Back to nearly normal!!!

Ummm... did I say Thursday? Sorry about that - things kinda ran away with us!!

Rowan got home safe and sound early Wednesday morning. The journey to Heathrow was a bit hectic - where DO people drive to at 6:00am? - and I got so distracted by everything he had to say I forgot to pay for the parking on the way out. Obviously this happens a lot as they have pay stations by the gate! I didn't embarrass him too much, but I DID give him a big hug and I reckon that's my lot for a very long time!! He had loads to tell me (you'll have to read his blog) and we went out for a big cooked breakfast as soon as we got home. He hadn't had a proper piece of bacon or a real sausage in four months and was desperate for the real McCoy! On the other side of the Atlantic "bacon" is just those really streaky strips instead of luscious rindless back and "sausage" is frankfurters or slices of salami. He was looking a bit thin too after travelling for days on end and eating 99c Maccie D's (he DID get fed properly in friends' homes) so I was happy to watch him tuck in. If I was feeling a bit wobbly after a 5:30am start, goodness knows how bad he was feeling but he's done a lot of sleeping since!

Lara had looked after Leo for us and given him lunch so I made a batch of brownies to give her as a thank you (and had to practically bribe Leo to draw a thank you card - ungrateful child!) and I think they were VERY much appreciated! Back on 7th October I promised to post the recipe next time I made them, well two more batches later I really ought to, right? So here's the much coveted recipe for Chocolate Brownies - I don't even need to look in a book to write it!!

4 oz unsalted butter

1 1/2 oz good quality cocoa powder

2 large eggs

8 oz caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 oz self raising flour

4oz chocolate chips or chopped 70% chocolate

2 oz chopped nuts (optional) - pecans are nicest!

Grease and line 8" square baking tin. Preheat oven to 180C (170C if it's a fan oven - this is critical!!!!) Melt butter and stir in cocoa powder until dissolved. Leave to one side. In a large bowl whisk eggs and sugar until light and thick. Mix in cocoa mixture and vanilla extract. Sift over flour, chocolate chips (and nuts) and fold in. Pour into prepared tin and bake in centre of oven for now no more than 30 minutes!!! Cool in tin on a rack and then cut into squares. These were made with white chocolate chips - that sank to the bottom!!

It looks better if you can sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top after you've poured the mix into the tin, but white chocolate can brown horribly if you do this.

You may also need to adjust your baking temperature/time if your oven is a bit "quirky", but the brownies should be lightly crisp, the crust breaking easily on the outside and then chewy and moist inside. They're AWESOME served warm with ice-cream! (I just ate the crumbs after I took the photo and I can only assume I'm going down with something as I couldn't taste them!! Horrors!!!!!) Above all, don't worry about finding a big enough tin to store them in - they won't last long enough!!

Life's definitely been more relaxed since Ro's homecoming - the only time I had to MSN him was to ask what he wanted from the chip shop. A few potentially stress-inducing issues (long overdue water feature, misplaced passports and a horrendously misappropriated library book - now recovered) would have sent me over the edge a week or so ago, but merely caused a subtle frisson of anxiety. Yesterday I could have found the time to blog, but I guess I relaxed a bit too much. I really enjoyed making Broccoli Cheese for tea with a whole 9 oz of cheese in the sauce! Should help to build up Rowan and it's yummy!!

Leo's assembly this morning was tremendous fun and was followed by a chilled out coffee/hot chocolate with Saffie and also Lara and Denise. Pampered Chef goodies were collected, Avon goodies delivered to us, the sun's shining and half term's here at last. Ahhhhhhhhhhh...