For the past week or so, the island has been blanketted in fog.  Occasionally in the afternoon we get glimpses of blue sky which sends shots of light through the lingering wisps of fog, creating forests of sunbeams.  Even though I know that the sky is blue up above the fog bank, I live in a cocoon of grey softness.

The fog will pass eventually, and we’ll have several days of full on sunshine.  Time enough to finish up all the gardening in preparation for the short, wet days of winter, when it isn’t such an appealing idea to kneel out in the wet garden.

But for now, we’ll walk the dogs, fix the fences, move the cattle, and enjoy the restful times reading in front of the fire.  It really is fall now!

Nothing like pumpkin and spices to knock us upside of the head to remind us!   These scones are so easy and yummy, that they deserve to be made several times through the next month or so, during pumpkin season.  Although there’s absolutely no reason that they can’t be made at any other time.

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Makes 18

Ingredients:

3 c flour

6 T sugar

1½ T baking powder

½ t salt

½ T ground ginger

½ t cinnamon

½ t nutmeg

½ c butter

½ c chopped crystallized ginger

1 large egg

¾ c pumpkin (1 – 14 oz / 398 ml tin is enough for 2 batches with a bit left over)

½ c milk

Glaze:

1½ c icing sugar

1 t vanilla

3 T milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Cut in the butter until no piece is larger than a pea.

Toss in the ginger pieces, mixing in with your fingers.

Whisk the egg, and add in the pumpkin and milk, whisking until well combined.

Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients.

Stir until the dough holds together.

Put the dough on a lightly floured surface, and knead until it forms a ball.

The dough will be fairly soft.

Roll it with your hands and shape it into a loaf, using a bit more flour as needed.

Cut into 3 equal sized pieces.

Dust the surface with more flour, and pat each piece into a ½” thick round.

Cut each round into 6 wedges.

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. leaving a bit of space between the scones.

Bake in the center of the oven for 15 minutes.

Let cool on the baking sheet.

Mix glaze while the scones cool.

Stir the glaze ingredients thoroughly, and put in a ziploc bag (or a small plastic bag that you can knot – as I did, as I was out of ziplocs).

Snip off one corner, no more than a quarter inch, and drizzle the glaze over the scones.