strawberry sunday (or the 20-minute tea).

strawberries are in season in japan, and we on the island are lucky enough to have some of the sweetest, tiniest specimens available to us. although i think that wild strawberries are the ideal fruit, these glossy red, sweet, juicy, half-a-bite-sized jewels are pretty darned close. the first punnet barely survived the morning, eaten with nary an adornment, with much satisfaction.



ms. sam reminded me that it is st. george's day today. this means pretty much nothing to me, but put me in the mood for a bit of afternoon tea; however, the afternoon turned out to be gorgeously sunny and breezy, so i wanted to spend the majority of it outdoors, and not over a hot oven. luckily, putting together some semblance of a cream tea needn't take more time than necessary--i managed to get one together in less than 20 minutes, with only the slightest bit of help from a previously purchased jar of double cream. i just modified a favourite cream biscuit recipe, and yesss, microwaved some of the strawberries from my stash for a not-so-jammy but very delish vanilla-infused fruit...soup. okay, jammy soup. still, it soaked through the whisper-light scones and stood up admirably to the heaving glory of the double cream and sated that particular desire.

and thus so, i was on my way, belly full of berries and wearing a sunny sunday smile.




simple scones

2 cups self-raising flour
2 tbsp sugar
1-1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

preheat oven to 450˚F.

mix all ingredients together to form a stiff dough. knead on a floured surface lightly, then roll out the dough to desired thickness and cut out as desired. you can rework the scraps to cut out more. bake for 10-12 minutes until puffy and lightly golden.



microwave strawberry jam

1 punnet of strawberries
1 vanilla bean, slit down the middle
sugar to taste (1/2-1 cup, usually)

place all ingredients in a microwaveable bowl. microwave on 'high' for 6-8 minutes, until all the sugar has dissolved and the strawberry juices have thickened slightly. refrigerate until ready to use (this will taste better after several days, but can be used immediately).