The Most Amazing (Not Too Sweet) Strawberry Scone Recipe

The Best Scone Recipe Ever.

The beginning of this past weekend was jam packed. Between a slightly last minute yard sale (which wonderfully also turned into a "meet the neighbors" party) lunches and dinners with friends, and just the normal stuff we needed to get done, every day felt extremely full. But the good kind of full. The kind where you realize you've been laughing/smiling all day, you've been constantly surrounded by amazing people, and despite being incredibly tired and kind of sunburned you still decide to forgo going straight home after dinner in order to savor some late night ice cream. By the time Sunday rolled around, we were too worn out to make it to a friends bbq and instead decided to take a "lazy day." We lounged/napped outside on the deck, took a bike ride down to the lake/through the neighborhood, chatted with our moms/told them how proud we were of them for raising such amazingly awesome children, ate dinner outside underneath our backyard cafe lights and finally finished the day off with fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and some Game of Thrones (yep. Game of Thrones. Seriously, it's awesome and now I kind of want a pet dragon. Then again, who wouldn't want a pet dragon? Weirdos that's who.) It was one of those days where you feel so grateful for everything that you can't even put it into words. You try, but in the end you realize that the one person you're thanking can probably already read your heart.

So now to the scones. I made these a few days ago and have been waking up to them ever since. (Well kind of. I don't have a butler or someone bring them to me so I guess technically I've been waking up and making these ever since. If you do have a butler though, have him whip these up and bring them to you in bed. I promise your day will be that much better- which is saying a lot since your life already comes with a butler.)

strawberry scones 1 via courtney khail

Okay. Back to the scones. I was in the grocery store last Wednesday when I happily stumbled across the strawberries. And as if I really needed an excuse to buy them, they were on sale. 4 pints for $5.  Sold!Of course, then I came home and remembered we already had strawberries so I need to get to work using them. Like yesterday.

Hence the scones.

strawberry scones2 via courtney khail

I make scones a lot because they are amazing and freeze really well (and breakfast is my favorite meal ever. Well that and pasta. Feed me those two things and I will never leave. Want me to leave quickly? Bring out the seafood. Not a big fan.)

strawberry scones3 via courtney khail

Wow. Sidetracked much? So back to these scones, again. They rock. They aren't very sweet (you can amp up the sugar if that's what you're looking for) but they're perfectly crunchy on the outside and biscuit like on the inside and go wonderfully with fresh whipped cream, or butter, or if you really want to play up the strawberry flavor- strawberry jam. (Since they are best straight from the oven, I like to freeze any we aren't going to eat immediately (you just need to add a few minutes to the baking time.)

strawberry scones 4 via courtney khail

You don't have to add the lime zest, but it adds a summery freshness to it (as opposed to a wintery freshness?) Also, feel free to use lemon zest if unlike me you aren't painting a dozen limes and therefore don't have a ton a round to zest.

strawberry scones 5 via courtney khail

So there you have it. Amazing scones to make your mornings (or afternoons) that much sweeter. (pun intended.)

All photos taken by me and are copyright of courtney khail stationery and design

kim and courtney cook: squash

Oh Fall. Crisp air, cute clothes, and of course, comfort food. Now is about the time that the farmer's markets are flooded with pumpkins and squashes, and pretty much every root vegetable imaginable, so it's no surprise that this month Kim and I decided to pick a very fall vegetable as our inspiration. (I went with an acorn squash because I think they are pretty and knew that it would be sitting out on my counter until I finally got around to making something from it. Two points for instant fall decorating in the kitchen!)

hello beautiful squash via courtney khail

squash soup via kimberly taylor

But let's get back to the comfort food. Something about cooler weather makes me crave hearty dishes. Ones that involve roasting, baking spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, etc.) and wilted leafy greens. Oh and cheese. Scratch that. I crave cheese all year round. But mostly, dishes that fill your home with amazing scents and make you feel like you're embraced. (Am I the only one who feels like certain foods just hug you with warmth?) And that's exactly the feeling I wanted this dish to have.

This dish is super simple to make. The hardest part is actually cutting the squash (it's dense like a pumpkin) but the rest is as easy as boiling water. All you do is roast and cube the squash, crisp some bacon (though sausage, chicken, or pretty much anything else would work,) brown some butter, and then add things that sound good to you (I used spinach to bring in some greens.) I was also going to top it with lightly toasted acorn squash seeds, but well, I got caught up with some show and burned mine. Whoops. After all that, you just serve it over pasta and top with pepper and cheese. No need to measure anything out really- just add what looks right to you. Our  house loves bacon so I upped that, but if you're more of a veggie person- add more vegetables. You could even throw on some toasted walnuts or something delicious like that. Whatever you do, don't over think it. Cooking should be fun, right?

Anyhow. Enough with the talking. Here are the recipes- (If you want to see my dish, it's up on my instagram account. Follow me at @ckhail)

and kim's soup! Make sure you head over to her site to see more as well.

Butternut Squash Soup

from epicurious.com

Vegetable oil spray

1 2-pound butternut squash, halved lengthwise and seeded

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Pinch of grated nutmeg

1 cup milk or half-and-half

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 °F. Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with the vegetable oil spray.

Place the squash halves, cut side down, in the prepared dish. Pierce the skin sides several times with a fork. Bake until the squash is tender, about 45 minutes. Set aside until cool enough to handle.

Using a large spoon, scrape the flesh from the cooked squash into a food processor. Discard the skins. Add 1 1/2 cups of the chicken broth, the cinnamon, marjoram, thyme, and nutmeg and puree until smooth. Transfer the puree to a large saucepan. Whisk the milk into the soup over medium heat. If you prefer a thinner consistency, add the remaining broth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

From the Studio: kim and courtney cook rhubarb

watercolor via courtney khail

beautiful photo via kim taylor

Full disclosure here- just this last Thanksgiving I can quote my parents on saying that rhubarb shouldn't exist (they both really don't like it.) So it should come as no surprise that I'd never even tried it before now. I thought it was pretty, but when it came to actually eating it all I could remember was my parents description of an incredibly tart/sour horrible plant. (I should note that my parents eat just about ANYTHING so I kind of just took their word on this one.) Fast forward from last Thanksgiving to the beginning of the month and I get a note from Kim asking about my feelings on rhubarb.

My feelings? That it's a horrible plant that should never be eaten. But this project is about trying new things so instead of saying that I wrote back, "sounds great! let's do that."  and then got to work finding a recipe that sounded good (i.e. had butter and sugar.) Luckily, I stumbled across this recipe, and with a few tweaks (like adding lemon zest and more vanilla) I ended up with some of the best streusel I may have ever tasted. The rhubarbs and strawberries kind of blended together into a "just sweet enough" filling, the lemon made everything pop, and the topping was to die for. Though seriously, melted butter and brown sugar is always going to be a good combination. And while I may not be ready to jump into using rhubarb in everything quite yet, between this recipe and Kim's compote, I'm getting closer. Hope you all enjoy!

Oh! And a note on the watercolor, despite searching for it I couldn't find rhubarb with leaves. Maybe it's because they are poisonous... Because of that, I decided to just paint them how you all would see them in the store- as beautiful red sticks.

And now the recipes!

Mine-

And Kim's- (read here post here)

photo catch up

Hi everyone! It’s been a little while since I’ve posted so I thought before the weekend starts, I’d share a few photos from the past few days.

copyright courtney khail stationery and design

sneak peek of a custom order I’m working on right now. I love how these are coming together and I can’t wait for my clients to see them all together.

this is from the Braves last game of the post season and Bobby’s last game before retirement. Even though we lost, the atmosphere was pretty amazing and it was really touching to be a part of history.

my friend L and I have decided to take up sewing. Though our sewing dates are more to catch up and gossip together, we are slowly but surely learning. Case in point? We learned how to use the automatic bobber thing today (yes very technical, I know.) Up until now I’ve just been winding it by hand- mostly because I really don’t like reading directions. Luckily, even though she doesn’t like them either, L. actually did read the directions and figured out how to do it.

via how about orange

have you read Joy and Meg’s book, Creative Inc. yet? If you’re in the freelance/creative world, it’s a must read! It has great advice, is easy (and quick) to read, and is full of useful real world advice. I loved reading all of the interviews and hearing other people’s stories and perspectives. Great work, ladies! I hope the book tour went well!

The weather is also finally starting to cool down, so I’ve started bringing out some of my favorite fall recipes like chocolate chip banana bread, apple bread, and this tasty little creation. Seriously, chili on a biscuit? Yes, please.

I also dying to try this pumpkin spice cake I saw in one of my magazines and maybe even make caramel apples. Which reminds me, I kind of want to go apple picking.

Have I mentioned how much I love fall?

recipes from an italian summer

via anthropologie

I used to hate tomatoes. Like cringe at the sight of them. Something about the texture just made my skin crawl.

Then I lived in Italy for 3 months and you cannot hate tomatoes in Italy. (esp. when you already don't drink coffee. I couldn't have 2 strikes against me. 3 if you include the fact my name doesn't end with an "a" sound so it's really hard from Italians to pronounce. Many times I contemplated temporarily changing my name to Isabella or something...)

So in an attempt to "immerse myself in culture" and allow myself to change*, I sucked it up and ate a tomato. Oh my God, it was heavenly. It was sweet, and juicy, and plump, and perfect. I started eating them ALL THE TIME. with salt. with basil. with balsamic vinegar. on sandwiches. in pasta. just about however I could. How did I ever neglect such an amazing fruit?! And how come I never believed my dad about how great they were as he popped fresh slices into his mouth all summer long?!

Needless to say, I apologized for being so naive and have since embraced the power of the tomato. So when I saw this, I just knew it needed to be in my cookbook collection. Christmas gift anyone?

*learning how amazing tomatoes were was just one of the many ways a summer in Italy changed my life for the better.