Wednesday

Don't Panic Tea: The Shopping List

I wanted to begin with the shopping list to show the ingredients that make up the Don’t Panic Tea. You can see that there are lots of fresh items along with already prepared and packaged foods. While it isn’t difficult to make brownies from scratch, for example, buying a boxed mix ensures that you’ll have all the necessary ingredients, you won’t have to measure and there’s no mess. Remember, this tea is one to create on the spur of the moment. It’s for those times when you might have only a day or even just a morning to get ready for your tea guests. The shopping list isn't terribly long so you won't have to spend hours at the grocery store.

Shopping List:
Yellow bell pepper, 1
Fresh basil, 1 bunch
Fresh dill, 1 bunch
Cherry tomatoes, pint
Red cabbage, 1 small bag
Bagged baby salad greens
Cucumber, 1
Cauliflower, pre-cut, small bag
Lime, 1
Strawberries, 1 small container
Salad dressing from the refrigerated section
Phyllo cups, from the freezer section
Frozen pound cake
High quality tomato soup, 1 can or box
Prepared cheesecake filling in a tub
Smoked salmon, 4 ounces
Cheese spread, 4 ounce jar
Heavy cream, 1 pint
Lemon curd, 1 jar
Brownie mix
Lemon poppy seed bread mix
Peanut butter chips, 12 ounces
Butter
Oil
Eggs
White bread, thin style
Brown bread
Round crackers, appetizer style

Tuesday

Don't Panic Tea Party

This time of year, probably more than any other, is the season of visitors. Relatives are in town to attend a wedding or graduation, school friends come home to visit parents for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, vacationers pass through on their way to their destinations. How nice it would be to be able to invite these visitors to a lovely afternoon tea party.

Perhaps your first thought is that you couldn’t possibly get ready for a tea without at least a week’s notice and preparation. Cleaning, baking, shopping, all too much to do on the spur of the moment. Oh, the stress; oh, the panic! Besides those folks will probably be back in town in another…ten years or so.

It’s time for the Don’t Panic Tea Party. This tea can be ready in only one day. It is low stress because lots of already-prepared foods are used. However, the hostess for this tea adds extra touches to make each dish her own.

No time for written invitations for this tea; invite your visiting friends in person or on the phone. Try to set the hour of the tea to meet your friends’ schedules. They probably have several obligations of their own.

This isn’t a formal china kind of tea. Use your every-day dishes if those are the only ones you have that are handy. Do use a tablecloth though, in any color you like. You don’t even have to iron it. Just throw it in the dryer with a couple wet towels and it should come out wrinkle free.

Even for this hurry-up tea, flowers are necessary. But don’t take time ordering them from your usual florist. Look in your own backyard or in your neighbors’ (ask first). If you have no luck there, pick up a bouquet at the grocery store when you’re shopping for tea ingredients. No need for a fussy arrangement for the center of the table. Individual flowers in small vases or even plain water glasses look pretty running the length of the table.

No need to clean the entire house for this tea. Your guests don’t need to see into the bedrooms—close the doors. Concentrate on the guest bathroom and the room in which you’ll be serving the tea. A quick dust and vacuum through the rest of the house will no doubt be sufficient. Remember the people you’ve invited to tea aren’t coming to judge your housekeeping skills and they’ll understand that this tea party was prepared on the fly.

The menu for this Don’t Panic Tea has all the usual courses but you don’t need to serve each one. Or you might serve each course but with fewer dishes for the sweets and savories courses.

This tea starts with a Kicked-Up Tomato Soup along side a Salad of Baby Greens. This is a very colorful and fresh combination. Next, instead of baking scones, serve a Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf with lemon butter. For the savory course, a Dill Butter and Cucumber Sandwich, Smoked Salmon on Brown Bread and Cheesy Crackers make nice, traditional selections. They only require some assembly, no cooking. The sweets course does have one item that requires oven time, Party Brownies but they take only a couple minutes to mix. Along with those, Strawberry Cheesecake Cups offer a nice contrast. Fill out this course with a Pound Cake with Lemon Curd and Whipped Cream.

Coming up tomorrow is a shopping list and timetable and the recipes follow.






Monday

Blog-a-Thon

It is time once again for the Gracious Hospital-i-Tea Blog-a-Thon. The theme this week is: The White, Green, Black, and Herb of Tea. Tell about your favorite tea. How do you prepare it and serve it? Milk and sugar? Plain? What are some of your best memories of serving or sipping on this tea? Share a picture if you can. Tell the health benefits of the tea(s) you prefer. Where do you purchase your tea? Is there someplace you enjoying purchasing tea from? Who from and where?


When you were a kid, did you ever drink the nectar from a honeysuckle blossom? There was only a tiny drop in each blossom but it tasted of such wonderful floral sweetness. When I drink Jasmine-scented tea, I taste that same heavenly flavor. Of all the teas in the universe, Jasmine is my favorite.

I especially love Jasmine Pearls, tight little balls of tea that unfurl as the hot water hits them. I never get tired of watching them open, always surprised by how large the leaves actually are.

Jasmine is my tea to savor. It’s never my morning wake-up cup or a quick cuppa later in the day. It requires one of my prettiest teacups and unhurried moments. Sipping, thinking, enjoying the seasons of the year. Jasmine tea is the quickest way I know to make the world look fresh once again.

Vacation Week!

Just to let everyone know that I'll be on vacation this week and won't be posting. I'll be back next Monday with a fun new tea theme and lots of tasty recipes. See you then!

Friday

Tea in a May Basket: Flower Pot Cookies

These are my favorite cookies for Spring and will work beautifully in the May Baskets. (My photography doesn't do them justice; the flowers are actually the purple of violets.) If you aren’t able to pipe flowers, buy pre-made flower decorations from the grocery store. For leaves, flatten a gumdrop or spearmint candy leaf and cut leaves from that.

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
30 miniature peanut butter cups, halved
Decorator frosting

In a mixing bowl, cream peanut butter, shortening, 1/2 cup sugar and brown sugar. Add the egg, milk and vanilla; mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture and mix well.

Shape into 1-in. balls. Roll in remaining sugar; place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Remove from the oven and immediately lightly press one peanut butter cup cut side down into each cookie to form a basket. Allow cookies to cool completely. Pipe a flower and stem decoration on each cookie. For the cookies pictured above, I used a drop flower tip for the flowers and a round tip for the stems and flower center. Makes about 4 dozen.

Decorator Frosting:
¼ cup shortening
¼ cup butter
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream butter and shortening; add sugar, milk and vanilla. Blend on medium speed until all ingredients are well mixed.



Thursday

Tea in a May Basket: Garden Pasta Salad

This Pasta Salad is simple to make but for an even quicker version, use a bottle of your favorite off-the-shelf salad dressing. There are so many delicious brands and flavors out there. I recommend an oil and vinegar base though. Since the May Basket will be holding a mayonnaise Shrimp Roll, two creamy dressings at one meal would be a bit much.

1 pound package tri-color pasta, cooked and cooled
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 cup pitted black olives, sliced
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 red bell peppers, chopped
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
¼ cup flat leaf parsley, minced
Sherry Vinaigrette, recipe below

Combine all ingredients; toss with the Sherry Vinaigrette. No need to use the entire vinaigrette recipe; just use enough to lightly coat the salad ingredients. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to blend flavors. Check how much dressing has been absorbed by the salad and add more before serving if necessary.

Sherry Vinaigrette
2 1/3 cups olive oil
2/3 cup sherry vinegar
¼ cup Dijon mustard
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Whisk together until well blended. This makes about 3 ¼ cups. Refrigerate any leftover dressing for up to a week.

Wednesday

Tea in a May Basket: Shrimp Roll

Fill the croissants just before wrapping and delivering to avoid any hint of sogginess.

1 pound cooked small shrimp
2 celery ribs, diced
2 small carrots, shredded
1 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
Dash salt and pepper
2 packages (2-1/4 ounces each) sliced almonds
8 croissants, split

In a large bowl, combine the shrimp, celery, carrots, mayonnaise, onion, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Just before serving, stir in almonds. Serve on croissants. 8 servings.

Tuesday

Tea in a May Basket

May Day is such a sweet, evocative holiday, one that almost passes unnoticed today. Do you remember picking violets for little baskets to be hung on neighbors’ doorknobs, dancing around the May Pole or seeing the May Queen who wears a crown of flowers? This May Day bring back one of those old traditions with Tea in a May Basket.

To prepare for this “tea,” first think of the people with whom you’d like to share a May Basket. Consider anyone who could use a bright spot in their day, your elderly neighbors, shut-ins, a new mom, a crazy-busy colleague. Since you’ll be delivering tea treats, don’t deliver a May Basket to someone you know won’t be home or at her desk at work. On this same note, while it is fun to leave a May Basket anonymously, wait (in the bushes!) to make certain someone opens the door and finds it.

The next step is to pick a basket. Dollar stores are great places to look for inexpensive baskets. Buy some pretty ribbon while you’re there to weave into the basket or wrap around the handle. Use a piece of fabric to line the basket. Some lace glued to the rim would add another decorative touch. Go as far as your own creativity allows or keep it simple.

Okay, now for filling the May Basket. You must, absolutely must, have a tiny bouquet of flowers. Violets are traditional for May Baskets but they might be difficult to find. Use whatever small, delicate flowers you like. Stick them in a water vial, the kind florists use, or wrap them in a bit of damp paper towel covered with plastic wrap so they won't wilt.

My Tea in a May Basket menu is simple and easy to transport. A Shrimp Roll is quick to make and everyone loves them. Wrapped up in parchment paper, sealed with a pretty flower sticker, it makes a nice presentation too. A light Pasta Salad filled with veggies is another festive choice. Use a half-pint container, the kind you get from the deli, to hold the salad. Add the most perfect piece of fruit that you can find, polish it and tie a ribbon on the stem. Pears or apples work best for this. A Flower Pot Cookie is one of the cutest you’ll ever see and is perfect for adding to the May Basket. And don’t forget the tea! You’ll want to use a tea in bag form, one that comes wrapped. A nice fruity tea from Celestial Seasonings would work nicely here. I wouldn’t recommend giving a loose tea as your friends might not know what to do with it.

Who wouldn’t want to find this Tea in a May Basket hanging from their door! You have two weeks to work on making your baskets and filling them is a snap. The individual recipes start tomorrow.

Monday

Blog-a-Thon: Week 5

It is time again for the Gracious Hospital-i-Tea Blog-a-Thon! Here's the idea for this week: Share ideas for dressing up for afternoon tea. Is your favorite tea-time outfit a silk caftan, flannel jammies, or a dress with proper hat and gloves? Do you enjoy wearing tea prints to tea? Or do you prefer something more elegant? Lace and ruffles? A feathered hat? Long pink gloves? Satins and silks? Cotton comfort? Jeans and a t-shirt you say? That's okay --- share it all here. Pictures of you in tea-time costume are welcome! But, if you are not brave enough to share a picture of 'you', simply share something you think would be FUN to wear to tea. Remember, a tea can be anything from a formal afternoon tea --- to tea in the park with a friend. It's whatever it means to you!

I don't have any one particular way of dressing for tea. For many of the tea party themes I've given here in my blog, I've suggested dressing certain ways though. It can be fun to have a dress-up tea party but I enjoy just as much a casual tea where everyone wears jeans.

So I thought I'd show how I'd dress for a fantasy tea. I love white lawn dresses, popular from just before the last century. What could be fresher for a Spring Tea Party! I couldn't find a photograph online that I could use showing lawn dresses but I found a family picture where every female wears one. If you click to enlarge the picture, you'll see that while the dresses all look similar, in fact they each have very different details. Extra ruffles, pleating, bows and touches of lace all add to the charm of these lawn dresses. You can even notice that the hemlines of the dresses were different. The young girls are in short skirts while most of the others have skirts that sweep the ground. The interesting exception is Aunt Hope, on the far right, whose skirt is much shorter. Maybe she was more sophisticated as she was attending nursing school in Philadelphia at the time.

We often think of wearing hats for a tea party. I wanted to show a few rather spectacular hats worn by real women. Honestly I don't know how they did it! These fashionable ladies are my husband's great aunts and his great grandmother. These are winter hats and wouldn't match well with my white lawn dress but unfortunately, I couldn't find photos of any spring hats.

Great Aunt Gertie looks ready to take flight. I do love her coat though.

Great Aunt Lenore sporting bows and plumes. And look at all the material that went into making her sleeves.

My husband's great grandmother looking quite elegant in her hat and furs. I believe my MIL still has this hat.

Great grandmother again, this time in a smaller hat. There is something about her dress that looks terribly uncomfortable. I think it is interesting that these women didn't wear earrings. I guess the big hats were decoration enough!


I don't know how many actual tea parties these ladies attended but I'm sure there must have been lots of occasions where tea was served.

Friday

Tea and Poetry Tea Party: The Tea

Ode to a Box of Tea
Pablo Neruda, from Neruda’s Garden: An Anthology of Odes

Box of tea,
like my heart,
you carried letters,
chills, eyes
enthralled in
myth-filled petals,
and also, oh,
that lost aroma
of the tea-herb, jasmine, dreams,
and a nomad’s springtime.


Since this tea party will probably be held in the evening, it is considerate to serve a decaffeinated tea along with a regular one. Don’t buy a decaffeinated tea though. Commercial tea companies use harsh chemicals in many decaffeinating processes and who needs that. The other way caffeine is removed from tea is with water—you can do that yourself!

To decaffeinate tea, warm and fill the pot with the normal amount of tea leaves. Add the boiling water (just under boiling for green or white tea) to the pot as usual but steep only for 30 seconds. Pour out the water, retaining the leaves. Immediately refill the pot with more boiling water and this time steep for the usual amount of time. This procedure removes about 90% of the caffeine and most people won’t be bothered by that remaining 10%.

I had one question that I wanted to answer about an item featured during this tea theme. Debbie asked where to find Raspberry Vinegar or whether it could be made at home. If your local grocery store doesn't carry it, there are several online sources, including Amazon.com. You can make it yourself too. Here's how: Combine 1 1/2 cups white vinegar with 1/2 cup sugar and heat until just under boiling. Pour mixture into a quart-size glass canning jar and add 1 cup of whole raspberries. Cover with the jar lid and store in the fridge for a week. After that time, strain through cheesecloth until all solids are removed from the vinegar. Store in the fridge.

This is the final post on the Tea and Poetry Tea Party theme. Next week the tea party theme will be for May Day. Please return then for more tea party ideas, menus and recipes.

Thursday

Tea and Poetry Tea Party: Madeleines with Lemon-Honey Butter

Ode to the Bee
Pablo Neruda, Neruda’s Garden: An Anthology of Odes

And from all the homes,
it visits,
the bee extracts
mystic
honey,
rich and turbid
honey, a thick perfume,
liquid light falling in great drops,
until it returns
to the collective
palace
and deposits
in Gothic turrets
the distillation
of flower and flight,
the secret wedding sun of angels!


This is my new favorite recipe for Madeleines. The browned butter gives them a great flavor. I’ve written an easier Honey Madeleine recipe in a earlier post but if you have the extra time, make this one instead.

10 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup flour

In a saucepan, melt butter, then simmer gently for 5-6 minutes, until small brown particles appear around the edges of the pan and the butter changes color slightly. Set it aside to cool to room temperature.

With electric mixer, beat the sugar, eggs and salt until they’re light yellow and very thick; stir in the vanilla.

Add the flour and brown butter alternately to the egg mixture, using a folding motion so the batter loses as little volume as possible. Refrigerate the batter covered for 45 minutes, until it is thick.

Preheat oven to 375º. Lightly grease or spray with Pam the Madeleine pan. Fill the pans using 1 slightly rounded tablespoon of batter for each cookie. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until they’re light brown at the edges. Cool in the pan for several minutes, then remove from the pan and cool completely on a rack.

Brush with Lemon-Honey Butter. Makes 24.

Lemon-Honey Butter:
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Mix all the ingredients together, stirring until smooth.

Wednesday

Tea and Poetry Tea Party: Watermelon Fruit Salad

Ode to the Watermelon
Pablo Neruda from Neruda's Garden, an Anthology of Odes
...
Thirsty, we anticipate
you:
a mine or mountain
of ambrosia,
but between teeth and desire,
you change into
simple, fresh light
melting into a spring,
touching us with song.
...

Plain fruit salad is delicious but for a tea party, it is nice to add something extra. This Watermelon Fruit Salad Dressing does just that.

For the salad:
fruit of your choice, cut into bite-size pieces
watermelon, cut into chunks

For the dressing:
1 cup cubed seeded watermelon
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon raspberry vinegar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Stir before using.

Tuesday

Tea and Poetry Tea Party: Easiest Apple Tart

Ode to the Apple
Pablo Neruda

You are always
more refreshing than anything
or anybody,
always newly fallen
from Paradise:
simple
and pure
rouged cheek
of dawn!

All Neruda poetry quoted here is from the book Neruda’s Garden: An Anthology of Odes.

1 15-ounce package refrigerated unbaked pie crust (2 crusts)
6 large apples
½ cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 ½ teaspoons apple pie spice
milk
coarse sugar

Let piecrusts stand at room temperature according to package directions. Meanwhile, core and slice peeled apples. Combine apples with water and lemon juice and toss to coat.

Stir together the ½ cup sugar, flour and spice in a large mixing bowl, Drain apples well; add to sugar mixture and toss gently to coat. Set aside.

Unfold one piecrust. Place on a lightly floured surface. Unfold the second crust and place on top of the first. Roll the two crusts together from center to edge, forming a circle about 14 inches in diameter. Ease the pasty into a 9-inch pie plate, letting pastry extend over the edge.

Spoon apple filling into the pie. Fold the pastry up and over the filling, pleating the pastry to fit. Brush pastry with milk; sprinkle with sugar. Cover the edge of the pie with foil to prevent over browning.

Bake in a 375º oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil. Bake about 30 minutes more or till crust is golden. Cool slightly on a wire rack. About 8 servings.

Monday

Blog-a-thon Week 4

This is Week 4 of Gracious Hospitality's Blog-a-Thon. The idea for this week is: Share ideas and pictures that involve stitching for the tea table. Any kind of stitches count: sewing, embroidery, knitting, crochet, tatting, quilting, etc. The work can be yours or of someone else, but should be homemade rather than done by factory machines. Ideas are napkins, tea cozies, table linens, and other creations made with tea themes.

I love doilies, all doilies, ancient ones, modern ones, made by people I know or made by strangers. I always use doilies on my tea tables, as well as around my Victorian house. The doilies I'm showing here are a mix of very old, created by my husband's great aunts, and merely old, created by my own grandmother. I don't know the pattern names unfortunately.

I'm often asked how to remove stains from old pieces like these. I recommend mixing hot water and Biz in your sink or dishpan. Let the crocheted piece soak for a half hour or so; rinse and repeat until the stains are gone. Never ring out the water; blot dry on a thick towel. You can also use the sun to help whiten pieces by laying them outdoors. One caution with crocheted pieces, be very careful about using starch. Use very little and don't put your doilies away without first washing the starch out.



















Friday

Tea and Poetry Tea: Mini Baked Potatoes

Ode to the Spud
Pablo Neruda

Hunger’s enemy
in all nations,
your victorious flag
is buried,
And quickly there
in the cold or on the
burning coast,
your anonymous
flower
appears,
announcing the thick
and soft nativity
of your roots.


Choose the firmest, most blemish-free new red potatoes, about two per person. Wash and then bake in a 350º oven for about 30 minutes.

When cool enough to handle, scoop out some of the pulp with a melonballer to form a small cavity. Reserve that bit of potato to a bowl.

In the bowl, combine the potato pulp, ¼ cup of sour cream and 2 tablespoons cream cheese. Sprinkle with dill or other herb of your choice. Add salt and pepper. Refill potato with this mixture and return to the oven until the potatoes are again hot.

Other ingredients you might want to add to the potato mixture are: sautéed onions; crumbled bacon, chopped ham, grated cheese, or chopped walnuts.



Thursday

Tea and Poetry Tea Party: Sliced Tomatoes, Mozzarella and Basil on Ciabatta


Ode to the Tomato
Pablo Neruda
...
It invades kitchens,
enters lunches.
It sits
and rests
on cupboards,
between tumblers,
butterdishes,
and sky blue salt shakers.
The tomato revels in
its own light,
a gentle majesty.
...

1 loaf ciabatta bread, sliced into 1/3-inch slices
6 tomatoes, cut into 1/3-inch slices
1 pound fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/3-inch slices
6 spring of basil, torn
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse kosher salt and fresh black pepper

Arrange slices of tomatoes, the mozzarella and basil on bread slices. Sprinkle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Top with another slice of bread or leave open faced. Cut in half or thirds, depending on the size of the bread.



Wednesday

Asparagus Soup

I’m taking a little detour today to include a recipe for Asparagus Soup for Anita. But it can be used instead of the French Onion Soup originally intended for the Tea and Poetry Tea. April and May are the prime months for asparagus so get it while it's here!

4 quarts water
2 pounds asparagus
4 tablespoons butter
2 onions, finely chopped
1 medium waxy potato, peeled and sliced
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 bunch of parsley, about 12 stems, tied with string
½ to 1 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper

Bring the water to a boil in a 6-quart pot.

Cut off and discard the woody bases of the asparagus. Cut off the asparagus tips and reserve them. Chop the remaining stalks into 1-inch segments and reserve.

When the water boils, put the tips in the water for 2 or 3 minutes, until they are tender but not mushy. Take them out and rinse them under cold running water. Set aside.

Put the stalks in the boiling water and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the stalks to a bowl full of ice water. Water can be discarded now.

Heat the butter in a 4-quart pot over medium heat. Add the onions and potato and stir every 2 minutes for about 10 minutes, until the onions turn translucent and the potatoes soften slightly.

Add the broth, the cut-up asparagus stalks and the parsley. Simmer for about 15 minutes, until the asparagus and potatoes have softened thoroughly. Puree the soup in a food mill, food processor or blender.

Heat the soup, add the heavy cream and season it with salt and pepper. Add the asparagus tips directly to the soup or heat them at the last minute in a little water and arrange them on top of the soup. A dollop of sour cream can be added and the tips placed on top of it. Makes 8 servings.

Tuesday

Tea and Poetry Tea Party: Orange Scone Wedges with Cream Cheese Filling


Ode to the Orange
Pablo Neruda
...
May the light
of each day
be
orange-colored,
and the heart of humans,
piquant-sweet sections--
a spring
capable of preserving
the mysterious simplicity
of the Earth
and the impeccable unity
of an orange.


These scones come out so perfectly. With the cream cheese filling, there is no need for any toppings. That makes these scones perfect for the Tea and Poetry Tea Party.

Filling:
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange peel

Scones:
1 ¾ cups flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons firm butter
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
¼ cup whipping cream
1 egg
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons coarse white sugar

Heat oven to 400º. Beat all filling ingredients with mixer until smooth; set aside.

In a bowl, combine flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter until mixture looks like fine crumbs. Stir in 1 tablespoon orange peel, whipping cream and 1 egg.

Place dough on lightly floured surface; gently roll in flour to coat. Knead lightly 10 times. Divide dough in half. Pat or roll each half into 9-inch round, about ¼ inch thick. Spread filling over half of each round.

Fold each dough round in half over filling. With sharp knife, cut each half round into 6 wedges. On ungreased cookie sheet, place wedges 1 inch apart. Brush tops with beaten egg; sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake 10-15 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. 12 scones.