Living in New Zealand, we are lucky, compared to many places in the world, to have access to good, clean drinking water. With a move to ban bottled water in cities like San Francisco, it is good to note that in Wellington, there is an artesian fountain providing pure, unfiltered water from deep beneath Wellington Harbour for us all to use. It is situated outside one of my favourite shops, Moore Wilson. The well was originally installed (is that the right word?) by a soft-drinks factory that used the water to make ginger beer and other sodas.
Soda bottle shaped artesian water fountain
As you can see from the picture above, you are asked to take no more than two litres at a time, and next to it is a collection box for voluntary donations to Wellington Free Ambulance. I haven’t yet tried it, but could easily fill a bottle to take to my exercise classes from the well.
Going back a few days, I continued in my retro scone making mood over last weekend and made Dropped Scones on Monday. The recipe didn’t make a huge quantity, so I made lots of little scones rather than a few big ones. This recipe is so easy, and also one I remember my mother made. Ideally, you should use a baking griddle, but I found a good, heavy frying pan works just as well.
Mix together 100g of self-raising flour, a pinch of salt and 50g of caster sugar. Add 1 egg and gradually beat in 60mls of milk. Bake 2 or 3 at a time by dropping spoonfuls onto a moderately hot, well-greased pan. Cook until the underside is golden brown and the top is covered with bubbles. Turn and brown on the other side. Serve warm or cold with butter and jam as you like.
I started this post in the morning, and then this afternoon we had another wee earthquake. To be honest, I wasn’t completely sure it was one, but the blinds in my office make a certain rattling noise when there is a quake which I can’t decide is useful or not! While in one way you do get used to them, on the other hand you do always kind of think ‘is this the big one?’ Anyway, it is now the weekend and time to think about the next thing to bake!
Thistles and Kiwis 