Thinking of Madison

Last night was the perfect storm of (1) needing a break from schoolwork, (2) Sally’s Baking Addiction’s recipe for banana nut scones that was posted on Wednesday, and (3) two and half desperately ripened bananas in the fruit bowl that led me to make some delicious banana nut scones last night.

I might be one of only a few people who truly loves scones. When they’re moist and lightly glazed, they are seriously good and pair perfectly with a cup of coffee.

Scones now always remind me of my days living in Wisconsin before starting grad school. My favorite Saturday morning activity when I lived in Madison was to walk the 1 block from my apartment to the Dane County Farmers’ Market. The square around the Capitol is lined with stalls on Saturdays from April to November. Early on in my Madison days, I was lucky enough to find the stall for Chris and Lori’s Bakehouse. I tried their lemon poppy seed scone one morning (a personal favorite) and I was hooked. It met, and exceeded, my needs of being perfectly moist and lightly glazed and it sealed itself as part of my Saturday routine.

Scone and coffee in hand, I would sit at a bench outside the Capitol, soak up the sunshine (most days), and savor those moments of greeting the day. The Dane County Farmers’ Market draws a huge crowd each week so the people watching wasn’t bad either.

My second summer in Madison brought a couple changes. Chris and Lori stopped offering my favorite lemon poppy seed scone (ahem, I guess no one told them that that scone is what got me out of bed in the morning), so I switched to cinnamon oat. Not even mad – that scone is amazing. And Tommy was now in the picture, so now I was able to share my favorite Saturday morning moments with him.

I don’t really miss Madison. Living here in North Carolina doesn’t make me feel homesick for Wisconsin the same way that I missed home when I moved to college or the same way that I missed Clemson when I first moved to Madison. I guess Madison just never felt like home. Maybe it’s because the best part of living there for me was meeting Tommy and I am lucky enough that he moved with me.

I don’t miss living in Madison but I definitely miss those Saturday mornings. And nostalgia hit me hard yesterday with these banana nut goodies. I won’t pretend the scones I made are nearly as good as Chris and Lori’s, but they did remind me of those mornings around the Capitol. I don’t know when I’ll be back to Madison for a warm Farmers’ Market morning, so for now I’m glad to have a food that I love that reminds me of being there. As if I needed another reason to love a scone and coffee. 

I hope you have a food that you love that reminds you of something happy. Even if it’s something simple and routine.