A home-made valentines gift: Turtle Hearts

You know you wanna find this on Friday morning!

I haven't put a recipe for chocolates up here before, there's a reason for that. Listen, I love chocolate, love it truly but working with it is messy, tricky and annoying. Now add caramel to the mix and I guarantee you a lengthy clean-up.So this is not a quick bake or even an evening after work activity. In fact this is best done over multiple evenings or maybe a whole rainy Saturday because this is a multi-stage process, with multiple clean-ups.

So what would justify this much effort, love of course!

Let's talk randomness, herb tips and 'Girls,'

Ok I've been away all weekend at an absolutely amazing hen-do (not mine btw) which I would describe for you but 'what happens on a hen......' Therefore any hope of baking this weekend was out the window and today with less than 10hrs sleep since Friday the brain no function so good! I had initially planned to give a full review but that is looking less than likely so instead I'm gonna do a fun little update, like a mash up between a monthly favourites and a mini rant review.

So let's start with some things I've been loving recently and in the spirit of organization I will categorize them.

Granola Bars: they can be naughty too

So after a week of cheesecake it's time for something a little less unhealthy but just as tasty. I've been playing around with ideas for protein/granola bars. The problem being I get so sick of peanuts and eventually everyone reaches a limit to how many almonds they can eat. So no peanuts, no almonds but then there's a jar of cashew butter in my fridge that's been calling out for a use and honestly the nutty, creamy flavour could be just what is needed.

Quadruple-stuff Oreo Cheesecake

 Some weekends you just need a treat, and other weekends (after two weeks of studying and stress) you need a special treat! A special treat needs to be different, indulgent and mildly addictive, just enough that you find yourself having a second piece without knowing how you got to the kitchen. This might even be slightly more addictive than that but hey, in for a penny and all that. We all heard last year the research coming out of Connecticut claiming that Oreos are more addictive that cocaine. Now without going into the details of the research methods etc I think I'm willing to accept the basic premise - Oreos are extremely addictive and I don't need experiments to prove that. I only need this cheesecake recipe and one portion of your time...... maybe two, it's up to you!

Getting over Christmas

Happy new year!! It's 2014 and today being little Christmas, it's now time to take down the beautiful decorations and go back to normal. I intensely dislike this part of the year. All the excitement of Christmas has passed and now we are left with some wonderful presents, a half dozen half empty packets of chocolates and a deep sense of regret for the many many days of unhealthy couch potato behaviour and excessive consumption. The television is not out friend either, every commercial seems to relate to weight-loss, exercise and saving money. It's like everyone is supposed to be filled with shame and regret and frankly I don't like it. Christmas comes once a year and, yeah ok, we all indulged but we now have months of winter left to face and darned if that won't get rid of those extra pounds for you.

Look at how that top truffle is just calling to you, go on...it's ok ;)

Snow-flake zimtsterne:: Preparing for Christmas german style

It's advent again that wonderful time of the year when we prepare ourselves for the approaching holiday season. I have never been a big one for advent calendars, we used to get one when we were children but usually something vaguely religious and rarely with chocolate or sweets. None-the-less I thoroughly enjoy this time of year. I revel in the traditions and preparations for the holiday season.

Cookies part 2: less healthy but very tasty oatmeal raisin

It's December!! The count-down begins to the baking and food extravaganza that is Christmas. I will of course be partaking, as usual, although with my new location to consider and traveling with food a less than appealing process I imagine that my baking will be condensed into about 24-48hrs when I return home before Christmas Day. I will inevitably share some of the spoils with you in perhaps a Christmas round-up type post.

However now we can return to the second of my cookie series. A less healthy attempt at the oatmeal raisin cookie. These cookies were fun to make, particularly so because I was making them in the dark. For some reason, while our electricity worked perfectly, our kitchen lights fell into darkness last week, which made for entertaining baking and actually quite interesting photography.