Eating to Cook: A Proper Breakfast


Like so many, my friends and I were up before dawn to watch coverage of the Royal Wedding. Our gaggle of eight agreed that:

1. ABC’s Diane Sawyer did a terrific job (not so much, in our opinion, Barbara Walters — did she really have to mention Alexander MacQueen’s suicide as lovely Kate entered the church?).
2. The dress was indeed perfection (as were her mother’s and sister’s — we even gave Camilla a thumb’s up).
3. Thank God Fergie wasn’t there. Beatrice and Eugenie were horribly dressed as it was (didn’t Beatrice look like a reindeer?), who knows what the former Duchess could have conjured up.
4. The second kiss was the one.
5. The Queen left the balcony with a look on her face that expressed either: “Oh these bloody corns are killing me” or “Enough of the commoners, I say Philip, let’s skeedaddle.”

All in all, worth the early rise. We feted the new marrieds at my dear friend Sue’s house with two types of scones, fruit salad, tea sandwiches (salmon and cucumber), coffee cake, and biscuits. I brought the ham and cheese biscuits — which I realize are not British nor New England-y for that matter but my Charleston, SC pal Callie and her daughter make them and they are ridiculously delicious. Your knees will buckle.

Our friend Siobhan made one batch of scones (Irish-style and I promise I’ll get the recipe for them as well as her fantastic brown bread) and our host Sue, who is South African, made English-style ones from her dad’s favorite recipe.

“My dad, Oswald Treisman, would make these for afternoon tea whenever we had company. They would be served warm out of the oven with whipped cream, jam, and butter. I added sugar to his recipe and bake the scones with a touch of jam inside,” says Sue.

I’m guessing Will and Kate didn’t eat as well as we did this morning. How about you — any delicious breakfast for this morning’s festivities? Drop me a line and check out Sue’s recipe after the jump.

Oz’s Famous Scones

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons baking powder

3 tablespoons sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup milk

apricot or raspberry jam (optional)

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Into a large bowl, sift dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl beat the egg, oil, and milk together. Slowly fold wet ingredients into the dry.

Into generously greased muffin tins, spoon dough into 12 portions. If using jam, spoon a heaping tablespoon of batter into muffin tin, then a teaspoon of jam, and top with another tablespoon of batter. Bake 12 to 15 minutes.

Serve with butter (or even better — clotted cream).