I was successful in obtaining butter and brown sugar, but flour continues to elude me. I had about three cups left in my pantry, so yesterday, I made up a batch of mixed berry scones, froze them, and baked a couple of them this morning for breakfast. I've finally gotten the hang of these, they are really good.

Work the dough as little as possible, just until it comes together. Work quickly to keep the butter and berries as cold as possible for the best results. Note that the butter is divided in this recipe. An equal amount of frozen blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries (halved) can be used in place of the mixed berries.

Ingredients

Scones
1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) frozen mixed berries
3 tablesoons confectioners' sugar
3 cups (15 ounces) all-purpose flour
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, chilled
1/3 cup (2 1/3 ounces) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk
1 large egg plus 1 large yolk
Glaze
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon honey

Instructions

1. FOR THE SCONES: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. If your berry mix contains strawberries, cut them in half. Toss berries with confectioners’ sugar in bowl; freeze until needed.

2. Combine flour, 6 tablespoons butter, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt in food processor and process until butter is fully incorporated, about 15 seconds. Add remaining 6 tablespoons butter and pulse until butter is reduced to pea-size pieces, 10 to 12 pulses. Transfer mixture to large bowl. Stir in berries.

3. Beat milk and egg and yolk together in separate bowl. Make well in center of flour mixture and pour in milk mixture. Using rubber spatula, gently stir mixture, scraping from edges of bowl and folding inward until very shaggy dough forms and some bits of flour remain. Do not overmix.

4. Turn out dough onto well-floured counter and, if necessary, knead briefly until dough just comes together, about 3 turns. (Sinead's note: yeah, don't attempt to knead it at all. Just dump the crumbly mass of dough onto your counter and push and pat it together in the rectangular shape for cutting. The scones come out much lighter if you do.) Using your floured hands and bench scraper, shape dough into 12 by 4-inch rectangle, about 1 1/2 inches tall. Using knife or bench scraper, cut dough crosswise into 4 equal rectangles. Cut each rectangle diagonally into 2 triangles (you should have 8 scones total). Transfer scones to prepared sheet. Bake until scones are lightly golden on top, 16 to 18 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.

5. FOR THE GLAZE: While scones bake, combine melted butter and honey in small bowl.

6. Remove scones from oven and brush tops evenly with glaze mixture. Return scones to oven and continue to bake until golden brown on top, 5 to 8 minutes longer. Transfer scones to wire rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. (In my house, they never make it ten minutes, but a little cooling helps them to set up, and also not burn your tongue.)

TO MAKE AHEAD: Unbaked scones can be frozen for several weeks. After cutting scones into triangles in step 4, freeze them on baking sheet. Transfer frozen scones to zipper-lock freezer bag. When ready to bake, heat oven to 375 degrees and extend cooking time in step 4 to 23 to 26 minutes. Glaze time in step 6 will remain at 5 to 8 minutes.

Although I am deeply committed to the elastic-waist-pants, yoga-bra or no-bra shelter-in-place lifestyle, I have decided I had better put some earrings in my piercings on a regular basis. They probably won't close up, but they do tend to shrink.

Entertainment rec, podcast-y: Staying In With Emily and Kumail. Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon talk weekly about staying in these days. It's specific to our current situation, so if you'd rather avoid all mentions of covid-19, you might want to give it a miss. But I'm really restricting my news intake and still find this very comforting and charming. They're great together.

Other entertainment rec: the free month of CBS All Access currently on offer. I'll inhale all of The Good Fight and Star Trek-related stuff I want this month and then bid CBS adieu before they actually get their hooks into my credit card.

Several family members have had undiagnosed but probable cases of the virus, according to their doctors' assessment via the phone. All mild, all have recovered. whew.

nestra, runpunkrun, I am enjoying the poetry entries very much.