From Scones to Stories
“If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.” – Margaret Atwood
Skim Facebook any time between May and September, and you’re likely to see your friends vacationing all over the world, at Disney, in their backyards.
For the past five days, I’ve followed a friend’s excursion to Scotland. Most of his posts are from the same spots we visited in 2022. I don’t recall him requesting the itinerary from our 2022 trip, but we obviously share a similar affinity for Edinburgh, castles, Outlander sites, history, and, the capital of the Highlands, Inverness.
I’ve enjoyed their missives so much I was tempted to send a direct message suggesting they take the ferry from the Isle of Skye to the Isle of Raasay and sample the gin.
Returning to Scotland through the lens of our friends reminded me of cool and misty, yet sunny, days, the plethora of ways to prepare haggis, the West Highland White Terrier club we happened upon at Edinburgh Castle, and the winding road through Loch Ness, surrounded by hills carpeted with yellow gorse so bright I needed my sunglasses.
We never did spot Nessie, but Graham, the guide we hired for a 12-hour day tour chauffeured us through Culross, Blackness Castle in Linlithgow, St. Andrews, and several Outlander filming sites in between, including Stirling Castle where Mary Queen of Scots was crowned queen in 1534 at 9 months of age.
If I can’t be in Scotland this summer, I can still relive the beauty, wonder and warmth of everyone we encountered, especially the bookseller at Leakey’s Book Shop in Inverness and the staff at Granary Café in Linlithgow, where I can still taste the delicious scone I enjoyed with a latte.
One of the byproducts of working from home is flexibility. I don’t take it for granted, and I ensure that every day spent in my home office with my labrador officemates Christie, Jake, and Skye (named for the Isle of Skye), is productive.
But today, the first day of summer, memories of an amazing vacation top of mind, I craved scones. Now, I know that Scottish scones are different than English scones. They resemble a biscuit and are made with buttermilk. However, in keeping the promise to myself to remain productive, a trip to the store for buttermilk was out of the question.
A quick Google search of “scones no buttermilk” yielded a recipe with only 7 ingredients, all of which I had on hand. Yes! In 30 minutes, I’d have fresh blueberry scones to enjoy with my mid-morning latte, homemade in the coveted Nespresso my husband gave me in 2018 for my birthday. If only I’d owned one years before. The amount of money I could’ve saved by buying $5 lattes and scones baked by someone else could’ve funded a return trip to Scotland.
There are always lessons to be learned, often years in the making.
Within the last several years, I’ve become a more confident cook. I delight in creating from scratch a meal out of what I can find in the pantry and refrigerator. However, I consider myself a mediocre baker. My sweets are tasty, but rarely resemble the pretty picture.
Thankfully, I’ve learned another important lesson, which is to learn how to lay any perfectionist tendencies aside when embarking on a new task. Usually, I’m good at it. Otherwise, I would’ve never completed my book. Still, the first thing I noticed when I pulled my scones out of the oven was shape, or lack thereof.
Their misshapen status didn’t preclude the fact they were still just as British scones should be, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. As proof that perfectionism doesn’t always get the best of me, I arranged them on the platter anyway, set my phone to portrait mode and snapped away.
Perfect? No.
Delicious? Absolutely.
That’s the beauty of embracing imperfection. Writing follows a similar path. Think of the recipe for writing as ideas, outline, premise, body, and conclusion. We embark on a new piece of writing much as we would any recipe. We research, prepare, then execute, unaware of what will become of it.
Will the words flow as the ingredients blend?
Will the middle be mushy, much like a story without flow?
Will the result be a sweet reward we’re proud of?
Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything good.” – William Faulkner
Like baking, writing is rarely perfect the first time. We must learn to embrace our flaws, whether in baking, writing, or both. Doing so can lead to a final beautiful product. Repeating a process, improving our craft, and being willing to embrace imperfection allows us to churn out something of which we are proud.
After tasting one of my misshapen scones, I decided that they were indeed delicious. I’d already planned to bring soup to a neighbor who is ill, so I offered to include some scones. Blueberry are her favorite, so maybe there was a bigger reason I was destined to make scones today.
When getting comfortable with sharing your story, remember that it’s the flaws and quirks in your writing that make it valuable. Your writing should still be well-crafted, flow seamlessly, and be without errors and misspellings, but remember that imperfect actions lead to growth and development. I know that my next baking session will yield prettier scones. They may not rival the one I enjoyed in Scotland, but just as I improve my craft with each word I type, so will I refine the shape of my next batch of scones.
If you are on the precipice of beginning a writing project, consider creating something imperfect. Commit this mantra to memory: Practice makes progress.
You must write, no matter how flawed those first few drafts may be. Each step leads to improvement. Practice consistency by working through the process. Baking involves precision. If the recipe calls for salt, but you never salt anything, you must still use salt. The requirement is there for a reason. Respect the process, be it baking or writing.
“First forget inspiration. Habits are more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won’t. Habit is persistence in practice.” – Octavia Butler
There were times during the process of writing my book that I did not know who would publish my story, or when I would hold a copy in my hands. Still, I persevered through uncertainty that sometimes threatened to thwart my project.
As you write, employ the habit of reflection. Recognize how far you’ve come. Each moment in the process brings you one step closer to what will be your perfect product.
Scone Recipe – courtesy of All Recipes
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 25 mins
Servings: 8
Yield: 8 scones
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
½ cup white sugar
5 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup butter
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; cut in butter with 2 knives or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Whisk milk and egg in a small bowl; gradually stir into flour mixture until moistened.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly, 5 or 6 turns. Pat or roll dough out into a 1/2-inch-thick round. Cut into 8 wedge-shaped pieces and place onto the prepared baking sheet.
Bake scones in the preheated oven until golden brown on top, about 15 minutes.