Brunch

Of course you can put what you like on your scones, but I'll usually opt for a traditional cream tea of jam and clotted cream. Cream tea etiquette is fiercely disputed in the West Country. The Cornish put strawberry jam on their scones first, then the clotted cream; in Devon and Dorset, it is customary to do it the other way around. Personally, I prefer raspberry jam and I always put jam on first, even though I live on the Devon-Dorset border.

This is an easy way to enjoy figs that aren't dead ripe. I particularly like Mission figs here because of their dark purple flesh and skins, which roasting burnishes to a fine color. I serve these warm with just a dollop of crème fraîche slipped in between the two halves. This is easy to make for any number of people, from one to many.

This strikingly colorful dessert pairs tart rhubarb with rich Greek-style yogurt. Use a light colored honey that won't dull the rhubarb's bright hue. If you are using regular yogurt, start this recipe the night before so that it can strain overnight.

Whether they're freshly baked or toasted, I love these buns and bake a batch whenever it takes my fancy, leaving off the crosses if it isn't Easter. I also like to vary the dried fruit – a mix of chopped dates, cranberries, apricots, and cherries is particularly good.

Quiche for one? That sounds ambitious, but the truth is, it’s a cinch to make yourself a small quiche if you have an individual tart pan, about 4 inches in diameter, with a removable bottom, and some excess tart dough in your freezer. And what a treat it is.

Nearly everyone loves an egg salad sandwich, especially with a bowl of hot soup. This one is made more interesting with the addition of sun-dried tomatoes and olives. Plain white toast is traditional, but whole-wheat (wholemeal) or coarse country bread is a flavorful alternative.

When I was a little girl, making biscuits was one of my favorite things to do because they were so easy and so delicious. Not until I began my experiments with gluten-free baking did I realize the gift my mother and grandmother had passed on to me in the process: They taught me that in order in making the very best biscuits, it was all about the touch. The less you touched the dough, the better the biscuits. If you over-kneaded the dough, the biscuits would be much drier and would turn to stone twice as fast. So as you are kneading your dough, remember less is more, and you will have those moist, mouthwatering biscuits you've been dreaming about. Any of the suggested accompaniments you choose will sing atop this Southern classic.

When­ we ­decided­ to start serving brunch, we were determined to stick with the original concept of the restaurant, "tea turned on its ear," so we racked our brains to come up with a way to do french toast that was unique, fun, and, most important, tasty! We all tossed a bunch of ideas out there, and one of them was french toast bread pudding. All heads tilted curiously at this idea, so of course we tried it. The idea was for it to be like a true bread pudding—tea-infused, of course—but when the first batch came out, our chef said, "I don't think this one is right—the top is crisp and chewy, but the bottom may be mushy." We tried it, and lo and behold, there it was, the brunch item that would make eyes widen and taste buds explode: a layer of crisp and chewy french toast on top and a wonderfully gooey, creamy bread pudding infused with apricot brandy tea underneath. Note that you will need eight 2-inch-deep oven-safe glass bowls (8-ounce ramekins or crème brûlée dishes work well).

This ­is ­one of Haley's favorites, not only because she's an Earl Grey drinker (in fact, as a bitty child she would ask the waitresses in diners if the tea was Earl Grey or orange pekoe because she "simply wouldn't drink anything but Earl Grey"—precocious much?) but also because the hint of lavender infusion leaves you feeling as if you ate a scone and then walked through a field en Provence!

Ah, the pumpkin scone. The most discussed and praised scone on the planet. In all honesty, this scone was a happy accident of sorts. for Thanksgiving 2003, our baker, Sue McClinton, had the idea of making a pumpkin scone instead of a pumpkin cheesecake, and because of its popularity (and the fact that Haley has to have one every day), we kept it on through Christmas that year. Once the holidays were over and the mistletoe un-hung, Sue moved on to another type of scone, and all- but-rioting broke out that week when patrons discovered that there were no pumpkin scones. We heard the message loud and clear and have had pumpkin scones on the menu every day since then. In fact, pumpkin became our staple scone well before the standard and expected buttermilk scone entered our daily repertoire! Moist, slightly spicy, definitely gooey, and sweet on top (think of pumpkin pie inside a scone and you get the idea), the pumpkin scone remains a major favorite, and Haley—and now her kids— continues to have one almost each day! (In fact, Haley's son, Maddan, constantly begs to take one to school for a snack.)
These scones are best when served warm, but if you aren't serving them right away, we recommend that you don't glaze them until shortly before you serve them.

One mention of a food that interests us, and we're off. Our friend Luisa, who writes a food blog called The Wednesday Chef, spent a good part of her summer in Italy, with her family there. Clearly feeling nostalgic for her time there, Luisa spent weeks trying to replicate her grandmother's focaccia bread. The photographs of her last, successful attempt left us both a little dazed. We wanted some. Of course, we had to change it quite a bit, since hers contained gluten. I was shocked to find that most authentic Italian focaccia breads contain a potato. But it makes sense. Boil the potato and then put it through the ricer and you have a light-as-air starch. Focaccia breads are lighter than other breads. The egg white, beaten to stiff peaks, adds lightness here too, like a soufflé. Try this bread with rosemary or oregano. It's a little taste of Italy, right in your kitchen.

In Britain, these are teatime favorites, but in the States, we like them for breakfast, too. You'll get tall, flaky, buttery scones that are excellent partners with your finest jams.

These pumpkin muffins are light and fluffy.

They're flakier and lighter than your usual biscuits because we've replaced some of the butter with the carotenoid-filled root vegetable. Stash any extras for a hearty Black Friday breakfast.