Brownie love!

It does not look like much but I did manage to create some very lovely brownie's. (my colleagues thought so).

 It was moist, dense, gooey and very very chocolaty !


I would like to share the recipe with you all. If you are on a diet, just stop reading now as this recipe is not for you!


OK ready, 


1lb caster sugar, 
8oz butter, 
200g 85% coco chocolate (2 bars) 
4 oz flour
2 oz coco powder. 
6 eggs. 


Method:
Cut butter into cubes. 
place in a saucepan over a medium heat with the sugar. 
stir until butter is melted and the sugar is starting to dissolve. 
break up the chocolate into pieces and add to the butter and sugar mix. 
stir until chocolate is melted. 
remove from heat and beat the eggs. 
add the beaten egg and stir then quickly add the flour and coco. 


( Ensure that this all happens quickly and that the mixture is not to hot when you add the egg otherwise you will end up with melted chocolate with scrambled egg. )


turn into a roasting tray lined with greased baking parchment and bake for 40  minutes at 180 degrees. 


Yesterday as I was pot-roasting pork, spatchcocking a chicken and running up the brownie's I realised how happy I am being in the kitchen. I love cooking and especially cooking for other people. It does not have to be a 3 course come dine with me feast. I am just as happy making a large chicken pie with braised red cabbage followed by a home made crumble. Roast dinner a speciality and some yummy cakes and bakes as well. 


However, I am not adverse to opening a pasta sauce and throwing it over some cooked pasta (when I am too tired or too lazy). 


Today has been a bit of a disaster! I awoke with a headache which turned into a migraine type headache.(light sensitive, noise sensitive, non responsive to painkiller's or 4 head+ extra wingey)  The office was very thin on the ground and I had some important meetings to attend so I had to battle through to the end. It was not easy especially my 2 hour meeting in the middle of the day! Yes I have had lots to drink. 


Add to this that the ironing board has broken! we have only had it 2 years! the last one lasted 20! 


I am now lead on the sofa, with the blinds closed in the quiet! LSP and the children have had a day out in Wales (I could not go because of my 2 hour meeting). I am going to enjoy the silence while it lasts! 


Happy Monday everyone!

I have never made chocolate brownies

Its amazing I know! 

I am a chocolate brownie virgin. To be honest I didn't really like chocolate brownie's. Which accounts for why I have never really wanted to make them. 

This all changed at Christmas this year, when my lovely sister in law sent us some gourmet chocolate brownie's as a Christmas gift. 

 They were from blue basil brownies and they were awesome. (this is not a sponsored post) 

I have tried other brownie's since but nothing has come close, so this afternoon I am going to give them a try for the first time. I am looking to achieve a heavy, squidgy, dense and lovely brownie. If it turns out well I will post a photo in tomorrow's blog. 

Happy Sunday everyone!

candlelight evening!

We are sitting here by candlelight for earth hour,  find out about it, here

Its nice having the house illuminated by candles!

hallway

Lounge (there are 2 of these)

Kitchen, 

Bathroom, 

I had a lovely surprise in the post this morning, my spring makes you sing, swap gifts. 

The swap was organised by Jackie at sew special bears. 

I was very very lucky to have Jenna from sew happy geek as my swap partner. she is hugely talented and very generous! Here is the contents of my Parcel this morning! 

1 handmade purse, 1 small handmade bag, 1 large handmade bag, chocolate, ribbons, buttons and some lovely yarn. The quality of her handmade items is amazing. I feel very lucky! 

This was my bundle to Jenna. 

Apart from the I have had a very quiet day, I have had a miserable cough and cold all week and work has been very busy, so the cold had been winning! I took the day to put my feet up, watch TV and take care of me. I had a real TV day! It started with Saturday kitchen then thoroughly  modern Millie, then the boat race which Oxford one (I am a dark blue) ! The Sad thing was that I missed my friends baby shower.

Hope you all had a happy Saturday!  

4 years on.

These are pictures of my mother, she died 4 years ago today. Sometimes it feels like she has been gone 5 minutes, sometimes it feels like she has been gone a lifetime. The pain of losing her has subsided. I no longer feel that ache, that hole where she once was. I can now get through, birthday's Christmas's, mother's days and anniversaries without crying. 

This does not mean I don't think about her or miss her. I do. I have thought about her everyday since she died and I miss her. 

I miss being able to pick up the phone and speak to her, to ask her advice and cooking and knitting, to hear the gossip from the village or to hear the stories that she had told me 100 times before. 

The night she died will be forever imprinted in me, we sat there with her as she died. I am so glad that she was not on her own and she knew that she was loved. 

Tonight we went to her grave and left some tulips for her. 

I Love you Mom. 

  

Bye bye winter.

Spring is here, I think we have all established this.

The skies are blue, the  birds are nesting and the bulb's are blossoming.

 However it is also important to say bye bye to Winter!

 I love spring but also love winter as well. the crisp mornings and the views.

 Winter view's go on for miles. The skeleton tree's without their leaves.

I love the fact I can see through hedgerow's and into streams.

I love the feeling of space. Its best on a frosty morning when the air is crisp and everything has a tinge of white and feels clean.

I love the light as it stream's through and the sun spots as they bounce of the lens of the camera.

I love to watch the birds and squirrels as the scamper through the branches.

However, I also love the way the brown strip of wood's slowly turns to green.

The dusting of may is appearing in the hedgerow's.

I do like spring but I think its ok to miss winter as well.

P.S Just to warn you tomorrow will be a sad blog.

P.P.S I am still not shopping.

P.P.P.S I will be crafting this weekend!

Strange place to eat a Sandwich!

I am still managing to avoid shopping!! Today was quite hard as it was pay day, also my lovely friend bought some lovely thrifty finds today. I was feeling a bit sorry for myself as I have a cold and a sore foot/leg. So I did not want to walk to my favourite park which is up a steep hill. There is a closer park which is quite popular with adults who like to sit in the sun and drink copious amounts of alcohol all day long. Funnily enough I did not fancy sharing a bench with them.

5 minutes from my office is an old graveyard. it is no longer in use but is designated as a nature reserve. I was aware of this and imagined swathes of grass and weed's with bits of stone sticking out here and there.  I could not have been further from the truth.

It was quiet and busy all at the same time, people wandering down the footpath's as a short cut. People walking their dog's and their kids.

I could have done with a more substantial bench!

It was comfy enough for a bite to eat.

I did have some company,

I took lots of pictures of the memorials. This was my favourite.

This was a once beautiful tribute from parents to their 14 year old daughter who died whilst cycling. You can imagine when it was new and the girl statue was intact. an amazing memorial. I will defiantly be back to explore some more and enjoy a peaceful lunch.

!!! Gynaecology !!! part 1

Today's blog is about Gynaecology, if you are having your tea, dinner, supper, breakfast, brunch or lunch. Think before reading on! There are no pictures of anything icky or anything gynaecological so you wont have to do that half peeking thing as you scroll down.

Ok so are we all ready? Then I will begin.

I first became aware of my gynaecological problems aged 19. I was out for a night on the tiles and was dancing the night away in a local nightclub. I became aware of a sudden sharp pain in my tummy. The next thing I was aware of were the ambulance men. I had passed out in the middle of the dance floor. That was the end of my night out!!!

They established that there was a Cyst on my left ovary. They scheduled me in to have it operated on the next day. I was told it was a simple and quick operation that would be done via keyhole surgery. When I recovered several hours later I was informed that while they were having a look around they discovered I had endometriosis .  Endometriosis is where cells that are similar to the cells that line the womb grow elsewhere in the body. They used a laser to remove all of the cells they could see.

In a follow up appointment I was told that I also had symptoms of poly cystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and If I wanted to have children it would be a good idea to have them now.

Yes that is how it was delivered to me, the information that I would have difficulty in conceiving and it would be best to get it out the way now If I wanted to have children.

Well, at 19 I was not the reasonably well adjusted and settled person I am now. I was 19.

At 19 I was in the most disastrous and destructive relationship of my life. We could not have coped with a kitten let alone a baby!

One of the difficult things about Gynaecology is that it all gets lumped in to women's health. You are there finding out about your fertility and walk out amongst a sea of pregnant women with bumps of all sizes.

Fertility  is something that most people take for granted , everywhere you look there are babies and children. Conception happens all the time- sometimes with careful planning but also by accident.

Why am I thinking about this today? Today I had a Gyne appointment, and I was discharged.

Does this mean I am cured? no,  there is no cure for PCOS or for endometriosis. I am just NFA- No further action. I will share more of my tales from the world of  gynecology in the future.

This is why I am supporting the Genesis Research Trust

If you want to know more about the challenge I am undertaking click on,  The start of amazing journey