Saturday 27 December 2008

Brownies

This is pure indulgence :-) I love making these! I got the original recipe (and, I find, the best recipe so far) for these Bloomin' Brilliant Brownies from Jamie Oliver's Little Book of Big Treats written for Comic Relief a couple of years back with a few edits/addition


Ingredients

  • 250g of unsalted butter
  • 200g of dark broken up chocolate
  • 50g of chocolate drops
  • 80g cocoa powder
  • 65g plain flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 360g caster sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • Remember - organic/fairtrade/free-range/available etc etc etc for the above :-)

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
Line a baking tin (mines about 9' by 12' and about half an inch deep) with greaseproof paper. Put a bowl over a pan of boiling water and melt the chocolate and the butter together, stirring until it's smooth. Stir in the chocolate drops, but a small handfull for later. (Tip: My Greataunt said if you put the chocolate in a pan with a dash of milk on a medium to low heat, it shouldn't burn/stick. It's worked so far...)
In another bowl, sift in the cococa, flour and baking power, add in the sugar and mix well, then stir it into the chocolate mixture, stirring well. Beat the four eggs and mix it in until its silky.
Pour the mixture into the baking tray (scrape well with a spatula - waste not!), smooth it over and sprinkle on the rest of the chocolate drops and place in the oven for around 20-25 minutes (I've got a fan oven, so I put it in for about 20, take them out and let it cook in its own heat then let it cool down).Erm, they shouldn't be cooked to the point that a skewer comes out clean, and the should be a little springy.Let them cool down, transfer to a cutting board, then cut them to appropriate sizes.
And, er, enjoy :-)

Thursday 25 December 2008

Hi everyone! And meme :)

Hey everyone. I seem to have internet again, at long last! So I'll start again with a nice meme:

The Forgiveness Meme (from
PaganWisdom.com)

We've all done things we regret that resulted in hurting others, either directly or indirectly. Or we hurt ourselves. The Forgiveness Meme lets you state publicly (or privately) what you did, how you fell about it and provides a way for those who know you to offer acceptance and forgiveness for the action. Once you have been forgiven, either directly or by proxy, let the guilt go and be free of it. Then your friends and random strangers can decide whether you are sincere and whether they will forgive you or not, and possibly provide feedback and support. Just answer these three questions:

1) WHAT I DID:
2) HOW I FEEL ABOUT IT:
3) DO I WANT TO BE FORGIVEN?:


1) What I did:
In January, I was going out with Cerith but ended up cheating on him with my best friend Kayleigh. At the time I was having doubts about the relationship, about a week after things happened with her, I ended it with him saying I had too much stress going on at the time and couldn't cope with a relationship, which was half-true as it was then that I found out Dad'd been cheating on my Mother (ironic...) and the stress was ridiculous at home.
Things with me and Kay lasted a further week.

2) How I feel about it:
At the time, I was pretty indifferent. I didn't end it with him so much as to attempt to be with her, but more out of guilt and necessity. Now? I feel like I betrayed him. He really was a nice guy and apart from, ah, certain issues, he'd been nothing but awesome to me. And yeah, I betrayed him and did something I said I'd never do.

3) Do I want to be forgiven?:
I don't want to tell him. And I want him to hate me for it. So no.