Here is the recipe I used:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 large egg,beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Drop the dough onto a greased baking tray in little balls – mine were about the size of an egg. I dropped them about 2 inches apart and they expanded so much that they were just touching when they finished baking. If, like me, you are a novice baker, you might need to experiment a bit to see how much they grow. I was really surprised how much they did! Pop them in the oven for about 8-10 minutes, then wait until they cool and then use a fishslice/spatula to remove them from the tray.

And here they are! Not too crunchy, not too squishy – they came out perfectly, although the edge of the cookies that was all the way in the back got a little crispy. I think next time I’d use more chocolate chips though, the dough really spreads when it bakes and the ratio of chips to dough seems to look a lot more in dough form. I’m going round for dinner with some of my girlfriends tomorrow night and can’t wait to see the look on their face when I produce a box of homemade cookies! (They know me very well… cookies is the last thing they’ll expect. Bwaha!) How cute is this tin, by the way? I saw it in M&S the other day and had to buy it – although I’ll definitely be using it for cookies now that the crackers are finished!

I’ve also been busy with my peaches and creme – the need for more dishcloths has been outweighting the lure of the blanket this week. I know I could just buy some but when they knit up in an hour and look so pretty, and work so much better, I can’t resist just cracking on with them. So I’ve managed to get three cheery little wipes finished over the weekend and have started on the next one.

I also felt the need, now that I’ve got the basics of crochet sussed, to try following an actual pattern rather than a tutorial, and decided to have a go at a quick little project I wanted to make for my mum last christmas. I had no idea what I was doing and couldn’t even start it, so ended up knitting one for her. I’ve been holding a quiet grudge against this particular pattern ever since. I wasn’t going to let this little blighter that everyone was rating as “piece o’ cake” on Ravelry beat me! And I’m really pleased I decided to try it, here’s the result!

I added a little scallopy edge around the top for prettys. I love the way it’s pooled – or “puddled” as mum calls it! These are definitely puddles. The back kind of mirrors the front colours, I think it’s really cool. I’ve popped in a bar of my favourite soap and now it hangs there in the shower, waiting for me cheerfully in the morning!

It seems that in the wee small hours of Sunday morning, some chavvy little hooligans have gone up our street vandalizing every car they went past. I looked out onto the street and was met by Car Carnage – wing mirrors hanging off, obscenities keyed into the paintwork, smear marks where they have obviously tried to get in… luckily there were no smashed windows or worse. And very luckily for me, I had been unable to get a space on Friday night when I parked, so was at the very bottom of the street before they had really got going on their little smashing spree. The worst my little car suffered seems to be smear marks on the tops of the windows where they’ve tried to pry them down, scuffed plastic on the backs of the wing mirrors and what looks suspiciously like blood splattered up the nearside window. (I’ve actually managed to do worse this morning by reversing into a metal pole when I got to work… Luckily, depending on how you look at these things, the car was already scuffed on that bumper.)

So that was all a bit of a shock, I’m not used to dealing with police officers!! By this point I had completely forgotten about the impending oven delivery – so 5 minutes later when the door knocked again I was panicking that they had found some kind of damage on my car that I had missed when I checked it, but no! It was the lovely men from Currys with my shiny oven! And aaah, I love it! I’d love it even more if I’d been able to get an electric fan oven, but apparently they don’t make them small enough to fit in the weeny little space we have available. Never mind – it’s shiny and new and clean and I love it! And the ancient and rather dangerous looking maze of pipes behind the oven has been replaced with new ones, which is one less thing to worry about.

So, on to the baking! I have never baked cakes before without parental supervision. I have once baked scones, and whilst they were delicious on top, they were burnt on the bottom. With all that said, you would think that perhaps, following the recipe To The Letter would be a good idea. Well, I mentioned the other day that I planned to freestyle a little bit, but I bottled it in the end and decided to actually follow a recipe. The only problem was, I didn’t have any baking powder. But I figured what the hell, it’s self raising flour, it’ll probably be ok. Maybe put a little more in the cupcake cases to make up for it – how about 12 cases instead of the 18 suggested? That looks good! Ooh it’s all going to plan, all ready to rise and turn golden brown!

So I pop them in the oven…

Set the timer to 15 minutes…

Whip up some butter-icing to slap on the top…

Pop all the dirtys into the dishwasher…

Whiz around the surfaces with a wipe…

and before I know it, Beep Beep Beep Beep! They’re Ready!

Oh. Poo. It’s a good job I was on a sugar high from licking the bowls otherwise I may have had a nervous breakdown in the middle of the kitchen. Instead, I laughed and laughed and consoled myself with the fact that the sponge was at least light, fluffy, and delicious, and can be turned into a trifle.

Once I got over the trauma of such an epic fail, I decided I might as well give it another go, otherwise what the hell was I going to do with a pound of butter-icing?

So, here’s Take Two. 18 cases instead of 12. You’ll notice some are missing though – I forgot to take a picture before we started stuffing ourselves!

Terribly inelegant, as by the time I put the icing on I had had enough, but awfully good with a nice fresh cappucino.

Mmmm, got there in the end.

So I left a little comment under his saying that his menu sounded delicious, and that he was making my favourite dish of all time. Well I got to work this morning and he wheeled his swivelly chair over to my desk, to present me with my lunch! He’d made too much and brought me the leftovers. I was quite touched, and found it very hard to wait until lunch time!

And I have to say, it was the best version I’ve ever had – absolutely perfect. Happy happy!