This base of this recipe is called Puyallup Fair Scones (Puyallup Fair Scones (Fisher Scones))...I of course had to mess with a good thing and here's the recipe I came up with. These are even better! Here's some of the research on scones that I found...using butter gives the best flavor, but shortening preserves the scones better after the first day. Hence the 1/2 butter, 1/2 shortening, a good compromise. Using heavy cream keeps the scones moister than milk. The recommended flours (for taste and gluten content) are first, Pillsbury Unbleached Enriched All-Purpose Flour (with a 10 - 11% gluten content), second King Arthur Unbleached Enriched All-purpose Flour (with an 11% gluten content). Chilling the butter and shortening in the freezer for 20 minutes or so helps the fat not melt when mixing. You can use your hands or a pastry blender to mix the fat and flour, but using a food processor also keeps the fat intact and not melted from the heat of your hands. Mix as little as possible so that the gluten does not over develop and make the scones tough. Sifting is critical. 2 1/2 cups unsifted flour weighs more than 2 1/2 cups sifted flour and would make a tougher scone. If you want to get really into it, they say that you should place a measuring cup on top of some parchment/wax paper and actually sift the flour into the cup, use the paper to catch the excess.