From the Kitchen: An Irish Tea

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!

There will be hubbub and merriment tonight, but for now, the house is quiet. It's the perfect time to treat myself to a homemade Irish Tea.

I've always thought that simpler is better when it comes to tea.  Save the petit fours and doilies for the professionals! When having tea at home, I almost always stick to the basics: Bewley's Irish Breakfast Tea and scones.

If you are a fan of strong, fragrant tea, look no further. This is by far my favorite brew and I love all kinds of tea! Perhaps I'm biased, as I was brought up on this stuff, but regardless, it's definitely worth trying!

Now, we fine folks at South Mill House have a love affair with scones. I've been baking them for years and my boyfriend, David, is English. Enough said. Unfortunately, we're both so busy that it's hard to find time to bake scones from scratch, and store bought scones just weren't making the grade. Say it ain't so! Just when we thought we'd given up hope, the kitchen gods smiled upon us. Behold:

All hail, Hogan's Irish Scone Mix! Hip hip, HOORAY!! Seriously, this stuff is amazing.  Just enough hands on baking to make you feel like you made it from scratch, but simple enough that non-bakers wouldn't be deterred. I'll walk you through it:

1. Preheat oven.  Add 1 cup of cold water to scone mix and stir until combined (texture will be somewhat crumbly). Empty bowl onto floured surface and lightly knead dough until smooth.

2.  Flatten dough to roughly 1 inch thick. It's time to cut out the scones! If you're like me and don't own a biscuit cutter, use a drinking glass! Easy peasy.

3. Place scones on greased baking tray (I use cooking spray) and allow them to rise for 15 minutes.

4. Pop 'em in the oven for another 15 minutes and...

TA-DA! 

So simple, right?! I like my scones with fruit and blueberry preserves, but really, you can't go wrong. Here's another little shortcut: Want an English afternoon tea instead? Swap Bewley's for PG Tips! Done and done. Now, time for that cup of tea...