Modern Cottage

So there’ve been no postings lately because we’ve been on vacation. Now that we’re back, we have noticed that there is decidedly more suck in our daily lives than there is in our vacationing lives. In an effort to help ease the transition back into real life, I decided to try to reverse engineer the mango scones we ate for breakfast every day while in Kaua’i. As Beth was the true addict between us, I gave her the responsibility of approving or rejecting my effort. She gave me the big thumbs up while mumbling through crumbs “You really do love me.” I call that a success.

But I have to tell you about my secret ingredient: ReddiWip. Yep. I was working off of my regular ole scone recipe but didn’t have any rich dairy in the house. I looked in the fridge and saw a random can of ReddiWip left over from ice cream sundaes and decided to give it a try. So, you say you want to make your own? Well go nuts.

Em’s ReddiWip Mango Scones

Ingredients:

2 1/2c flour
1/4c sugar (little extra if you like a sweeter scone)
5t baking powder
1/4t salt
1/3c chilled butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cup ReddiWip (keep the can handy in case you need a tad more moisture) or 3/4c of half and half if you don’t have ReddiWip
1 mango, chopped

Preheat oven to 400f.

In a big bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Then cut in the butter until crumbly. (I just use the ole pinch-it-in method for this.)

In a small bowl, fold together egg, mango, and ReddiWip.

Make a small well in the middle of your dry ingredients, dump in wet ingredients and mix together with your hands. It’ll get very sticky. (It should be a fairly dry mix but if it just won’t come together, hit it with a small squirt of ReddiWip. Use a light hand though.)

When the batter is moist, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead a few times until it holds together. Shape into a big, flat, round blob and cut into 6-8 wedges.

Move wedges to a parchment or foil-lined baking sheet. Leave space between as they will expand a bit when baking.

Brush the tops with a little milk or ReddiWip and sprinkle lightly with sugar.

Bake for 20 min or to your desired brown-ness

It’s really nothing like actually being in Hawai’i, of course. But maybe you can take a bite, close your eyes, and lie to yourself. Bite. Eyes. Lie. Bite. Eyes. Lie.

Look how they smile at you a little as you season your food.

So one of our readers (technically one of Beth’s rad online friends from the days when she wrote a clever blog filled with wit and genius) surprised us with these kick-ass salt and pepper shakers as a wedding gift. True, they have stand-alone radness but are truly made EXTRArad (like the name of a software company or an energy drink) by their stylistic reference to our wall o’ fauxidermy. Since they deserve to be a true part of the tiny deer family, they will be forever in the living room on the coffee table. This means, of course, that they will get more use than any other salt and pepper dispensers we may own.

Also, when I took them out of the box I made them act out the scene from Friends where Ross & Rachel break up the second time. (You fell asleeep?!) Fortunately, Beth had already formally agreed to be my wife.

We’ve been married for 7 years as far as friends and family are concerned. Today the state of California officially agreed with them. Hooray for us!

Share in the winter? Yes. Summer? No.

It’s summer and that means time for TWO comforters on the bed. If you’re thinking, well that air conditioning CAN get chilly in the night, first, I need to sock you, and second I need to remind you that there is no a/c here. No. There are window fans.

And now, a poem entitled “Why Two Comforters Are Awesome.”

Oh Beth, thou furnace, why must you sleep in thermals when it’s 86 degrees out?

Oh Cat, thou fuzzy motor, why must you curl around my head until we stick together?

Oh ancient house, thou keeper of daytime highs, why must you bake me as I try to rest?

But soft, what peace through yonder bedclothes breaks? ‘Tis the solution since Beth is the sun.

Okay enough. But for real. We each have our own twin comforter with duvet cover, and no flat sheet for the bed (only the fitted sheet). Beth traps all her hateful heat inside her comforter and I cuddle one corner of mine like a pillow while the rest dangles to the floor and never the twain shall meet. We got the idea a few years ago from a hotelier in London who’d made our beds up like this. We brought the idea home for our own use and it’s been a really great solution. Plus I think it makes the bed look kind of unique and modern. Even with the big cat-slept-here dent right in the middle.

So cool it practically says “Ayyyyyyy.”

Oh it’s just so awesome. It’s like hospital cart meets ice cream bike meets 50s ice chest. For some reason I have a love of coolers. I don’t know what it is. Plastic lake coolers, soft-side stadium coolers, picnic backpack coolers — I love them all. But I ESPECIALLY love old coolers. (I’ll tell you about the one I found on the side of the road in another post.)

I realize this one isn’t a truly old cooler. I’m not even sure whether this is modeled on something that once existed or is a new invention designed with retro style. Either way I want it on my back patio. It could be the cornerstone of a sweet mid-centuryish outdoor kitchen.

Some grill company should have a look at this and design a coordinating grill. Look how that’s a million dollar idea and I’m giving it away for nothing! You, Weber, call me.