picture of the day saturday 5th feb

06-02-10a

this is at a park near our house affectionately known as 'the mystery' – a bit of land donated by an anonymous benefactor a looong time ago. For use only as a public park. I have walked round it on many occasions with my kids in the past. It does have a bit of an annoying problem with dog muck and kids on motorbikes…..

I was just passing though on saturday but had to take a picture, love the trees and the looong shadows. 

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Wownies…

this is a little bit of an adapted recipe i got from a good friend. They are brownies with white chocolate..hence the name Wownies….

My friend made me some of these just after i had Matilda and I asked her for the recipe and then set out on a couple of months of trying to see if it was possible to live purely on brownies……

i think you'll find it is..but your skin might start to rot and pucker…

I made these last week with the help of my daughter which is why the pics are a bit sporadic…

so here it is. Start with one of these…

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you dont actually need the grease proof paper but there is a giant hole in that side of my brownie tin and so its needed there to stop stuff leaking out…

then you need 200gms of dark chocolate, the higher cocoa solids the better..you know the drill..
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melt slowly on low heat with 200gms butter…
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once melted add 250gms caster sugar
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then add in 3 eggs..you can whisk them together first..we do, especially when they have been 'cracked' by little people..who wants a shell crunchy brownie!
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then add a few drops of…

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and then add in 125gms plain flour…
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and then..this is the bit i missed with the camera…pour your choccy goodness into your brownie tin and then break up a bar of white chocolate..just biggish chunks and then just push into the brownie mixture so they are just under the surface.

then into the oven for about 45 minutes and ending up something like this…
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yummy…
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Perfect dark chocolate chewyness with great white slabs of sweet white chocolate dotted around. i can tell you they dont last long in our house…what else i really love about them..you can make it all in the saucepan..no need to use anything else..minimal washing up baking is my kind of baking 🙂

200gms dark chocolate
200gms butter
250gms caster sugar
3 eggs – i use large eggs
125gms plain flour
few drops vanilla essence
200gms of white chocolate – but you can put it less…

cook in gas mark 4 (about 180 degrees) 
=) brb

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some important information…

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this is an important looking sign wouldn't you say? I mean it says IMPORTANT in big letters and that i must assuredly retain all information for future reference…

sort of noticed that would have you wondering maybe even breaking into a slight panic… now 'where did i put all that information because i will most certainly be needing it in the future'

perhaps it is a recipe to navigate the rivers of life we sail through, because information is key right?…

and if we were to have all the information at all points for future reference then wouldnt we be without worry and never misinformed?

But then…is it possible or even desirable to retain all information. You know when someone tells you something and you think (silently if you are me) 'woah.. too much information dude'…

you wouldnt want to retain that information surely?
hmmmmmmm….
so anyways you want to see what this sticker was on…….
….
……
…….
…….

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can you tell what it is yet??

….

….
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yep..thats right it is a 2.99 Cars step from Home and bargain that i picked up without packaging, without instructions and without all the information 

what the heck am i supposed to do now????
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my POTD for yesterday and today…

yesterday faced with the prospect of working all night i did my best to 'not do much' and convinced Poppy to share some sofa time with me and charlie and lola…(not hard to do really)…

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and then from today…this..
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this is one of my favourite snacks. Marmite on toast and big cup of steaming hot tea. I made myself this, this morning after doing the school run and dropping the baba with a good friend. Looking at this picture I can still 'feel' the tiredness but also the relief that goes with the end of a task done. 14 hours of my own kids childcare and then 10 hours of babycare at work. Coming home to this was just a moment of bliss. I guess, its the little things…

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz…..

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so here it is…

Chocolate guiness cake. this is a nigella lawson recipe, im not ripping it off…but here is the how to..scroll down if you just want the ingredients…start with one of these:

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i think this is a 12 inch but you could use smaller..
then:
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butter – 250gms. (you dont need a small child with a green knife to cut it) but cut it up into small chunks..
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melt in a saucepan on a fairly low heat with the 
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you need 250ml of Guiness, i use the draught…but have used guiness stout before, it works out ok. Problem in my house is getting it into the cake before it gets put in a pint glass and drunk!
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doesnt that look awesome..er..yes i know it is in a baby bottle..just for measuring..they are handy for that you know ;P
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once you have melted the butter and guiness in the pan, take off the heat and add 400gms of caster sugar..yes 400gms..this cake is not going to make it onto the weightwatchers list im afraid and 75gms of cocoa powder (use the for cooking stuff not the drinking chocolate, it has added sugar and takes away from the chocolaty-ness)
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once the sugar is dissolved. Beat (in a separate bowl)142ml sour cream, 2 eggs and 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract…so it goes from something like this..
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to this:
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then add to the beery buttery mixture:
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you probably want to dip you finger in have a little taste right about now…..unless you are allergic to raw egg…

then…

it would be bad….

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now measure out 275gms of plain flour and 2and a half teaspoons of bicarb of soda.
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and then add it to your mixture and mix it in…
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to something like this..it looks very bubbly..i think its probably the guiness but it might just be the way i mix it. either way a bit of air in there is good.
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pour into your prepared tin and then stick in the oven for 45 mins (ish) at about 180degrees/gas mark 4. once out, leave to cool in tin. 
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yum yum…black chocolate perfectness…

you can leave it without the topping but i think the topping really makes it. You want to start this really once the cake is cold. Best to get it straight on.
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you need 300gms cream cheese.
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whisk into a creamy consistency..
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then add 150gms of sifted icing sugar..
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whisk together until smooth
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then add 125ml double cream or whipping cream..
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yes yes yes..i do actually have 'actual' measuring jugs, i think one of them has no numbers left on it thanks to mr dishwasher and the other was full of frothy milk thanks to mr coffee maker…
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should eventually look a bit like this…

then all thats left to do, if you can stop eating great spoonfuls of it, is put it on the cake
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a bit like this to resemble the great pint itself..but have to say you should probably just stop with the fancy stuff, get a huge brew and dig right in…

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and there you have it…chocolate guiness cake. Perfect for a fantastic treat or when you want to bless someone who might need a big extra special chocolate cake kinda hug…you know the sort i mean…

quick run through of the ingredients…

250ml guiness
250gm butter unsalted
75g cocoa powder
400g caster sugar
142ml sour cream ( if you cant get one of that exact amount, use about half ish of a 300ml one..if it goes over a bit just makes the cake that much more moist!)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
275g plain flour
2and half teaspoons of bicarb of soda

topping

300ml cream cheese ( i used a normal shop brand one but philly is probably best but the others work just as well so budgets go for the cheaper!)
150gm icing sugar
125mls double or whipping cream.

enjoy!
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