... and we've had snow again, yes. Can't say I've noticed any robins hiding in the barns though. We did have a startled moment on the way back from the post office this afternoon when a mouse suddenly appeared on the bonnet of the car, ran across to the passenger side and then launched itself onto the roadside and ran away.
I think I've always aspired to be the sort of mother who greets her children with a plate of freshly-made biscuits when they get home from school. Today I didn't have a clue what to do for tea, but I'd taken the butter out of the fridge with a vague plan of making some chocolate-chip cookies, so just before they got home I made some. It's an adaptation of Nigella Lawson's recipe for White-Chocolate and Pistachio Biscuits, but since I had neither white chocolate nor pistachios in the house (and because we're now over here), they turned out to be Almond and Chocolate Chip Cookies.
According to Child #1 they were both "the best cookies in the world" and "as good as the ones in the shops" (I think she was remembering Millie's Cookies in the Trafford Centre).
They contained:
100g very soft butter
125g sugar
100g brown sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
150g all-purpose (plain) flour
1tsp baking powder
100g ground almonds
handful or two of chocolate chips
The butter and sugar are mixed until creamy, then the egg and vanilla are added and mixed in, followed by the flour and baking powder, then the almonds and chocolate chips. I got 24 cookies from the mix, although Nigella's recipe says you should get 36, so mine must have been a bit on the generous side. They're baked at 350°F/180°C for 10-15 minutes and transferred to racks when they've cooled down slightly.
My original plan had been to send the children to school with these as part of their packed lunches, but then I remembered that the school has a strict 'no nuts' policy, so that isn't an option and we'll just have to eat them at home. Shame.
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