Orange Flower Scones

Julie here. So early in in The Healer and the Pirate, Nessa and her grandfather, Nicoli, arrive in the town of Tilos. While they came on urgent business, Nessa can’t help but notice the sights, sounds, and smells all around her, including the citrus tang of orange flower scones. And she just might have gotten to eat one, if a dashing pirate hadn't kidnapped her. I thought it would be fun to try to make some but, well, I’m not exactly talented on the inventing recipes front. Or the buying exotic ingredients front. Or the spending a lot of money front. Anyway, my grand ideas of creating an exotic recipe with crazy ingredients like orange flower water were quickly abandoned. Then I was in a local grocery store (Fry’s) and what did I find?

OK, they’re labeled Cranberry Orange Mini Scones. I've only seen them in one Fry's, but you get 8 of them for $1.49!!!!! Probably the best deal in the bakery. Anyway, I had to have them. I don’t think they had quite the same fragrance as the ones in Tilos (and sad to say, I’m not sure the ones in Tilos had icing, either). But besides that, I think they tasted quite a bit like the scones Nessa could have had.

The scones in Tilos certainly didn’t contain cranberries, but the flowers (which aren’t quite like our orange blossoms) are made into a pulp and sweetened, then dried and cut up into small pieces for flavoring. A splash of their version of orange water brings a flavor similar to our cranberry orange scones.

$1.49...let’s see...that’s like a third of a copper, maybe a quarter of one, for 8 scones, each a little smaller than the palm of your hand.

Food in general is more expensive in Kinyn than it is in America, and the processes of farming and cooking are generally more labor-intensive. Not always much more intensive, though...after all, the land is blessed with all sorts of magic. So a third of a copper for 8 mini scones would be an amazing deal in Kinyn too!