Scone

Scones are the classic tea and coffee partner. Tiny and elegant for a silver-service tea or as large as a fist, they're everyone's favorite served warm, split and spread with butter or whipped cream and jam.

Versatile breads that are good served with cheese, spread with butter and jam at teatime, or paired with a main-course salad.

These can be cut out the night before, refrigerated unbaked on a baking sheet, and then popped into the oven in the morning. They will be ready in just 20 minutes.

Ann Colton of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, writes: "Just as T. S. Eliot's J. Alfred Prufrock measured out his life with coffee spoons, I like to measure out my days with interesting meals. Since I started teaching English literature to junior-high students about a year ago, I've had less time to cook because of all the papers I have to grade. I'm still a firm believer, though, that food makes life more fabulous, and I get such pleasure from tasting and experimenting. Sometimes I'll honor requests from my students and whip up new treats for them. My baked goods, like these scones, are the most popular." These oversize wedge-shaped scones have a light muffin-like texture.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

"My boyfriend just introduced me to Ledbetters', a breakfast restaurant in nearby New Milford," writes Lawren Hubal of Monroe, Connecticut. "Every morning, owners Julie and David Ledbetter make scones, and the lemon-poppy seed ones are out of this world. I'd love to make those scones at home."

Sarabeth Levine makes her scones at Sarabeth's in New York, with only one tablespoon of sugar, so they aren't oversweet. The dough is very sticky, but resist the temptation to knead in more flour — the stickiness means the scones will be tender. Partner them with jam or whipped cream for a real treat.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Laurie likes to use 1/3 cup each of white cheddar and orange cheddar.

An Italian twist on an English favorite.

"While visiting Los Angeles recently," says Katherine Mollen of New York, New York, "I made sure to get to La Brea Bakery. The ginger scones were the best I've ever had. Since there's nothing that comes close here in New York, I'd like to try to make them at home."