Birthday Treats

Sorry for the little unexpected break. I started writing a post last week and either my computer or blogger were misbehaving. Not sure which but either way I got frustrated and gave up!

I said I'd share some pictures of our trip to Belgium. It seems rather a while ago now. Two weeks ago actually but now lovely S is back at work the holidays do seem like a bit of a distant memory. 

We had such a lovely time. It's no secret that S and I hope to live in this lovely Country one day. So few people seem to know just how lovely it is and we're happy for it to stay that way as it is quiet and unspoilt. So pretty and the people are so friendly. We stayed in our favourite place, Ieper

(known to most as Ypres) but stopped off in Brugge on the way. Little F had a great time too. He absolutely loved going on the ferry. He went on one three times last year but was too young to appreciate it. But this time he was beyond excited! 

As for my Birthday, I was a very lucky girl. As well as the trip to Belgium lovely S also bought me tickets to see 'The Hairy Bikers' with my Sister next month. I'm so looking forward to it as I love them. I will be 35 weeks pregnant but he has booked me an aisle seat just in case and I will take a cushion with me for extra comfort. I'm just a little worried that they may make me laugh too much! But at least we're seeing them not in our town but in the one where my Hospital is so if any mishaps happen I will be close for a quick whizz to the hospital! 

I also received a number of lovely Cath goodies. The deep blue floral back contains a lovely rain coat from my Mum and Dad. See it here. I absolutely love it but won't be wearing it until after baby arrives. The spotty bag was from my friend Nicki and it will be getting it's first outing when I go into hospital for baby. I've got a number of mini bottles of shampoo, shower gel etc that will go nicely inside.

I also received a number of vouchers for John Lewis, Next and M+S. I'll save the latter two I think to treat myself to some new clothes when I get my old figure back again. My Sister-in-law gave me this fab book. Is everyone else loving The Great British Bake off as much as me? It's one of the few things I go out of the way to watch on TV. This book doesn't disappoint. It is full of fab recipes. In each section they show a fairly simple recipe followed by more complicated ones including a show stopper. There are recipes that the contestants have cooked and also ones by Paul and Mary. It's full of gorgeous photos and has that vintage feel that the set on the show has. My In-laws bought me a selection of new backing sheets and trays that I had requested so with the Autumn and Winter on the way I'm all set for some snuggling baking for my lovely family.

I'm busy working my way through my 'baby to do' list. It's going fairly well so far. I'll write a post soon about what I've been up to. 

See you soon. 

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Chocolate Thins

Chocolate Thins are one of my favourite things at the moment. I think baby likes them! Well that's my excuse for eating so many of them at the moment! Anyway, little F likes them too and I would far rather give him a home made biscuit for his afternoon snack than something out of a packet. They're so easy and quick to make you can be eating a warm one within 20 minutes of having the thought that you fancy one. I think this recipe originally came from a Sainsbury's book my Mum has and I copied it into my little notebook of favourite recipes years ago. For that reason the ingredients are in imperial but hopefully you've got scales like mine that have both imperial and metric. Otherwise you can always use a weight conversion chart. 

4oz Self Raising Flour

4oz Butter or Marg(soft)

2oz Castor Sugar

1oz Cocoa Powder

Cream together the butter and sugar. I find it works best if the butter or marg is fairly soft. Sift in the flour and cocoa and mix well. The mixture can seem quite dry and you've really got to work at it to get it coming together. This works best if your margarine or butter was nice and soft. My mixture today was really nice and soft but sometimes it seems quite dry and crumbly. Form it into balls about the size of a walnut(or bigger if you're greedy like me and want really big biscuits!) Place on a baking tray and gently press down with a fork so you get pretty lines across the biscuits. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes at 190 degrees C. I have a fan oven and find that 170 is a better temperature and they need about 13 minutes. Keep checking them though as you don't want them to catch and burn.

These biscuits are delicious straight from the oven when they are soft and yummy. As they cool they become crisper which is equally delicious. I find that they will keep very well in an airtight container but if you're anything like me they won't last very long!

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