Cheddar, sage and onion scones

I’m not going to lie. I’m struggling at the minute. After a really good phase, I am in a funk again. I want to write and express how I am feeling and why I am feeling like this, but I’m not sure myself. I want to be functional, happy, productive, content. But at the moment I am functioning and that’s about it. I know I’ll feel better, and it will happen soon enough, but until then I am cleaning, baking and trying to get back to my old self again. Because it will happen, and the only thing that will make it happen is time. *BIG SIGH*

I want to begin blogging again regularly – a few things have stopped me doing that recently. An ongoing extension (it’s massive and incorpoating groundswork and a garden too – so it’ll be great but it’s been damn stressful) which makes photography (and filming) really hard as my dining room is sealed off; a existential crisis (lol) about who I am and what I want to be/do, so I took a wee break to get my head straight. The latter has been useful and after some life coaching recently I am a lot more clear about the fact that it’s OK to be a stay at home mum who does a bit of blogging. But still, my mojo has been hit quite hard with whatever it is I am going through.

The only way is to put one foot in front of the other and keep buggering on, as Winston Churchill would say. I love this quote from Martin Luther King to the same effect: “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” So I have them in my head and I keep on keeping on!

I hope you don’t mind me posting this, but I’ve seen so many other posts and articles this week as it’s Mental Health Awareness Week, so I feel like I should be straight with you. Please don’t think I don’t know how lucky I am, either. I do. Even people with seemingly perfect lives can get down you know! Depression and anxiety don’t discriminate.

God, maybe I should’ve called this blog Mental Health and Meatballs… ; )

In the spirit or Winston and Martin, today I focused on cleaning, catching up on work emails – and then baking some savoury scones. They are delicious and very easy to make. It’s the first time – I KNOW – that I’ve ever made savoury scones! We have so much sage in the garden and a load of cheese in the fridge so it just made sense. They are lovely for a picnic, or with soup for tea. Try changing the cheese (Stilton maybe, or Parmesan) and the herb (rosemary would be good).

BTW, it’s SCOWNS, not SCONS.

Makes: About 10 scones

Takes: 30 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil, for frying
• 1 tablespoon fresh (or dried), finely chopped sage
• 1 small onion, diced
• 300g plain flour
• 80g butter, cold and roughly cubed
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 100g cheddar, grated
• 100ml milk

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Grease 2 trays.
2. Heat some oil in a pan. Soften onion for 5 mins then add the sage for 2 more mins.
3. Mix baking powder into flour.
4. Add cubed butter to flour and crumble with fingers – or whizz in a processor.
5. Toss in salt and onions/sage mixture. Now grated cheese. Mix gently with hands to combine.
6. Add the milk and gently – don’t overwork – bring together with your hands to make a dough.
7. Flatten with your hands to about 2cm thick. Cut out with scone cutter or a glass to make 8-10 scones.
8. Bake for 15 minutes. Let cool on a wire tray and enjoy in a day or freeze.