baked apple scones

Although my sub-par food photography skills do these scones a clear disservice, they are one of my favorite creations. They're quite simple - cooked apple pieces mixed into a cinnamon spice dough - but that means that it's pretty difficult to go wrong.

When Jason and I go to a cafe, if there's anything on the menu with apples in it, that's what I'll order. The apple scones at Queen of Tarts were my inspiration here. If apples aren't your favorite, though (what's wrong with you? ;) ), you can use the dough recipe (omitting the cinnamon and spice if you like) and mix in just about anything else you can think of - chocolate chips, nuts, raisins, etc. To make banana scones, simply omit the egg and use a large banana instead!

I'm convinced that what makes these scones so great is Kerrygold Butter. I've always used margarine in my baking because sure, what's the difference? I know that butter is richer, but to me, the difference in taste has never outweighed the difference in price or in fat content. Enter Kerrygold. It will change your life. You can also buy it in the US, so don't let that stop you. :)

Baked Apple Scones

Makes 12 scones

Prep time: ~30 minutes
Bake time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients
For the apples:

1 large Granny Smith apple, diced
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp water
1 tsp cinnamon

For the dough:
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, diced
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk

1. Preheat the oven to 400F (200C or 180C in a fan-assisted oven) and spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add in diced apple, sugar, water, and cinnamon and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until apples are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and spread out on a large plate or baking sheet. Allow to cool before using (you can put them in the freezer until you're ready to use them. Alternately, you can cook them ahead of time, and freeze them. If going this route, pull the apples out of the freezer when you start baking to allow them to thaw a bit).
3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Add the butter, mixing until the mixture is crumbly and there are no large chunks left. Toss diced apple into flour mixture.
4. In a small bowl, combine egg and milk. Add to flour mixture and stir just until moistened.
5. Knead the dough a few times to fully incorporate ingredients. The dough should be slightly sticky, but not enough to really stick to your hands. If the mixture is too wet, add a bit more flour; if too dry, add milk. Divide dough into two equal sections. 
6. On a floured surface, roll one of the dough sections into a ball, then flatten into a 1/2" to 3/4" thick circle. Cut into 6 wedges, and place on the prepared baking sheet. Do the same for the other section of dough. 
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the scones begin to brown around the edges. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool slightly before serving (~5 minutes). Serve plain or with butter or jam. 

feels like home

I know I haven't updated for a while, but that really isn't my fault - after we moved into our new apartment, it took two full weeks to get our internet set up! I was surprised, but not as annoyed or inconvenienced as I would have supposed: since Jason and I finally have smart phones, I was still able to check my email, but my time on social media sites was limited, which has been fantastic for my research! I've been reading as many novels as I can get my hands on - well, that's an overstatement, because researching contemporary Irish literature in Ireland is like... potential subject matter for my doctoral thesis is EVERYWHERE, you know? So I've been going crazy on the books these past two weeks. I think I've averaged about a novel a day, which obviously isn't sustainable, but it's such a wonderful change from not being able to find any decent Irish literature in the States (except for a few well-known authors, and Boone County Libraries only seemed to have Irish chick lit a la Cecelia Ahern - not "bad" [that's debatable] but so not my thing).

As might be expected, the past few weeks have been spent adjusting to our new apartment. I can't tell you how great it feels to have a "home," even if it's only for a year (we have the option of renewing our lease, but who knows??!?). I haven't taken pictures of the inside of the apartment because I'm still trying to make it look the way I want it (I'm making the best of a horrible red/orange carpet and the severe contrast of black leather furniture - far outside mine and Jason's preference for browns and greens), but I do have a few pictures of our great views:

Looking out our bedroom window over Fitzwilliam Square

Some of the buildings across the street - out our living room window

And the view from our kitchen window. On a clear day, you can see the mountains (follow the line of the street up), and it gets such fantastic light that I spend most of my day right here.

Pippin enjoys the views, too :)

We went out to Ikea - twice! - to buy some furniture and other assorted things. The apartment came fully furnished, but we needed more closet space so we got some clothes racks, and we also got end tables, a coffee table, kitchen things, etc., etc. Also, this was the first time I've ever been to an Ikea, and yeah, I see how people can get addicted. Kind of glad it's on the complete other side of town! We also bought a Nespresso machine (we can skimp on a lot of things, but not on coffee!). Basically what I'm saying is: we have a furnished apartment and a fully functioning kitchen and are now equipped to cater for guests, so get yourself over here. :)

To make the offer potentially even sweeter... I've been experimenting with scone recipes! One thing I particularly missed while living in our temporary housing with limited kitchen supplies was baking. I love baking, and to make up for all those weeks without it, I've made all of the following scones during the past two weeks: cinnamon spice, chocolate chip, banana, and baked apple. Excuse the vanity, but they've all been amazing. :) After having success with the first plain batch, I tried a recipe I'd found on some blog for peanut butter banana scones, but they turned out kind of gross - totally the wrong texture. Since that misadventure, all the other recipes have been of my own devising, and much the better for it. I've got so many other ideas I can't wait to try!! I'll have to post a recipe here soon.

And speaking of food... of course Jason and I have been to a few more fantastic restaurants since my last update! We are all about the food, and there has to be about twenty times more restaurants here than anywhere else we've lived so far (which... isn't saying much? But still). So the sushi place I mentioned last update - that's Michie Sushi. It's won several local awards for casual and "ethnic" dining. The best part is that this place is located down this little alley in Ranelagh, and you'd absolutely never know it was there - or be brave enough to try it, if you did happen to spot it - unless someone had recommended it to you. It's a cosy place, but the food is first class and not too expensive, either. Also award-winning but on the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of both cost and visibility is Matt the Thresher. They have really spectacular seafood, simply and elegantly prepared. It's also about 2 minutes from our new apartment, what?! But you can get good food for a much smaller price tag, if you know where to look, so we probably won't be back any time soon. Speaking of deals: another recommendation from someone Jason works with was for this Mexican place called 777. Even more than the sushi place, you really have to know this one's there. It's on South Great Georges Street just off Dame Street, which is about as central Dublin as you can get, but they have a very understated shopfront. There's a small "777" over the door and no other signs. God, we felt like we were members of some secret society walking into that place. And it just so happened that we went there on a Sunday, which is their "specials" day. They have a changing menu of inventive Mexican dishes and cocktails, all for €7.77 each. Of all the places we've been to so far, this is one of the most likely to make it into our regular rotation. I got nachos and a strawberry & passion fruit daiquiri, and Jason got green chili pork with potatoes and a fried egg. Ahh, now I want to go there again. Other places we've been: Keshk, Dunne & Crescenzi, and The Bell & Pot - all good, but nothing special.

Another benefit to being settled in our new apartment was that we were finally able to find our local church! We've been to Methodist Centenary Church twice now, and we both feel we were really lucky to live so close to a good church (obviously lots of churches in Dublin, but not as many Methodist ones, you know?). This church is small - comparable in size to our church in Lexington, KY (where we continued to go even after we moved to Florence), maybe a bit smaller. Last week, they had a lunch after the service, so we got a chance to meet a lot of the young adults in the church, and had a really great time. I met an exchange student from Finland studying English lit at Trinity, and we had a great time talking about the differences between American, Irish, and Finnish universities. Everyone has been so friendly and welcoming!

Another fun (and free) event that I was really excited to get to attend last week was British crime novelist PD James speaking at Trinity College. She was interviewed by Irish crime novelist Declan Burke, whose blog I follow (Crime Always Pays - news about Irish crime fiction and other related topics), so that was a nice touch, as well. As great as Declan's questions and Ms James's responses were - and she is a fantastic lady; few people are as sharp at any age, and her at 93! - I kept thinking about how lucky I am to be able to attend events like these, for free, within walking distance of my home. Regarding events, Dublin isn't much different from any other major city, except that it's so small - anything within Co. Dublin is relatively easy to get to, and anything within the city centre is walkable. So not only is there a ton of great cultural things to do, but the location is never inconvenient. I swear, people in Dublin love to complain about their public transportation, but if they had to take a bus in Lexington, KY, just once, they'd never complain again.

So that's the good news. Now you get to hear about the grand bureaucratic mess that is the Immigration office. Luckily, I knew well in advance that this was going to take up basically my entire day, so that made the wait somewhat more bearable, but still. I got there at 7am and the line was already around the corner of the building and halfway down the block from there. They start giving out tickets to everyone but students at 7:30, and didn't start giving out tickets to students until 8:30. The tickets are just your number in line, so yes, I had to wait an hour and a half to get a number in the line, which was 175 - ridiculous, because there were so many non-students who got there much later than I did who got to go in before me, and I can almost guarantee that my paperwork didn't take any longer than (as long as?) theirs. (Which, by the way, was only about 15 minutes total, no exaggeration). In any case, after I got my number, I was told that the wait would be roughly 3 hours, so I could go get coffee or something if I wanted. I was gone for two hours, and when I got back, they were still on number 70. I didn't get out of there until 3:30 that afternoon. :/ The best part? I have to go back in one year and renew my immigration card in person! I hope I can block out this memory until then.

The other similar errand I had to complete was to get a PPS number - basically like a social security number; I need it in order to be able to work part time, and for Jason and I to file our taxes jointly. You have to get there "early" for that line, too, but I was there at 8:30am and got out by 10:30am. I'm so glad I went to immigration first, because in comparison, PPS was nothing. I still went to Queen of Tarts afterwards for a recovery coffee and apple tart. :)

So that's about it, really. The weather has been settling into fall temperatures - mid-50s (or 9-13 Celsius, which I'm trying to get used to, but it's still weird) - and clouds always threatening rain, but today was all glorious sun and mid-60s heat (yes, heat, comparatively speaking :P), so I took the afternoon off from my manic consumption of Irish novels and spent about 2 hours walking around in the Grand Canal area in South Dublin. I also walked through Mount Jerome Cemetery for a while. Here are some pictures from this afternoon:

An interesting building I passed - I love the little balconies on opposite sides!

At Mount Jerome Cemetery

Look at that sky! We actually saw sunlight! ;)

So even though I'm not doing much of interest at the moment, unless you want to hear about my 15-hour reading days, hopefully it won't be quite as long until the next update. I still owe you some real apartment pictures and a scone recipe, at the very least. :)