The Wooden Recipe Box: Finding Balance in a Digital World

As I went to sleep contemplating whether or not I was starting to develop an over dependence on AI technology, my sense of resolution was confirmed the next morning. Last night, I spent some time uploading pictures to Gemini and asking it things like “What can I do to improve the arrangement on this console table”?

It sent me an altered image back that’s similar to mine but has quirky elements such as a little fox stuck to the wall and an antique key that is magically hanging onto a picture frame. I neither own the fox, the key or the picture frame but within seconds it had rearranged my console table with the suggestion to include certain framed art. The result was that it jogged my memory enough to make me think of a similar picture I had tucked away. I put it into the middle of my “scene”, took a few things away, as recommended, and uploaded a second picture after having followed the decorating guidelines. The nice thing is that AI never tells you that you’re a bad decorator. It simply sings your praises of how great it looks now that you have improved your space.

Having fun with it, I subsequently used the process to “tweak” a few other corners of my kitchen and living room. The whole thing took about an hour of sending photos back and forth and moving things. (This idea was not my own. A friend of mine told me recently that she had tried it and it helped her sort out her kitchen shelving unit and improve the look of her dining room. )

But the evening took a turn toward “overkill” when I asked for suggestions to improve my Instagram feed, etc. The “help” was almost instant; complete with color schemes, suggested posts layouts and ideas. But it kept asking more things like “would you like for me to ….” I kept answering, “Sure”. Then realized that it could not only pick a theme, and color scheme but also offered to write a blog post! I was shocked. That is a line to be drawn. I had followed this bunny trail long enough! And sure, I received some good ideas, but I never want to take away from the feeling of authenticity of what it is like to write as a human being. It suddenly felt to me like the information was coming so quickly, and I just needed to sit back and for one, go to sleep for the evening. It was all too much!!!! I prayed before bed that God would help me to never become dependent on tech or AI.

As if in answer to this request, this morning I went to the familiar echo show (Alexa with visual) version of my saved recipes portal, in search of my familiar “go to” recipe for simple scones. To my disappointment, it was no longer in my saved recipes. I asked “ziggy”, as I had done so many times, to pull up the recipe I had saved for simple scones, and although it pulled up a plethora of other scone recipes to try, my favorite was just -gone!

Then I panicked, trying to recall the measurements I had so often used before. Was it 2 cups of flour? Or was it one and a half? My sweet daughter got on her phone and found the recipe on all recipes, just as I was trying to Google it myself. I decided then and there to take out an index card and write down the recipe and put it in my old fashioned antique wooden recipe box.

Will I ever again depend on technology for recipes? Naturally, probably, yes, as it is so convenient to watch a video about cooking a steak just as you’re about to grill it. But on the other hand, I’m realizing more and more that I need to stop, slow down and do things the old way sometimes and if there’s a recipe I really like online, not to take for granted that it will be there later. Because websites can change.

I copied it down here for you so you can enjoy it! But you may want to print it or write it down for your own card box! For a more detailed version with additional side notes you may want to follow the one I linked from All recipes.com. I did not take photos of every step, like they did, because I was just ready to make them quickly for breakfast to have with coffee! I also used dried cranberries, instead of currants because this is what I had on hand. I also added about 3/4 cup of pecans. Without any further adieu here is my favorite recipe for Simple Scones.

Ingredients

(for 1 batch)

Original recipe (1X) yields 8 servings

2 cups all-purpose flour
⅓ cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
½ cup raisins or dried currants
½ cup sour cream
1 large egg
1 teaspoon white sugar

Directions

Step 1 Gather ingredients

_{I got these vintage baking labels from Indoora World on Etsy. Aren’t they cute? The background paper was my signature paper I made from my grandmother’s 1930’s pillowcase.}

Step 2 Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C); adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Step 3 Mix flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater. Use your fingers to work in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, then toss in raisins.

Step 4 Whisk sour cream and egg together in a small bowl until combined.

Step 5 Stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture using a fork until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to shape dough into a ball. (Dough may seem dry at first but will come together as you work it.)

Step 6 Place dough on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7 to 8-inch circle, about 3/4-inch thick. Sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar.

(I forgot the sugar sprinkle on mine this time before baking but sometimes, I use sugar, and a dash of cinnamon on top. I did, however, remember the cinnamon and nutmeg sprinkles in my coffee.)

Step 7 Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 equal triangles; place on the prepared baking tray, about 1-inch apart.

(Mine aren’t perfectly even, or even that pretty, but they still taste just as good. The benefit of accidentally making them uneven sizes is that you get to choose from a smaller vs. a larger one.) :-)

Step 8 Bake scones in the preheated oven until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes; serve warm or at room temperature.
(They are ready to go into the oven. Here’s what they looked like before baking.)