Considering Sparrows: Hello world!

Kim introduced herself, so I guess I should officially introduce myself, too. I sort of came out with a bang- I was soooo excited about my scones, I forgot to tell you about me!

I'm Celina, married for 5 1/2 years to my wonderful teacher/baseball coach hubby, and we have two girls. Our little J is 6 months old and growing so fast. She loves to play and laugh and roll around the living room- she'll be crawling before we know it! She is stubborn and determined and so sweet. And our fur-child, Addy, is a 60-pound Belgian Malinois- Australian Shepherd (?) mix and is almost 5. She's lacking in common sense, is neurotic and hyper- anyone want her? (I'm only half joking...) I am so blessed and grateful to be able to stay at home with them. I love learning new things, and am always trying new projects (just come look at our office/ sunroom/ project room/ junk pile space!). I am going to be training for my second marathon this summer- a bit more of a challenge this time around since I'll be pushing the stroller for most training runs!

There. I did it. Now you know a tiddly bit about who I am. And on to my new scone creation. :-) I just made these this morning and they are so delicious that I couldn't wait to share them! And I took pictures along the way to help those visual learners (like me!). Forgive my almond-colored, fluorescent-lit kitchen- I have been so blessed with a kitchen that meets, and maybe even exceeds, my family's needs, and yet somehow is the size of a shoebox.

Meyer Lemon/ Toasted Coconut/ Vanilla Bean Scones

(have you started drooling yet?)

1 cup oats

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup white sugar

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

8 tbsp butter, frozen

1/3 cup plain greek yogurt

1 egg

3/4 cup toasted coconut

2 Meyer lemons

1 vanilla bean

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In food processor, use chopper blade to grind oats into a fine powder.

chop chop

until it looks like this

3. In medium bowl, mix oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 1/2 cup of toasted coconut.

lemons waiting their turn!

4. In food processor, use slicer blade to grate butter into shreds. (I find it easier to cut the butter in half and grate it 1/2 at a time.)

5. Dump all the butter shreds into dry mix. Mix it all up together.

6. Zest the lemons into the bowl, then carefully (so you don't get seeds in the dough) squeeze the juice from both lemons into the dough (maybe about 1-2 tablespoons of juice?).

7. In a small bowl, mix yogurt and egg. Slice open the vanilla bean and scrape all the deliciousness (I guess they're seeds... never really thought about it before) into the bowl.

before the vanilla bean.

8. Dump egg goo flour mixture. Mix up until large clumps form.

9. Take off your rings- you're about to get gooey. :-)

10. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl and kneed until a big ball forms and all the dry stuff is mixed in. (It might take a few minutes, but don't add any more liquid if it seems dry, it'll come together soon).

still looking a bit dry, but it'll ball up, no worries. :-)

I look like I have alligator hands with huge Angelina Jolie veins. Sorry 'bout that.

11. On lightly floured surface, pat dough ball into a circle about 3/4 to 1 inch thick.

12. Sprinkle with the remaining coconut (or crunchy sugar like demerara or turbinado if you prefer), and lightly press so it sticks. Slice into either squares or triangles (like a pie) with a sharp knife or pizza cutter.