Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies.

Something else I've never done on this blog before: share recipes. 

But whatever, these cookies are too good to keep to myself. They're adapted from a recipe I found in a really retro vegetarian cookbook here at my Grandad's (Rose Elliot's "Vegetarian Cookery", which you can buy on Amazon for a mere penny should you wish to try out some kind of - very - outdated veggie recipes). But hey, I won't criticise the original source too much, cause these cookies are amazing.

Preheat the oven to 180°c and cream together 65g of butter, 65g of soft brown sugar and 65g of caster sugar, with a dash of vanilla extract. 

Add an egg and 50g (a large spoonful) of crunchy peanut butter, and beat again until light.

Sift in 100g of plain flour (or wholewheat if you want to up the health factor), a teaspoon of baking powder and a pinch of salt and mix thoroughly. Here I'd normally also add about 50g of chopped roasted peanuts (if you can only find salted, just don't add the pinch of salt at this stage). Chopped good quality dark chocolate also works well, or carob chips if you're into that. The only reason I didn't add anything today is because there wasn't anything in, I have a guest coming in a couple of hours, and living in a tiny North Yorkshire village means by nearby options to buy such things are non-existent. But enough excuses, they're good without the extras too.

Put teaspoons of the dough on a greased baking sheet, and give them plenty of room to spread out. Bake them for 12-15 minutes...  

... and they should turn out something like this.

Cool on a wire rack, and enjoy with a strong cup of coffee and your book, preferably outside in the sunshine.

(I've said it before, and I'll say it again: food photography is really tricky).

Sunday Soundtrack - Blood Oranges & Bloodflowers.

The carnage that came out of making two jugs of juice yesterday morning.

The colours were just too lovely not to (attempt to) capture.

The Cure - Bloodflowers

Insta-London.

Sunshine on a Saturday morning in Marylebone.

In Lantana's, awaiting an amazing brunch (disposable camera preview).

Note my raw garnet necklace from Et Respice Finem sneaking into the shot.

I wished for them, and finally made them mine.

Pistachio, rose, and salted caramel macaroons from Ladurée.

(So expensive you might as well roll up a fiver and eat it? But that wouldn't taste like heaven).

Assorted shots from a weekend of spoiling ourselves.

Insta-Italy.

Yes, that's apple on the pizza on the left, with blue cheese and walnuts. Hunger/nostalgia.

Architecture & Eats...

Varese, Pizza, Pasticcini, Cioccolata Calda, & a sneak appearance from my Whitby jet ring.

A rather belated photo update from my last trip home over the Christmas holidays, as captured on the iPhone of a dear friend.

On the subject of phones, mine is nearing its eighth birthday (they don't make them like that anymore!) and this felt no more conspicuous than during my recent trip to London, where it seems everyone has an iPhone...

But it does mean I can put up pictures while I wait to get my disposable developed.

Sunday Soundtrack - Valentine's Hearts.

(With apologies for photobooth mirroring).

As someone who regularly voices their dislike of Valentine's day when bearing witness to window displays at this time of year, I was very swiftly seduced by these chocolate hearts in Betty's shop-front.

The ones with the ribbons on are dark chocolate with raspberry ganache; the other is plain milk. You can buy them, among many other delicious treats, here. I look forward to the reaction I'll get from their recipients - so used to my cynical reaction to rampant February 14th consumerism.

As the years go by all I can conclude is that whether you love or hate Valentine's day, it's here to stay.

The Wipers - Window Shop For Love

Camels - The End of the Christmas Holidays.

On the 6th of January in the area of Italy where I grew up, people traditionally eat puff pastry camels - to celebrate the Epiphany.

Some of them are much larger and more elaborate than these, stuffed with cream or candied fruits or chocolate. These ones, which I picked up from my local pasticceria, are coated in caramelised sugar and jam.

They look delicious, but represent a definitive end to my Christmas holidays - tomorrow I head back to the UK, to hand in my dreaded term papers and begin semester two.

Resolutions.

I think these coasters from Lucky Bee Press would be an awesome addition to a New Year's Eve dinner table.

Controversial comment: I am not a very big fan of big New Year's Eve parties. I prefer to celebrate in the relative calm of my home, among family and loved ones.

This year, I am making quite a concrete resolution: I am only going to eat meat when I can buy it from a local farmer, in person. I don't eat much meat anyway, but I reckon this amazing cookbook will make it easier.

Whatever you are choosing to do this New Year's Eve, and whatever resolutions you make, I wish you a wonderful 2012.

Caramel Apple Crumble & Alice in Chains; preparations for my first Thanksgiving.

This will (hopefully!) turn out to be a Caramel Apple Crumble, my contribution to my first ever Thanksgiving dinner, hosted by a couple of American coursemates. Isn't it so hard to photograph food attractively? (Well, especially when you're using a webcam). I admire people who can capture food looking appetising on camera...

Thanksgiving in North Yorkshire. I'm excited.

As an aside, Alice in Chains Unplugged is an excellent album to cook to.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Sunday Soundtrack.

Source.

It's amazingly misty here today - you can hardly see more than a couple of feet in front of you. The whole world beyond my window looks like it has been shrouded in cotton wool.

I should be working. Instead I've been drinking tea and wishing I could make these delicious looking rolls. Something about baking from scratch is so wholesome and homely, and perfect for Sundays such as this one...

But in the mean time, some music.

Sonic Youth - Do You Believe in Rapture?

Chet Baker - Little Girl Blue

Little Luxuries: More Macaroons from Bettys.

An unexpected gift, all the more delicious for being so. I ate the last pistachio one last night, and I'm missing these macaroons already.

However, the little green & gold box is beautiful, so that's a consolation... Even if it is now empty.

Little Luxuries: Bettys Macaroons.

This week, as my Mum was visiting, we sampled the macaroons from Bettys. This lovely picture from English Rose Rambles shows just how beautiful they are. I think that's one of the things I love most about macaroons; you almost can't bear to eat them.

Almost.

I am a self-confessed almond addict, and these are the perfect fix.

We got one of each flavour: lemon, raspberry, pistachio and chocolate. I had the pistachio one, and it was just perfect - crunchy and light, and gooey in the middle - and it tasted of real pistachios. My Mum & Grandad approved the lemon and chocolate, respectively. The raspberry was shared out in little nibbles between the three of us, and the verdict was that it was rather too sweet, but a beautiful colour.

Macaroons are such luxury items and the ultimate indulgence, so beautiful and delicate that you can't help but savour them.

Maybe living in York, so very close to a Bettys, will be a bit of a liability.