Tea and scones

The perfect combination for a cold, rainy, February day?
This:

Hot tea, a freshly baked scone (already missing a bite!) and seed catalogs.  Perfect!

I discovered this scone recipe last month and have fallen in love, as have the boys.

Scones

Sift together:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Into this cut in:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
I've found that they actually turn out better if you mix the last of the butter in with your hands until it looks a bit like cornmeal.
Beat together:
1 egg
3/4 cup heavy cream ***
Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until mostly moistened.
Mix in your choice of goodies (maybe half a cup? I don't measure).  I've used chocolate chunks, blueberries and roughly chopped cranberries with some orange peel so far. All delicious. I think currants and diced dried apricots will soon be on the list.
Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead gently until it all comes together.  Pat into a circle on a greased baking sheet.  With a knife, score into 12 wedges.  I lightly sprinkle the top with coarse raw sugar for a little crunch and sparkle.
Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned.
Cut into wedges following the scored lines while still warm.
Enjoy!

*** I don't generally have heavy cream on hand.  But I discovered that these work equally well using evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed milk!).  One can of evaporated milk will make 2 batches of scones.  I even used the fat free evaporated milk and they were wonderful.  Of course, with a full stick of butter in these, who is counting calories.