. He maintains that it doesn’t help cool me down.

I read a few articles on cold vs warm water and there are pros and cons for both, but the bottom line is, for hydration the temperature of water does not really matter.

And nothing really beats drinking a glass of ice-cold water while sitting in front of the fan. So, much to his chagrin, I keep doing it.

***

Becca brushing tops with cream; middle, Sarah rolling our scone dough; right, Jing, Chloe and Alan*
Chloe’s picnic party*
Scones with butter and jam; middle, birthday cake; right, thank you card*

We were invited to Chloe’s 1st birthday party a week ago in Engelberg, an Alpine town that was an hour and 45-minute drive away from Biel. Because it would be tiring to drive back and forth in a day, my friend, Jing, invited us to stay over with them at the huge house they rented for a few days.

The proud parents, Alan and Jing, went all out for the 1st birthday party. There was a beautiful garden picnic set up, I made the cake and some other friends and family prepared our buffet lunch.

We had grilled pork, sausages, lumpia, and of course rice. There was a variety of cold cuts, cheeses, bread and different types of desserts on the buffet table as well.

We got lucky with the weather and the girls had fun playing with the teddy bears and of course, with Chloe.

***

Father’s Day is not as widely celebrated as Mother’s Day, both in Germany and Switzerland. And to add to my frustration, the days are different.

In Germany, it is celebrated on Ascension Day, 40 days after Easter, which is a public holiday. Tobi never celebrated it with his Papa.

In Switzerland, it was only introduced in 2007! It is now celebrated on the first Sunday of June.

But for me, who has been celebrating Father’s Day on the 3rd Sunday of June, I decided (As Tobi did not have any strong feelings for it) that we, as a family, will celebrate Father’s Day on the 3rd Sunday of June. That way, I will have reminders from my siblings as we do something for my Dad as well.

This year, the girls bought Tobi some candy and plants and drew a few cards for him. Becca woke me up early to prepare breakfast, which we had decided on the night before to be scones. I used my favorite easy recipe for Cream Tea Scones from the King Arthur Baking website. I have made a few slight changes after making it a couple of times.

Cream Scones

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp fine sea salt

¼ to 1/3 cup granulated sugar, to taste (I use 1/3 cup)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp butter, melted

1 1/3 to 1 ½ cups heavy cream or whipping cream

Additional heavy cream for brushing on scones

Coarse sugar for sprinkling on top, optional

  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
  2. Mix together the vanilla, melted butter and 1 1/3 cups cream in a medium bowl. Drizzle over the dry ingredients, tossing and mixing as you do so. The dough should come together and not be too dry. If there is some dry flour at the bottom of the bowl, add cream a tablespoon at a time. Gently knead in the bowl until the dough comes together. It shouldn’t be too sticky.
  3. Sprinkle a work area with some flour. Tip the dough out and roll out into a 14×8 inch rectangle. Cut into 4 equal pieces and stack on top of each other. Roll out again into 14×8 inch and cut into 8 squares.
  4. Transfer to a lined baking pan and brush with cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar, if using. Place in the freezer or refrigerator for at least 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 425°F/210°C.
  5. When the oven is preheated, bake the scones from 20 to 25 minutes. Check that the middle is not raw. If you have an instant-read thermometer, it should be at least 93°C.
  6. Serve with butter and jam, cheese, ham, or whatever floats your boat.

TIP: You can make the scones ahead and freeze unbaked. Bake directly from the freezer, adding around 10 minutes to the bake time.*

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