We may receive a commission when you use our affiliate links. However, this does not impact our recommendations.
Today (January 1st) is my birthday. I’ll spend the rest of this day with beloved family and friends, smiling through their dull headaches. My birthday (like all of you with Christmas birthdays or July 4th birthdays) gets generally forgotten. It’s a New Years Day party, a brunch this year.
So this year, I rose early, and made myself a present in the kitchen: Freshly ground coffee, prepared in a French press, and Cream Teas. Finding clotted cream isn’t easy in the States but we found a jar of it in Wegmans grocery. Next problem is finding a decent scone. I made these this morning.
A decent scone (properly rhymes with “gone”) is 50% ingredients and 50% technique and mine was lacking this morning. Still, a poorly made home made scone is still far superior to a factory made scone (sound familiar?).
For me this is just one more reminder of the importance of preserving craft through mastery. It also reminds me that making stuff is a life style choice. One year older, I’m still learning about who I am. This slightly over dense scone reminds me that I am like you: a person who makes stuff. Happy New Year. I’m happy to count myself among you.
Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.
Happy birthday – 20 days late. Making things is a blessing and a curse. It can be liberating and debilitating at the same time, but in the end it’s very much worth it. Now finish your scone and start writing that book on new, traditionally constructed 18th century style furniture that is so badly needed!
Happy Belated Birthday, Adam!
Sounds like a nice way to start a new (birth) year. Congrats on finding a source for clotted cream…..you’d probably be happier making your own from some fresh cream, though…especially if you could find a local herd of Jerseys. I note from your picture that you go jam first, then cream…..we learned just the opposite in Cambridge when I was posted to RAF Molesworth…..much like tea and cream, order matters. So do you pour the tea first, or the cream?
Anyway, hope you enjoyed your day. I look forward to reading you more in this new year!
Cheers,
Derek
Happy Birthday Adam. I saw clotted cream listed in a catalog recently. May have been from King Arthur flour. I’m sure google will turn up a source if you’re so inclined.
Belated Birthday Greetings Adam.
Happy birthday Adam.
and many more.
yum clotted cream. I did not know you could buy it. Alton Brown did and episode on how to make your own. just saying. Happy Birthday keep the good work.
生日快樂，Adam! And 恭禧發財，too! I’m still relatively new to this woodworking thing of ours, but the making impulse has been with me for a long time. It probably explains why I was such a cooking fiend before I finally got palace where I could set up a workshop.
Happy birthday, Adam, and a Happy New Year. I’ve found that when I can’t find time for the workshop, time spent cooking is a reasonable substitute. Must try making a batch of scones!
Happy Birthday Adam! I think life is a never ending journey to continue discovering who we are. At least for me, who I am seems to continue to change slightly the older I get. I am proud to continue making stuff, wooden or orherwise, right along along with you!
What a lovely way to start your birthday, and the new year; many happy returns!
Happy Birthday and Happy New Year, Adam!
Happy birthday Adam. I have been making stuff for over 50 years and have gone in many directions. I find that as one discovers who they are it affects what they make. It’s like developing a working personality.