in this, the national week of baking...

I'll share my obsession of the moment: scones. I just made some up mid-afternoon for no one but myself. In my defense I did half the batch. These are from the Alice Waters cook book and are so easy- I dare to call them foolproof and rediculously delicious. Why does the ease of making something almost make it taste better? Anyway, I pull these scones hot out of the oven whenever I have friends over and clearly, if today is evedence of my behavior, for absoultly no reason at all. Enjoy:

Adapted from Alice Waters, the Art of Simple Food 
2 cups unbleached whole wheat flour (I've also done all white and half and half, and they don't take SO much better than the all wheat- so why not do a little something for your health while indulding?- GO ALL WHEAT!)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
a scant 1/4 cup sugar (I use all turbinado)
1 1/3 cups cream

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix together in a large bowl the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and currants. Stir in the cream. Mix until the dough just starts to come together.  Turn out onto a floured surface and knead just enough to bring it all into a nice rough circle about 1".  Sprinkle with a little extra sugar (turbinado is perfect here). Cut into 8 wedges or 4 if you've halved your recipe... Place on a lightly buttered tray and bake for 17 minutes or until golden.

* add lemon zest, currents, dried cranberries, or anything else that strikes your fancy to gussy these up.