Chocolate chip cookies

Everybody in my house are my baking taste testers. I know when I bake something from a new recipe and there is some of it left when I come home that it wasn't a success. It is the worst thing ever when I see baked goods left and I take it so personally if one of my family aren't that into something I have baked. I am known to hover around people until they proclaim how wonderfully tasty said baked good is and if they do I feel like I have won an award. I really enjoying feeding people something I have made and having them really like it. It's the bomb.

Anyway, Granny gave me these lovely little bowl things. I don't know what they are for but I love the pastel colours and how they look. I lined them up beside my expanding collection of baking extracts. I now have vanilla, almond, orange blossom, and rose water. I needed something to fill the little pots up with and what better than a load of chocolate. Mars bar to be exact.

One time I made chocolate chip cookies. I decided to put nutella into the dough because I am so innovative like that. They were a disaster. When I took them out of the oven they deflated into tiny, brown pancakes but not the good kind. I threw them all in the bin and went out. I came home later to find all of the cookies had been eaten out of the bin and apparently were my biggest baking success! I won't tell you which family members did this to keep their street cred intact. Ever since that faithful bin cookie day, they always asked me to recreate them but I never can. So I had to find a new cookie recipe. Marks and Spencer style chocolate chip cookies anybody?

Recipie
What you need:

• 2 cups of self raising flour
• 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
• 3/4 cups of melted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of packed brown sugar
• 1/2 of demerara sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon of almond extract
• 1-2 cups of your chosen chocolate ( I used mars bars)

What you do:

Preheat your oven to 165 degrees celsius and line your baking trays with grease-proof paper.

Cream the butter and sugars in a bowl. Add extracts, egg and egg yolk and beat until creamy.

Sift in dry ingredients and add into wet ingredients. Stir in the chocolate by hand to make sure it is evenly dispersed. Roll into balls and place on tray, making sure to leave spreading room between each one.

Bake for 12-15 mins, depending on how soft you like your cookie.

Cool on a wire rack but definitely eat one when it's still a little bit warm.

These were all gone when I got home from college. I would call that a success especially because people didn't have to eat them out of the bin. Now go make some and pour yourself some milk and enjoy.

Joey x

A treat-tastic time...

I had a lovely weekend. Until I got a tummy bug on Sunday and spent the next 24 hours in bed. I watched three films and numerous terrible programmes. I watched 'The Switch', '50/50', and I googled oscar nominees from this year and watched 'Beginners' which I thought was very good. The day before my tummy hell, myself and Michael went to the farmers market in The Red Stables in St Anne's Park. We have been there a million times but since I work at the weekends now, I never get to go to it anymore. But I had a free Saturday for the first time in ages and off we went. Mostly I just wanted to get some of the lovely flowers which are all grown in Dublin apparently and are around €3 a bunch. I think it starts at 11 and we got there at 12 and due to the glorious sunshine, nearly all of the flowers were gone. I was sad but they flower lady looked delighted with herself. I found a bunch or two and we got some dips and delicious breads from the stalls and had a little picnic with some friends on the grass.

We went for a walk around the park and came across this cool swing which was terrifying because I had visions of myself flying across the forest after the swing snapping mid swing. This didn't happen but I live in fear since the horrible summer when I broke both of my arms on two different swingsets, in two different neighbours houses, four weeks apart. Myself and swings now have a love hate relationship.

Then we went to my uncle Steve's 40th birthday party. There was tonnes of amazing food (round of applause for Liz), and cakes, and a karaoke machine which was hilarious, especially watching my little cousin Sam hogging the mic. Happy birthday uncle Steve. You're the best!

I also got a sweet little present from Michael's sister. (Thanks Claire!) It's so cute. It is a tiny jug ring. Definitely a treat and a treasure.

I hope you had a nice weekend too. Also if you aren't a member yet, please become one. I'd love to see who is reading my riveting words. And I have been on 33 members for ages and it's driving me mad!

Joey x

Some treats from lately...

St Patrick's day festivities

A new, fun way to spend my time doing 'college work'!

You can learn how to do this here:

http://thebeautydepartment.com/2012/02/i-heartchoo/ 

Just so you know, it took me like three times to do my right hand so good luck with that.

I used my new Catrice nail varnish which are only around €3 and are pretty good. And they are available in high class retail outlets such as Penneys, Dunnes and chemists.

Some tasty treats in the 'Pepper Pot' in Powerscourt Townhouse.

Joey x

Mother's Day

Today was Mother's Day. Today was hard.

That bump is me the day I was born.

Love you more than the words I can think to write and miss you so much everyday.

Joey x

Hometown Holiday

This isn't related to the post I just thought it was gas.

Remember when I went to the Late Late show and we got two weekends away? Well I had booked my time off work and myself and Michael were all ready to go on our little trip to Wexford or Carlow which were the choices of the hotels. I was was a little bit busy the week before so didn't get to ring and book until the Tuesday before. Disaster...Wexford was full. But it was ok because we could just go to Carlow. Bam! Booked out too. Seriously how many people can be going to Carlow? It was full anyway though. What were we to do? Cancel my day off and try to find another weekend to go. No no...we would persevere and go on holidays in the final option on the list of hotels on the voucher. So we packed our over night bags and loaded up the car aka the 'Grandma Mobile' and headed to Stillorgan!

For those of you who don't know where that is, it is less then twenty minutes away from both of our houses. I don't think you even have to pay the full fare on the bus from town because it is so close. Yep. The receptionist laughed when I gave her my address. But we were determined to have a delightful time. And we did. It was so nice. We had dinner in town and then headed off on our long journey. Then on the Saturday we went to Blackrock Market which wasn't great. It must have been good at one point but it was just full of fake Chanel bags and dream catchers really. Then we headed to Dun Laoghaire and to Michael's delight went to all of the charity shops which is where I got a Zara top with the €39 95 tag still attached for the discounted price of €2. Hurray.

We also found the best cafe ever. I am serious. I loved it. I was a creep. I kept talking to the people that worked there because I presumed they owned it, They told me they didn't. That didn't stop me from bombarding them with questions. It's called 'White Tea' and it's upstairs in the furniture/fabric shop on the main street in Dun Laoghaire. Everything is served in vintage cups (hello) and all of the food is homemade and baked on the premises. I swear it was the best lemon cake I ever had. And the pot of tea for one could definitely do three but then you wouldn't get your own vintage tea cup and that would be a terrible shame. Because Michael is the best and he knows how much I love stupid cups and sneakiliy bought me the one I loved the most when I wasn't looking.

Definitely in the running to be a new favorite.

We also went to the cinema and had dinner. And then on the Sunday morning we got up and went to the 'Artisan Food Market' in Dun Laoghaire. I had been before but never as part of a ridiculous holiday so it was more fun this time. And I was very excited to see a falafel stand again. Lunch time!

Sheer concentration on Michael's face to shut me up by taking the picture and to not drop his precious falafel.

Some nice food market photos:

I also picked up some random bits and bobs in Meadows and Byrne which is a really cool shop. Probably more useful if yo have a house but we all know I can cram stuff into my room until that day comes. I do feel it needs to be soon for my own safety. There is not much space for air left due to all of my trash.

 How cute is this little teabag holder? I got a pink one too because this one needed a friend.

I also bought myself flowers again. Lame! They were not doing so hot at being alive apparently. Being half price should have been the clue. Pretty though.

I actually think everybody should take a trip near where they live sometime. We got to appreciate some lovely things and places that you normally miss because you are running to get home or to pay the parking or something silly. I really enjoyed taking the time to enjoy some happy places close to home with my best pal.

Joey x 

                               

Flea Fy Fo Fum...

We went again. But it is just so fun. Seriously, if you're into carboot sales or vintage fairs, or charity shop fun and you haven't been to the Dublin Flea, you should definitely go and take a look. It's on the last Sunday of every month and it is the bees knees. Especially when it's sunny like it was last weekend. And this time it was even better because some of Michael's family came too. Including the best little girl ever.

A cool mirror and some even cooler feet.

The i phone 5

Last time we went were in the market for cakes, this time we got falafels which I had never had. Where have they been all my life. They are mega good.

Some of the tasty treats available.

Ella was having a great time tasting eveyones chosen food. Bit of falafel, bit of cupcake, back to the falafel. Best kind of picnic if you ask me. 

And of course she washed it down with a spot of tea.

So here is a funny thing. Everyone who knew Mam knows what kind of car she drove. A VW Beetle. First a vintage, convertible orange one which Dad won and was swiftly sold as it was not that great for fitting five kids into. Then she had a black one, which I learned to drive in. The day she got that one, she drove up to our school to collect us, which she never did, and pulled into the middle of the yard wearing sunglasses, in her shiny new car with about 10 balloons attached to the wing mirrors. She caused quite the stir. 

The next one we got, was when she traded the black one in for her lovely silvery, baby blue beetle. I went with her the day she got it. We drove out to Kildare to get it's just one of those nice memories I have with her. The car was ours. Just me and Mams. Nobody elses. I know she loved me because she LOVED her car and she let me drive it. The day she let me drive on my own in her beetle for the first time after I passed my test, she told me that when I drove off she wasn't worried about me, just her lovely car. 

So here's the funny thing. Auntie Karen probably doesn't even remember this but she said to me one day after Mam died that when she sees a beetle she thinks it's Mam saying hello to her and telling her that she is thinking of her. Everyday since then, I have seen a beetle. Even the days I don't go out, I look out the window and one drives past. I was having a sad week last week. We went to the flea market to cheer me up and when we got there this was parked outside. 

It's in the small things, you find comfort. Sometimes something even as small as a beetle. 

Joey x