Batch #2: Like I had time to read the newspaper this morning...

Alright.  The time has come to talk about the Enneagram.  I’ve held off as long as I’m able.  Many of you have been subjected to late nights when I pull out the Enneagram books and hold forth on my own personality type and the types of everyone else in my life.  Some of you even do this yourself now (not mentioning any names, Emily and Jordan) and see how completely thrilling it is.  

The real point of this post is pumpkin scones.  The other point is that I’m an Enneagram One: Need to be Perfect.  Being a ONE does not mean I have a tidy house or a perfectly balanced checkbook.  Ha!  No, it’s much worse.  It means I’m pretty much hard on myself all the time (about small matters like whether or not I’m saving the world or making the best decisions at every moment). And it means I often don’t attempt things I might not excel at.  This is why I don’t cook complicated things and can’t relate to people who patiently perfect something over years, decades or a lifetime.  The Enneagram is a Jungian strengths and shadows model.  Basically, our greatest strengths are also the things that cast the biggest shadows and sometimes undo us.  For me, this means things like putting off graduate school for years because I couldn’t square the decision with every other nuance of my life.  I was paralyzed by indecision because I was afraid to make a mistake.  The strength side of being a ONE is that I care deeply about issues of social justice and fairness and can mobilize and motivate people where those things are concerned.

Blah, blah, blah.  What I really want to say is that, despite my frequent tendency to give up easily for fear the finished product might not be perfect, I tried again this morning.  That’s unusual for me.  Patience is not part of my hardwiring.  I’ll always be a ONE, but at least I recognize it now.  That’s the whole point of the Enneagram, by the way.  Not fighting or changing who you are, but relaxing into it, being redeemed to the best parts of yourself.  OMG. I could talk about this for hours.

This morning at 5:00, I made two batches of pumpkin cranberry scones for the fire station.  I used this recipe, and as I sent them out the door with Yancey, I really hoped the firefighters would be too groggy to nice that I forgot to put the maple syrup in and they weren’t sweet at all.  On top of that, they turned out much too firm for my liking.  #$%* Don’t you hate it when you toil over something (or at least get up early) and it doesn’t turn out?  I think that’s why lots of folks steer clear of the kitchen. Normally, I’d relegate this recipe to the dustbin and go back to one that makes me shine.

Batch #1: They look better than they taste

But I had half a can of pumpkin left and wanted to try again.  This despite the fact that both kids were now awake, I hadn’t taken a shower after Zumba class last night (that’s another story!), and my parents are coming over today to a very messy house.  I guess, when I think about it, the kitchen is where I’ve consistently taken risks or tried again.  It’s not monumental in and of itself, but it helps me stick with other things in my  life that aren’t turning out perfectly.

So I turned Sesame Street on for Loretta (don’t you just love Mr. Noodle?) and got busy.  This time, I added butter to the recipe, used buttermilk instead of cream, and remembered something sweet (brown sugar).  Much, much better!  Soft, fluffy, just the right amount of sweet.  God.  I really hope they aren’t using the early batch for doorstops or golf practice at the station.  I wanted them to become dedicated blog readers.

There's that parchment paper again

“Here’s to Trying Again” Pumpkin Scones
adapted from the really excellent blog Eggs on Sunday

2 c. flour
2 ts. baking powder
1/2 ts. salt
1/2 ts. cinnmon
1/4 ts. nutmeg
1/4 ts. ground ginger
1/4 c. brown sugar
6 Tb. cold unsalted butter
1/2 c. canned pumpkin puree
3/4 c. buttermilk
baker’s sugar crystals or a cinnamon/sugar mixture to top

Preheat oven to 425.

Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, spices, and brown sugar together in a medium bowl.  Cut in butter with your fingertips.  

Mix pumpkin and buttermilk together in a measuring cup.  Pour into flour mixture and stir until dough just holds together. Dough will be soft, and you’ll probably have to add up to 1/4 c. more flour to get it to look like scone dough.

Turn out onto a floured surface, and pat into a disc.  Score it into 8 wedges, brush with more buttermilk, and top with sugar.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

** You may want to do two small discs of 4 wedges each instead of one big one.  I have a convection oven, so don’t have the problem of the outside getting too crunchy before the inside cooks.  You may have that problem–you know your oven better than me.  You can also cut them into wedges with a floured knife before baking them, but I prefer how soft they stay when baked in a round.