Benedict, cherry-cardamom scones and lemon curd

Did y'all see that Benedict Cumberbatch was just found to be second cousin 16 times removed to King Richard III? As my friend Liz tells me, "You always knew he was royalty!"

Indeed. 

Related only geographically to birthplace of both Ben and Rich are the scones and lemon curd I made today. They made a fine lunch for the boys, a touch of dessert for me, and the curd served as a surrogate sunshine in today's sky of gray. 

Infarct amidst lemon curd

Good lord in the heavens, people, my heart is racing. You see, since I made that rose petal jelly the other day, I have been dying to also make lemon curd. They are sublime together, and so the two must be. After a wildly productive morning (but WHY am I still so queased out?!), I decided to get to it. I also put Nutmeg outside on his leash because he was calling mournfully at the back door. The creamy, zingy, ethereal concoction that is lemon curd came to fruition beautifully.

I took it outside to take a photo -the sun is out, yo!- said hi to Nutmeg and started snapping away. I heard something, looked back at Nutmeg and saw this:

Erm, where is my cat?! Y'all, Nutmeg had thrown himself over the deck and into the neighbor's yard. Mother of... As his leash is not that long, it broke off halfway down. I raced to the railing, looked over, and saw Nutmeg licking his damn tail. He looked askance at me and sauntered off as if nothing had happened, collar resting lazily on a lariope.

I threw my precious curd onto my kitchen counter, grabbed a bag of cat treats and ran next door. Knock, knock, ring, ring: no answer. Fortunately, my neighbor and I are friends so I went around to her side gate and could see the perpetrator's nose sniffing at it. I opened the door cautiously and pounced on him before he could scram.

My heart has only just slowed, and fortunately, I got my curd covered and into the fridge before a horrid skin could form. T likes skin on pudding- can you get over that shit? Horrors!! No skin on this gal's curd!

Thoughts from the morning so far

It is a full-scale gully-washer out there, and I love it. The kids are at school, and today is a longer day for both as Jack has theater after school and Ol stays for lunch and science. I say amen. After carpool, I went to the gym and showed it who was boss. Then I came home, turned on the Vince Guaraldi Charlie Brown Christmas CD -oh yes I did even though it's only 10/2; these are the things you can do brazenly when no one is home to make fun of you- and made the most darling batch of mini blueberry-cream scones for a library meeting I've got tomorrow morning. I'm also bringing lemon curd, and really, is there a better combination? Well, there are but only equally so.

I decided to christen my new biscuit-cutter, and let me tell you/warn you, those suckers are sharper than you might expect. I immediately nicked my finger, but this might be my new favorite tool anyway. It's so pleasing, those perfect little rounds it produces. Oh my. Just when you think you're in control of nothing, you remember that you bought a 2" biscuit cutter, and all seems well in the world.

Today is my dear daddy's birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad!!!! You are the youngest 62 year old I know!

I'm about to embark on Project Meatball. These are the greatest meatballs in the world but they are an eNORmous job. As the recipe makes enough for 16 people (read: 80 or meatballs), I don't do this often, 4-5 times per year, but am always glad when I do.  It's the kind of recipe you should never halve because the amount of work really doesn't diminish, but your final product, of course, does. So, embark on this on a day like today which is really a perfect one for a meatball party. Then make friends with your freezer and for the next several months, at least, you'll be happy every time you defrost and indulge in these.