The Perfect Saturday

Goldilocks here again. So I have always loved animals and yearned to own some land when I grow up so that I can have a horse or two roaming around in a pen in my backyard. Unfortunately, I have no real experience with horses. The one time that I was on a horse I was 10 years old. That is until this morning. I found a local ranch online and called to schedule a trail ride. I arrived this morning and climbed on a very pretty 14 year old mare named Ginger. My trail guide was a very gifted rider, and we had a really good time. We walked, we trotted, we even cantered a little bit. My hour ended, we brought the horses back, unsaddled them, and put them out to pasture. The ranch owner, who knew that I had never ridden a horse, asked how it went, and the trail guide told him that I did really well. To my surprise, he said that I could come during my free time and volunteer at the ranch and ride for free in exchange! I spent the rest of the afternoon mucking stalls and leading horses carrying young children in an arena. And I loved every minute of it! All my dreams are coming true. I'm going to learn to ride and how to take care of horses (for free!!).

One more thing for my perfect Saturday, a few weeks ago I received a package from Washington (from none other than goatgirl). Inside was a local cookbook from my boyfriend's hometown. I love cookbooks! I immediately sat down and looked through every page making mental notes of all the things that I wanted to try. I soon had to abandon this because the list got too long to remember. But anyways, there was one recipe in particular that caught my eye; Original Puyallup Fair Scones. For all of you that have been following the blog for some time, you may remember that goatgirl absolutely loves the scones at the Puyallup Fair. When I got home this afternoon from my horse adventures, I decided to make scones (much to my boyfriend's delight).



Here's the recipe for any of you that are interested:

2 1/2 cups flour
2 Tbls sugar
1 Tbls baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbls shortening(or 7 Tbls butter)
1/2 cup seedless raisins
3/4 cup milk
butter rasberry jam

Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Work in the shortening until the mixture is like coarse corn meal. Add the raisins, and mix thoroughly. Add the milk, and stir with a fork until the mixture leaves the the sides of the bowl. Turn out on a lightly floured board, divide dough in half, and form into two balls. Pat out both balls of dough with cupped palm to about 6 inches across, 1/2 inch thick, leaving the center higher (thicker) than the edges. Cut each round into four wedge-shaped pieces like a pie. Bake 15 mins at 450 degrees. To serve, split open but do not cut through. Fill with butter and rasberry jam. Makes 8 scones.

Trust me they're yummy! My boyfriend loved them and said, "Well you did it, you made Puyallup fair scones. They taste just right."