A Walk in the Neighborhood

It seems that everyone is getting busier and busier as Christmas approaches, even Addison. Now that she has learned to walk, crawling is a thing of the past. Unfortunately, along with the mastery of walking comes many bumps and bruises. Thankfully none have been too severe yet, and a kiss and smile seem to be all it takes to get her on her way once more. Let's hope this stage lasts for a while yet.

So in the spirit of walking, and because the weather has been unseasonably warm and sunny, we decided to go on a walk this weekend in search of the neighborhood coffee shop. Now that may not sound like much considering in Santa Barbara we were only 300 yards from a favorite restaurant, but here in Huntsville the situation is a bit different. Our house is situated in a very nice established neighborhood, and we are at the very back of it. In fact, we are across the street from a park and a land trust. So, it takes about 4 minutes to drive out of the neighborhood, let alone walk.

Despite all of this, we wanted to see if it could be done. So, after bundling Addison in the stroller, we set off. W headed to Olde Towne Coffee Shoppe, which is in the Five Points area nearby. Five Points is what I describe as the hippie / young and kidless area of town. Probably the area that is closest to Santa Barbara in feeling (if there is such a thing). There is a Thai restaurant, local grocer, acupuncturist, some artsy shops, and Olde Towne Coffee. It took us about 45 minutes to walk there from our house, so it's what I would consider to be close.

Olde Towne Coffee was great. There were a couple of people outside playing chess, inside others were carrying on various philosophical and intellectual conversations, and it was obvious that most of these folks were regulars. There was no option for grande on the menu, but the coffee was good and the selection of specialty coffee drinks was plentiful. I enjoyed it very much and hope to come back soon. I'm not sure I know of another non-chain coffee shop in Huntsville (actually I think I've only seen Starbucks around), so that definitely added to it's charm.

We took a different route on our walk back, and although it still took 45 minutes, we had the fun of going straight through the big old cemetery. Maple Hill cemetery has been around for a very long time. Just glancing at some of the headstones we passed, I saw a few where the person buried had died in the 1800s; and I could see other headstones that looked to be even older. Now this cemetery is huge, and every year they have an event - a stroll - where actors dress up in period clothing and tell the stories of various people who are buried there; after our short walk through, I'd really like to go next year. I'm not sure why, but old cemeteries really fascinate me. And this one is so big, it's really impressive, too.

Anyways, that's enough for now. I'll give my recipe for scones in honor of the coffee shop, and save more ramblings about our neighborhood for another post.

Blueberry Scones

3 1/2 cups flour
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold butter
1 cup blueberries
4 eggs
2/3 cup heavy cream

Mix all dry ingredients together. Then cut butter in with pastry blender (or 2 knives if you're like me and don't own a pastry blender). Once butter is cut into pea sized pieces or smaller, mix in blueberries.

Next beat the eggs and set 4 Tbsp aside to brush on the scones before baking. The rest mix with the cream. Then mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with as few strokes as possible. You want the batter to just barely stick together, but not be fully meshed. The more hidden small chunks of butter there are, the better.

Then form the dough into wedge shaped scones (or whatever shape you want) and lay on a greased cookie sheet. Brush with the egg previously set aside, and dust with sugar.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.