Yearly Archives: 2010

Blueberry Choc Chip Cookies by Dan Lepard

A cookie before bedtime

I never make cookies. I don’t drink milk, so no cookies. On the other hand, I can always be persuaded to try something new. Or I like to think so. As Celia, Suelle and Jacqueline had all made these and said they were great, I found myself making cookies at 9 pm tonight.

I used dried cranberries and raisins instead of blueberries or sour cherries which are the fruits Dan wrote in the recipe  but I didn’t have those and I did have cranberries….. (why were they in the cupboard? Who knows, they were relieved to get out of there that’s for sure)…. and some raisins and some milk choc chips and I confess I cooked them a bit hot as I misread the temperature instructions.  So they are a little browner maybe than they are supposed to be and a bit crisper, but you know what I don’t care, because they are cookies and they are mine and they are delicious and use wholemeal flour and brown sugar and are still a delight, so what’s not to love about them? Tell me if you can.

Edit Feb 2012 : If you feel tempted the recipe is still on the Guardian’s website, it is no longer available on Dan’s website however,which is where I linked to originally,  so you can’t see all the photos of my friends’ cookies anymore.

By the way I forgot to ask…. what’s your favourite cookie?  I think mine is straight choc chip or english shortbread biscuits, or maybe ginger nuts, or maybe dark chocolate digestives….but these are pretty tasty and easy to customize to suit!

Google Images – we are all connected!

and today we have...

This is just a quickie…and something you can do at home as they used to say on Blue Peter – if you’ve ever posted pictures on a blog post or on a forum or anywhere on the net. Google the name of your blog or your own name or however you appear on the net and select the images option.  See how connected we all are – it’s mind boggling! I see the gravatars of my friends, the pictures of their breads, and all sorts of connections I had forgotten, and some mysterious people who I don’t know at all of course. Today there was a picture of a zeb-ra! Do it again a week later and marvel at how it changes, a kaleidoscope of images, of bowls, and vegetables, of dough and cake, and fruit and leaves, there’s a rabbit, a dog in reindeer ears, there’s  a New York chef,  and today knitted socks – such fun!

Hours of fun!

Have you found anything that surprises you when you google?

Back to the Garden – Mid August

This robin has worked really hard all summer and apparently it’s quite normal to look like this during the moulting season.

The bird has probably been involved in some territorial fighting; it’s very common for robins to pull out each others’  head feathers; these should regrow once the moult is complete. She is friendly and inquisitive (the bird watcher’s term for this is ‘confiding’)  and is a great observer of humankind, knowing when the feeders are being filled up and will come to Brian’s hand for scraps.

On one of our recent hot days I was trying to wash something down outside and she flew over and dashed through the spray from the hose. I stopped what I was doing and gazed after her.

She sat in this tree and dipped and bobbed her head at me.

I thought for a moment, then I pressed the trigger of the hose again and arced the water in a fine mist as before; she flew straight back through the spray. She did this several times before flying off to sit in the ivy.

One of my precious Brown Turkey figs

The ornamental vine produces some surprisingly realistic grapes!

The Family Apple tree (three grafts one root stock) is bowed down to the ground with fruit

Maureen’s cucumber plant gift

First crop of pears in five years – not ripe yet

The raised bed looks a little wild and unruly now

It’s a jungle down under the apple tree, a long forgotten perennial sweet pea has appeared

I let the artichoke flower this year, it’s the only one left, the others didn’t make it through the winter

The weather changes yet again….