Trying to use up: half-and-half

Cran-walnut scones
Every time I go home to visit my parents, I am astounded by how much random food they've accumulated in their fridge and pantry, especially considering it's just the two of them. (I blame Costco.) A couple of Christmases ago, I had gone home and noticed several large bags of dried fruit, all opened and partially eaten. There was a bag of blueberries, cranberries, and another with mixed berries. (Yup, Costco.) All these years of living in New York has forced me to be very efficient with space, and to use what I have on hand before I get anything else. Seeing all that dried fruit made me a little crazy and I swore I'd use it all up before I left. So that winter, I made about four or five batches of Alton Brown's scones--and still did not manage to use up that dried fruit!


Pastry-cutter--one of the best kitchen-gadget investments I've made. Unlike the lemon-juicer shaped like a bird. Don't buy one, no matter how cute it looks.

I had a little bit more success this time around when trying to use up some half-and-half. Who buys half-and-half? I do, just to put a little in my coffee, which I only make on the weekends. Not very efficient of me. For some reason, half-and-half does not go bad as quickly as milk does (I have never bothered to look into why, and am almost scared to know), which is why I sometimes buy it. But then I am often left with at least a cup with the expiration date looming. Which is when I resort to making something like quiche, or in this case, scones.



Most scone recipes call for cream but half-and-half works pretty well. I used an ice cream scoop instead of rolling it out and cutting them--I am convinced that it would over-work the dough too much, and besides, the ice cream scoop method is so easy. And I kind of like how the shapes are a little rustic.


I love this scone recipe because it is very easy and versatile--you can add fresh or dried fruit, nuts, even chocolate. My other trick is to take it out of the oven a full minute or two earlier than what the recipe calls for, and then cool on the baking tray.


Okay, so some of them stuck together but it really wasn't that noticeable (especially since I went ahead and ate those myself).