The Simple Woman's Day book

FOR TODAY, August 3rd, 2010...

Outside My Window...
It is dull and grey still . . . we have had a lot of dull, grey days lately. I am wishing we could see some sunshine! We do get to see the sun from time to time, but . . . only in short spurts!!

I am thinking...
I am still thinking about forgiveness. It is funny how life goes sometimes. You can be a really good person for your whole life . . . kind, loving, thoughtful, helpful . . . but then, you can make one mistake . . . one error in judgement . . . and that is all you will be remembered for. It's not quite fair is it.

I am thankful for...
Special friends who are there for you no matter what, no matter when, no matter how far. You know who you are. ☺

From the kitchen...
There is not a lot of baking around. I need to rectify that! I don't seem to bake as much down here. I think it's because my stove is too small and there is not a lot of counter space in the kitchen. Not much I can do about that I don't think!

I am wearing...
A very pretty white cotton nightie. It is covered with little white dots that are raised, kind of like Swiss Dot fabric, but the dots are larger. I love it. I am partial to white nighties. I always feel a bit like a Princess when I wear one. Ok, so it's a very old and . . . umm . . . fluffy . . . Princess, but a Princess all the same!

I am creating...
Nothing to show you just yet!

I am going...
We are thinking about going to the Lake District tomorrow for the day. It is only a few hours away. It will be a long day, but I am really looking forward to it. I want to see Beatrix Potter's home. We didn't see it the last time we were there as it was too busy and we could not get in, so am hoping to see it this time.

I am reading...




Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult

In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn; color your
hair; watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes,
you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you
can fold laundry for a family of five.
Nineteen minutes is how long it took the Tennessee
Titans to sell out of tickets to the playoffs. It’s
the amount of time it takes to listen to the Yes song Close
to the Edge. It’s the length of a sitcom, minus the
commercials. It’s the driving distance from the
Vermont border to the town of Sterling, NH.
In nineteen minutes, you can order a pizza and get
it delivered. You can read a story to a child or have
your oil changed. You can walk two miles. You can sew
a hem.
In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world; or you
can just jump off it.
In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge.

Yes, I am still reading this same book. It's a very thick book. (and a very GOOD book!)

In this emotionally charged novel, Jodi Picoult delves beneath the surface of a small town to explore what it means to be different in our society.

In Sterling, New Hampshire, 17-year-old high school student Peter Houghton has endured years of verbal and physical abuse at the hands of classmates. His best friend, Josie Cormier, succumbed to peer pressure and now hangs out with the popular crowd that often instigates the harassment. One final incident of bullying sends Peter over the edge and leads him to commit an act of violence that forever changes the lives of Sterling’s residents.

Rich with psychological and social insight, Nineteen Minutes is a riveting, poignant, and thought-provoking novel that has at its center a haunting question. Do we ever really know someone?


I am hoping...
No results from my scan yet. I wonder how long I will have to wait. Not too long I hope. I also hope that it is good news.

I am hearing...
Clock ticking, keys tapping . . . the birds eating seeds from the on window feeder next to the dining room table. They sure make a lot of noise when they do that! We also hung our beaded curtain outside the back door last weekend. It is on the outside and supposedly helps to keep out flies. Every once in a while the wind stirs it and it scrapes against the door. It's kind of spooky.

Around the house...
I have a basket full of ironing to do, and general tidying up. Not a lot really. With just the two of us here most of the time, things don't really get all that dirty or messy. What I wouldn't give to have children around to mess things up sometimes. Then again . . . there are times when I am very happy that I don't!

One of my favorite things...
I used to write a lot of poetry. I found some of it when I was home this past summer. It wasn't all that bad actually. I need to write more poetry. I always loved writing it and it can be very healing.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...
The biggie is the puppy that is arriving on Friday. Everything has been readied. The latter part of the back garden has been fenced off so that there is no danger of it getting near the pond, or the rhubarb! The house has been puppy proofed also. I can't wait! We don't have any special plans for my birthday other than the puppy. I think that's enough to look foward to!!

Here is picture thought I am sharing...



I found this amongst my pictures on the computer. I just love it. I am so very grateful for all the diamonds I have in my life. Thankfully I have been a great collector of them and I hold them very close to my heart!

And just as a closing thought for today . . .

Wishing God's sweet blessings
Not in droplets but a shower,
To fall on you throughout this day
And brighten every hour.
~Helen Steiner Rice

And there you have it . . . my day book for the first week in June. Don't forget to hop on over to the Simple Woman to check out the other day book entries! (Or better yet, do a simple day book entry yourself! It's not that hard and I am betting you would enjoy it!)

Today I am sharing my recipe for strawberry jam. I am almost too late making it this year as I was away all of July, which is when I normally make it. Thankfully Strawberry season lasts a bit longer over here than it does back home!



*Classic Strawberry Jam*
Makes 6 pints
Printable Recipe

Simple and delicious, this jam recipe doesn't use any pectin to help it jell. Instead you must rely on your own talents for judging when it is done. Don't worry though, it's not really all that hard to do!

9 cups of fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
4 cups white sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 TBS unsalted butter (optional)

Put the strawberries into a large saucepan. Bring them to a simmer over medium low heat, mashing them roughly with a potato masher or the back of a large flat spoon. Stir in the sugar and the lemon juice. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the butter, if using, and then bring it to a vigorous boil, stirring often. Cook for ten to twenty minutes, measuring the viscosity of the jam periodically by dropping a spoonful onto a glass plate and tipping the plate. Once the jam slows it's drip down the plate and no longer runs like a syrup, it is done. Remove the jam from the heat and skim off any foam that rises to the top carefully with a metal spoon.

Make sure you have six pint jars waiting that have been washed in clean soapy water and rinsed very well. I like to sterilize mine in a hot oven by placing the jars on a baking tray and popping them into a moderate oven for about 10 minutes. Fill the jars with the hot jam to within 1/4 inch of the top. Make sure the edges of the jars are clean from any jam, wiping them clean if needed, with a clean damp cloth. Place lids on the jars and close tightly. Place the jars in a large pot, on top of a trivet so that they are not touching the bottom of the pan. Cover with boiling water making sure that they are completely submerged. Boil for 15 minutes. Remove the jars with tongs and cool upright on a wire rack. Check for secure seals on the jars (The lid should not spring when touched) and store in a cool place away from light for up to a year. Any jars that do not seal should be refrigerated and used up first.



There is a long time favourite posted over on The English Kitchen today, Cauliflower Cheese!

Storing up treasures . . .

The real measure of our wealth would be how much we'd be worth if we lost all our money.
~John Henry Jowett

I used to work for a woman that had everything that money could afford her. She lived in a beautiful house, on a beautiful country estate in a home filled with beautiful things. She drove a beautifyl car and wore beautiful clothing, designed by the worlds most famous clothing designers, and had a closet filled with beautiful jewelry. She had her hair done in the finest salons, and people were at her back and call to attend to her every need, every minute of every day. She had everything that anyone could ever hope or want and yet . . . she had nothing. She led an empty life . . . with no purpose and no meaning.



I remember telling her one day about how much time I had enjoyed spending with my family and grandson on a recent trip to Canada and this really wistful look came over her face. She remarked to me about how much she would love to have one of those, but then again . . . how she never thought she would have one. For all her wealth and all that she had possession wise . . . there was still something in her life that was missing . . . someone who could give her more joy than anything else she had all put together in one place.



If I were to die tomorrow, I think that I would die a happy person. (although to be sure I'm not ready to die just yet!) I have a solid roof over my head and plenty of food in my belly. I have a husband and a family that love me and whom I love dearly in return. I have wonderful friends that I call family too, and we care about each other just the same as if we were family . . . kindred spirit friends. I have a solid relationship with my Heavenly Father and His Son, my redeemer. I have a heart that is filled with joy, contentment and peace. Peace about who I've been and with who I am . . . with why I am here and with where I am headed. What more in life could I need . . . everything else is really only the icing on a very delicious cake.



My real treasures and wealth lay in the relationships and the love that I have built with those I would leave behind . . . and of the memories of the times we have spent together. These things would be my only legacy. I have no real wealth or riches to bestow upon them, save a few trinkets . . . my real wealthy being in the love and the knowledge that they were loved by me with a strength and a width beyone measure. It is the things that are intangible that have the real worth in life . . . and the most meaning, and these are the things I have in true abundance.

What a blessed and lucky person I am. I would that it were so for everyone . . .

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.
~Matthew 6: 19-21

This is a lovely dessert that is sure to bring some smiles to the faces around your table. Suitable for a special occasion or celebration, or simply just because . . .



*Strawberry Tiramisu*
Serves 6 to 8
Printable Recipe

It might sound like a lot of faff, but once you have all the elements prepared, the dessert itself goes together very quickly. Plan ahead as it will have to chill in the refrigerator overnight.

For the cake:
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup scalded milk
1 TBS butter

For the Strawberry Syrup:
1/2 pint strawberries, hulled, halved and mashed slightly
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup of corn syrup
2 TBS Brandy (optional)

To finish:
12 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided
3 ounces mascarpone cheese
1 1/2 pints of strawberries, hulled and chopped
White chocolate curls

First make the cake. Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ Gas mark 4. LIghtly great and flour an 8 inch spring form pan. Set aside.

Separate the eggs carefully, putting the whites and yolks into different bowls. Beat the whites until stiff. Beat the yolks until thick and lemony coloured. Fold into the egg whites and beat together. Add the sugar slowly and beat with a spoon for five minutes.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Fold into the beaten mixture. Put the milk into a small saucepan along with the butter and heat it just until the milk is hot and the butter is melted. Stir this into the beaten mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven to a rack to cool for five minutes before removing the sides of the pan to finish cooling completely. Remove the bottom part of the pan as well.

While the cake is baking, make the strawberry syrup. Place the strawberries in a small saucepan and cook them over medium heat, stirring occasionally until they come to a complete boil. This should take six minutes or so.

Line a strainer with cheesecloth and place it over a bowl. Pour the hot strawberries into the strainer, mashing them a bit with the back of a spoon to extract all the juice. Discard the pulp. Return the juice to the pan along with the syrup and the sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until it comes to a full boil. Boil for exactly one minute. Remove from the heat and skim off any foam from the top with a metal spoon. Stir in the brandy, if using, and set aside to cool until just warm.

Wash the spring form pan completely and dry it. Put it back together.

Put the white chocolate pieces, along with 1/4 cup of the heavy cream into a bowl and place the bowl over a pan of hot water on top of the stove, making sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water. Melt the chocolate along with the cream, stirring, until smooth. Once melted remove from the heat and cool completely.

Put the mascarpone cheese into a large mixing bowl. Whip it until fluffy. Stir in teh melted chocolate mixture. Whip the remaining 1 1/4 cup of heavy cream until stiff in another bowl. Fold the whipped cream mixture into the mascarpone cheese/chocolate mixture. Gently fold in the chopped berries.

Take the cake and carefully trim the top off until it is completely flat. Carefully slice it through the middle into three layers. Place one layer into the cleaned spring form pan. Brush it completely with the warm syrup, allowing it to soak into the cake. Cover with 1/3 of the chocolate mixture. Carefully lay another piece of cake over top. Brush that completely with the warm syrup as well, again allowing it to soak in. Cover with another 1/3 of the chocolate mixture. Place the final layer of cake carefully on top and once again brush with the rest of the strawberry syrup, allowing it to soak in. cover with the remaining chocolate mixture and smooth the top as much as possible. Cover with cling film and place in the refrigerator to set, at least four hours, or overnight if possible.

To serve, set the cake onto a pretty plate and remove the sides of the pan. Scatter white chocolate curls over the top of the cake and garnish with more berries if desired, before cutting into slices to serve. Delicious!



I'm cooking The Perfect Omelette over in The English Kitchen today!

Marie's Sunday Six

Welcome to my Sunday six smile makers post! I just love doing this every week. Life often gets so busy that it's a good thing to take some time to slow down and reflect on all that is good in my life. The hard part is containing it to six things!



Of course the real biggie this week was getting to meet Mitzie! I am totally smitten and can't wait to bring her home later on this week! On Friday to be precise! We have been busy puppy proofing our home and garden and there is a little pile of goodies waiting for her arrival in a corner of the living room. It's just like adopting a new baby, and just as exciting I reckon! Todd figures it's just as expensive, but he is prone to exaggeration! It only feels like it is! At least he won't have to put this one through college!



With my Birthday coming up on Friday the kind people at Interflora sent me a lovely gift this past week from their hampers section. A fabulous five tier chocolate indulgence tower from Maison Fugere!! Yes five pretty boxes filled with a delectable variety of delicious chocolate truffles! Strawberry, Orange, Gin and Damson, Champagne and Stick Toffee flavours to be exact and I confess . . . I have tasted and they're absolutely lovely! Many thanks to Matthew and the kind people at Interflora! (They're not just for flowers you know! They have lovely gifts and hampers too!)



Cherubs make me smile and they are my newest indulgent collecting craze. It's funny how that goes . . . you pick up one, and then it becomes two and then all of a sudden you have a collection. I just love cherubs with their fat little tummies and winsome ways! They seem innocent and mischevious all at the same time! Kind of like me I think! Perhaps that's why I love them so! ☺




I finally got some painting done this week, but not the kind I normally get done! Todd and I have been re-decorating our lounge! Gone is that hideous dark plum wall paper surrounding the fireplace and in it's place we have painted it a sage green colour. We are not quite finished it all just yet, but be prepared for the big reveal soon! I think you will be pleasantly surprised!



It's always nice to talk to friends on the telephone and I have been able to do just that a few times over this past week. I just love my friends and since we live quite far apart from each other, it is a real treat to be able speak on the telephone together! Oh how we laugh and giggle. We solve all the world's problems. We solve all our own problems. We cry and we share. It's all pretty wonderful. I don't know how anyone in this world could ever get long without dear and loving friends! I know mine are a real blessing to me!



I just love baking and I've gotten to do a fair bit of it this week. Lucky Todd! I've baked cakes and pies and cookie cakes! He's gotten to partake of my labours as have a couple of good friends who live near by. I was always baking when my kiddies were growing up. There was always a fresh treat waiting for them when they got home from school at the end of the day. Some days it may have only been Rice Crispie Treats, but it was always something special just for them! Perhaps I equate baking with love . . . I don't know for sure! I only know that I love to do it and I love to give it away!



The day we went to look at the puppy, we took advantage of being on the Wirral and drove up to West Kirby for a walk along the sea front. We had not been there in about 8 years and it was every bit as enjoyable as it had always been. I just love the south Wirrel area. The Wirral is a peninsula of land here in the Northwest which is bounded by the River Dee to the west and the Mersey River to the East. It is a beautiful area just filled with lovely little towns and great beauty, fabulous walks and seaside jaunts. Anyone who lives there is very lucky indeed!

And there you have it, my Sunday Six (Seven, but who's counting!). Of course there were a great many more things than this that made me smile over the past week. My cup truly does runneth over. Small and simple pleasures are the best smiles of all. I hope that you had a week filled with some smiles as well and that the week coming up continues to bless you in small and simple ways!

I made Todd his favourite teatime treat of sausage and mash the other night. He is such a meat and potatoes lover! It's not hard to please him. As long as you keep chocolate and pasta from the table, and hold it to meat and two veg, he's a happy man! I kicked the mash up a notch the other night though by adding some cheese and buttery leeks to the mix. He adored it and so did I! I could eat a whole plate of this and nothing else!



*Mashed Potatoes with Leeks and Cheese*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

A delicious version of mashed potatoes, which goes very well with pork sausages, or try it as your topping the next time you make a cottage pie. Yummo!

6 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 large leek
a Knob of butter
6 ounces of grated cheese
(A strong cheddar)
salt and white pepper to taste



Place the potatoes in a pot and cover with lightly salted water. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until tender. In the meantime, trim the leeks and rinse well in some cold water. Discard the dark tops, using only the light green and white. Run these under cold water until all the dirt and grit are gone. Slice thinly. elt a knob of butter in a skillet. When it begins to foam add the leek and cook, stirring occasionally until nicely softened. Drain the cooked potatoes really well. Return to the hot pot and shake over the residual heat from the burner until all the moisture is gone. Mash well with a potato masher. Tip in the buttery leeks and the cheese, and only enough milk to make a creamy mash. Season to taste with salt and white pepper. Serve hot.



It's Rhubarb and Custard Dessert on offer over on The English Kitchen today!

Bloom Where You Are Planted

Gardening is one of the rewards of middle age, when one is ready for an impersonal passion, a passion that demands patience, acute awareness of a world outside oneself, and the power to keep on growing through all the times of drought, through the cold snows, towards those moments of pure joy when all failures are forgotten and the plum tree flowers."
~May Sarton

I guess you could call me somewhat of a late bloomer. I finally found my one true love after 3 goes and reaching 45 years of age . . . I didn't embrace the faith of my heart until I was in my mid forties . . . I became a Chef at the age of 47 . . . I didn't really begin to explore my artistic talents until I was over 50 . . . and . . . I have only in recent years discovered a great love of gardening and flowers. Yep . . . a late bloomer for sure . . .



We got our plum tree rather late in the season, and it already had some small plums on it, so I didn't really get to watch it bloom. There is hope for next spring though . . . Our garden, however, is filled to overflowing with blooms and hope . . . geraniums, roses, pansies, petunias, lavendar, dahlias, etc. just to name a few . . . and this sweet petunia which has chosen to bloom between the rocks and stones of our front drive. Nobody told her that this wasn't actually garden area . . . I've no idea how she got there . . . but . . . there she stands in glory, between the rocks . . . looking ephemerally exquisitely beautiful, and . . . blooming for all she is worth!!

I am reminded of the great Victorian gardener and writer, Ms Gertrude Jeykll, who is considered by many to be the Queen of modern garden design. She was a late bloomer, having spent the first half of her life as an artist. Failing eyesight in her fifties forced her to lay down her paints and brushes and take up a spade. She turned to gardening as her creative outlet and over the next three decades of her life she designed at least fifty stunningly beautiful English gardens and wrote some fourteen books and numerous articles.



Being a later bloomer means that you have the time and luxury to explore your talents, and to revamp them if you should fall short of what your dreams have been calling you to be. There is no real risk involved because . . . at this late point in life . . . nobody really expects a heck of a lot from you anyways! You are free to re-invent yourself as many times as it takes . . . free from the watchful eyes of an adoring public . . . with the freedom to rediscover and reclaim who you really are . . . making the most of whatever resources you have, whatever talents you have discovered, right in the ground you find your roots planted. The gift of today and experience gives you the opportunity to re-create your circumstances and to make them as perfect as possible . . . to get them as right as you can . . . with what you have to work with. In order to be the best that we can be . . . we must learn to bloom right where we are planted.



The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want. And if they can't find them, they make them.
~George Bernard Shaw

Don't let fear of failure keep you from exploring your potential or chasing your dreams. One only fails when one stops trying. Bloom where you are planted . . . or you may find that you never bloom at all.

I had the gift of being given a ton of Greek Yoghurt earlier this week, as some of you probably know and I have been enjoying finding ways to use it all up all week long. I made some delicious cornbread with it a few days ago, to enjoy with a bowl of soup. It turned out really lovely, wonderfully moist and tender. I think this may be my new favourite recipe for cornbread!



*Country Cornbread*
Makes one 8 inch cornbread, serving about six people
Printable Recipe

Hearty and flavourful. This goes well with soups, stews and summertime salads!

1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal (Polenta)
(about 228g)
1/2 cup plain flour
(58g)
3 TBS sugar
1 TBS baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 ounces milk
85g of plain yoghurt
2 TBS butter, melted
2 TBS vegetable oil
2 large free range eggs,lightly beaten
1/2 of a tin (418g or 14 ounces) of creamed corn



Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Butter an 8 inch square nonstick baking pan. Set aside.

Measure the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Whisk together. In a seperate measure beat together the milk, yoghurt, melted butter, vegetable oil and the eggs. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and dump in the wet ingredients. Stir only to moisten. Fold iin the creamed corn. Turn into the prepared pan.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top is gonden brown and a toothpick insserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 15 to 20 minutes before turning out and allowing to cool completely. Cut into squares to serve.

Note - can also be baked in an 8 or 9 inch round cake tin and cut into wedges to serve.



There is a delicous recipe for Pasta with Chicken, Pancetta and Summer Vegetables over on The English Kitchen this morning!

Friday happenings and a Birthday Giveaway!

Only what we give away
Enriches us from day to day,
For not in getting but in giving
Is found the lasting joy of living,
For no one ever had a part
In sharing treasures of the heart
Who did not feel the impact of
The magic mystery of God's love.
Love alone can make us kind
And give us joy and peace of mind,
So live with joy unselfishly
And you'll be blessed abundantly.
~Helen Steiner Rice, A Collection of Blessings

Well, what a lovely visit we had yesterday morning with the puppies. I have to confess, it was love at first sight, but then you knew it would be!! We have decided to take a little Blue Roan Female. She is the one in the back of this first picture. They were all so sweet and adorable, but she, in particular, grabbed our hearts and gave them a big tug!

We were very impressed with the breeder. The home was clean and the puppies and other dogs were in a very clean kennel area right next to the kitchen door. We got to see the mother, a half sister and the father and all of them were beautiful dogs and most importantly, they were all happy dogs! You could tell that the breeder was very much involved with finding out if we were suitable for being a cocker owner and if we would be able to give the puppy a good home, and thankfully we were!



We have not brought her home with us yet, but we will be picking her up and bringing her home with us on the 13th, which also happens to be my birthday! I have always said that Friday the 13th is my lucky day, and none more lucky than my birthday! I just can't wait.

The next week will be filled with the business of getting the house and garden puppy proofed. Neither one of us has ever had a true puppy! Our dogs have always been older dogs when we got them, so this is really special. We feel just like expectant parents!



We went out last evening and got some things for her . . . ie. a bed, some toys,grooming brushes, shampoo, dog dishes (the cutest cocker spaniel bowl that is tapered at the top so that their ears don't hang in their food) a blankey, etc. . . . Todd fussed a bit at the expense, but then again, I told him at least he wasn't going to have to put it through College and University! We are both really excited about the impending arrival of our newest family member.

Everything we have read about Spaniels makes me sure that this is the right choice for us! Her name will be Mitzie. My grandparents had a Cocker named Mitzie when I was a little girl, that I just adored and it just seemed like the right name to me, so Mitzie she is!



Only SEVEN more sleeps to wait!!! Be prepared to be inundated with puppy love!! (Not to mention lots of Miztie pics!)

Speaking of my birthday, this year it is the big "55!" I know! I can't believe it either, but it's true. Anyways in honor of my 55th I am giving away something to one of you, my much loved readers! If you leave your contact details in a comment at the end of this post I will put your name into the draw for a delicious cookbook.



Filled with scrummy recipes for tasty little cakes! I will also include a selection of FIVE of my handmade greeting cards, painted and created by me, just for you! So make sure you leave a comment on this post to be included in the special Birthday giveaway!

Because it is my birthday, I get to choose what I am going to have for a cake. This year I have decided that I want a big, huge chocolate chip cookie! (and yes, I made it a week early. I know, what AM I like!) I decorated mine with piped vanilla buttercream icing and plenty of sprinkles and little heart shaped chocolate candy covered buttons. You could do this in a 12 inch pizza pan of course and cut it into wedges to serve, which would also be really cute, but, alas . . . a 12 inch pizza pan no longer fits into my oven . . . *sniff *sniff

*Chocolate Chip Pan Cookie* Makes one 10 by 15 inch pan (how big you cut them is up to you!) Printable Recipe Very much like a chocolate chip brownie. What's not to like! 2 1/4 cups flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 1 cup butter, softened 3/4 cup granulated sugar 3/4 cup soft light brown sugar, packed 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 large free range eggs 1 (12 ounce) package of semi sweet chocolate chips 1 cup chopped toasted walnuts (optional) 1 cup sultana raisins (optional) Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Butter a 10 by 15 inch jelly roll pan. Set aside. Cream together the butter and sugars until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time and stir in the vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir this into the creamed mixture, making sure it is all well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips, nuts and raisins. Spread into the prepared pan evenly. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars and store in an airtight container.

And over on The English Kitchen today, a delicious Lemon Yogurt Loaf!