Edmonds' Cheese Scones

September 2, 2003

Our little cats have well and truly settled in now and have free run of the house and garden. I thought the older black cat, Lucy, would be the more adventurous one. However, she turns out to be something of a homebody, quite content to find a place in the sun and rest there.

Rosie, the six-month-old white cat, is the rover. It didn't take her long to discover the small cat-sized hole in the exterior wall that allowed entrance to the basement area, a favourite retreat for our old cat Pooksie. I was looking for her the other day and thought I might just call out to her through the hole and, sure enough, she emerged.

Lucy is a cupboard cat. Whenever a cupboard door opens, she has to go in and investigate. A couple of times she has sneaked into the wardrobe unnoticed and ended up getting shut in. Unfazed, she will just climb up the shelves, and nose through the handbags, scarves and shoes. She also has a bad habit of climbing into open drawers, then disappearing over the back of the drawer into the cavity.

She is also something of a mountaineer. She likes a high vantage point, be it on top of the stereo speaker on the bookshelf above the computer desk, up on the ironing board, on the breakfast bar or on a tall display cabinet in the living room.

Both cats enjoy a stroll along the high fences in the yard. Fortunately both are very keen on their food so are easily attracted back into the house.

I had forgotten just how frisky young cats can be. When we are ready for bed, they want to play games, racing around the house, up and over the bed, down the hall. They often end up getting shut in the kitchen to quieten down.

Like their predecessor, they are both fond of cheese and were hanging around waiting for bits to fall off the bench when I was making cheese scones at the weekend.

Scones make a good accompaniment for a hearty weekend soup. They can be quickly mixed in the time it takes for the oven to reach the correct temperature.

Today's recipe comes from Edmonds Cookery Book, a New Zealand home cook's bible since the first edition was printed in 1955. Something like two million of these books have been bought as almost annual reprints have been issued over the ensuing years and while updated and microwave editions have been published, the old basic book is still a firm favourite.

Edmonds' Cheese Scones

3 cups flour
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon saltpinch cayenne pepper
1/2 cup grated cheese
about 1 cup milk

Sift dry ingredients, add cheese and mix to a light dough with the milk. Turn onto a floured board, knead, roll out and cut. Place on an oven tray. Bake 10 minutes, 215 degrees C.

I like to add a little curry powder to the dry ingredients. I also put some extra cheese on top of the scones. Ovens vary and I like to cook my scones a bit longer - another five minutes or so.