The bigger questions of existence and chocolate....

Spoon? or finger?

Choc Chip Loaf with lotsa love x x x

This is definately a cake with love in the ingredients. It is a recipe i first used when i was 17yrs old and the first EVER recipe i wrote down in my new RECIPE BOOK - i had a journal that i was given and decided to fill in with my favourite foods.
So MRS CHRISTY (crazy mum of a school friend) used to make this cake and we'd all sit round her kitchen table and drink tea whilst eating large slabs of this delicious loaf.... Now, i mainly eat it on my own as no-one else round me likes cake!! How could i give birth to a child who doesn't "do" cake?
4oz butter
60z caster sugar
1/2 t'spoon the best vanilla essence
2 eggs
6oz self-raising flour
1/4pt single cream
40z chocolate chips - plain or milk, up to you.

Loaf tin is buttered and floured - ready. Oven is on at 180c.
I didn't have any choc chips in the cupboard (i must have eaten them on some lonely, desperate evening) so i bashed up a bar of quality chocolate. Pop the chunks in a bag and bash them ON A BOARD! till they are small pieces.

Cream together the butter and sugar - as with most cakes. then add the vanilla essence. I think it is worth spending a little more on good quality ingredients... it just increases the taste of your cookery efforts x

Beat in eggs one at a time with spoonfuls of flour to stop any curdling... then add all the flour and mix gently.

Add the cream, gently.

Stir in the choc chips and mix well to distribute.

Pour into your prepared loaf tin.

Make sure there is enough left in the bowl for 'lickage' - and 3 spoons / spatulas.

1=you

1=child

1=dog... (you don't want to share that spoon once the dogs had a slobber on it)

Bake in CENTRE of well warmed oven for 45mins - or still it is risen and firm to touch.

Not teaching grandmothers to suck eggs, promise, but don't go opening oven doors half way through cooking a cake.... the cake drops and will be ruined (something to do with the release of Carbon Dioxide etc...)

It should slip easily out of the loaf tin if you buttered and floured it!?... then cool on a wire rack for a while. Why on a wire rack?... so the bottom doesn't go soggy x (not everybody knows these things)

Dust the top with icing sugar....

EAT.... drink tea...

The world is a better place x

Herby Pretzels for Packed Lunches...

I love baking a food item that is an equal favourite with Children and Adults. As you can imagine, i am not the sort of lady to suffer nonsense! We all eat the same foods in our house and we don't cater to the 'whims' of children (or menfolk). It has had the desired effect, as i now have a daughter who eats blue cheese, olives, smoked salmon... and will try anything at least once.

These are a great food to bake. Herby Pretzels are a healthy snack at midmorning - or an accompaniment to soups / salads - and simple to chuck in a lunch box or snack pack when you're out and about.

*200g plain flour

*1/2 teaspoon baking powder

*6 tablespoons of unsalted butter (this is the recipie i used - but i used room soft butter not liquid / melted butter)

*salt + other herbs of choice: I used crushed corriander seeds / mustard seeds / paprika and celery salt.

*Splash of milk

*egg to glaze

Basically, bung the flour in a large bowl and add all the herby choices. Mix round a bit. I used a generous teaspoon of each dried herb listed and smashed them all up with the pestle and mortar so my daughter didn't have any surprise chunky herbs that put her off. The paprika gave a nice redish tint.

Rub in the butter to make breadcrumbs. Gentle add tiny splashes of milk until you can knead it all together in a non sticky ball of dough. You can refridgerate the dough for half an hour to make the dough easier to shape... not me, you understand, i am too impatient - so i used lots of flour on my hands when rolling to avoid a sticky mess.

I pulled off a clump a bit bigger than a golf ball. On a floury surface with floury hands i rolled it into a long sausage and then folded it into the pretzel shape. THEN, at this moment, i wished i had greased and prepared my baking tray at the BEGINNING as i now have sticky hands and nowhere to put the pretzel shape (quick wash hands - grease my biscuits tray x2 - start again)

Then i have that dilemna i have every time.... it seems like such a waste of an egg to just crack one open for a glazed effect, but i think it's worth it - so i glazed the top of each pretzel with egg before popping them in the oven. I could have used milk, but then i made my daughter 'Eggy Bread' for lunch with the remaining egg, so i get extra points for thrifty cooking :)

Onto a tray and in the middle of the oven 180 / 350 / gas4 for about 18mins....

We looked at them and decided they looked a little bit like doggy poos sat there. But don't let that put you off, they taste great! But next time i might change the shape slightly, ya know?

Leave to cool on a wire rack to stop the pretzels overcooking on the hot tray.

They keep for about a week in an airtight tub but i have a few greedy bugs in my house and they lasted 2 days.... All good though, they aren't a bad thing to binge on.

Obviously the key things to this recipe are:

1. They are soooo quick to make.

2. You don't need any ingredients that a cookery loving adult wouldn't have in their cupboard.

3. They last for a week which is good.

4. You can change the flavours: Rosemary and Garlic? Cheese and Red Pesto?...

5. A great finger food for toddlers ... age appropriate thru teens to adults.

I do have a pretzel recipe that i much prefer BUT it involves yeast and rising and i tend to save that when i feel like crying, so i can bash the dough around and get rid of angst.... i'll save it for another time x

happy fooding :)

The First of the Five Major Food Groups...

I feel it only proper to start my contribution to this food blog, by demonstrating the very first and very important of the five major food groups, essential for living... I couldn't possibly begin dinner tonight without Mummy's 'Little Helper' - the Gin bottle.
"Sloe Gin" yum yum - not even made by me, but my fantasy lover 'Gordon' (more about him at a later date).
Gin + Tonic + Garden Mint + Lemon + Lime + Ice = happy me :)

The Other 4 major food groups you ask?
- alcohol (as shown)
- chocolate (of course)
- cake (the food of gods)
- lemons (to prevent scurvy, obviously)
- and water (to prevent dying)

Cheers Darlinks x A toast to you all.
P.s. I do genuinely want a good recipe for SLOE GIN - anyone point me in the direction of a tried and tested method?