Likely Story

Best. Cookie. Ever. and other assorted brilliance.

I present the best Oatmeal, Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookie.
They are crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle.  The cranberries present a lovely tang when balanced against the dark chocolate and the brown sugar dough.  Not too many chips or craisins and the oats aren't all up in your grill, either.  They are in a word, perfection.  Don't you want some?  You do?  Okay, here's the recipe:

Oat Chocolate Chip Craisin Cookies by me.

2 sticks butter
1 c. dark brown sugar
1/2 c. castor sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp good vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. AP flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 c. rolled oats
1 - 1 1/2 c. chopped dark chocolate or dark chocolate chips
3/4 c. craisins (dried, sweetened cranberries)

ovens at 350 f    please.
 cream butter and sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix until just combined.
In theory, you should sift the dry, but I never do.  Mix in flour, salt and soda until a good dough forms.  Fold in oats, chips and craisins.

Bake 15-18 minutes, depending on your oven.  They tend to burn quickly, so watch the first tray or two.  Cool on a rack and eat!

But what to store these little treats in?  Oh, I know!!  An awesome cookie jar that I smuggled back from the UK in my suitcase. How could a cookie jar be awesome you may ask? Because its a retro, ceramic (not that cheap, plastic crap you see making the rounds), Dr. Who TARDIS cookie jar - hell yeah! And it was only a tenner!   Bask in it's glory, internets!

An Open Letter to ABC's LOST

Dear Lost,

Let me start be saying that I am your friend.  I've been with you from the start.  The first time I saw the polar bear, I was captivated.  The first time I heard Rousseau's haunting distress call repeated over and over again, I was hooked.  I swear, I am on your side.  I really have/had incredibly high hopes for you not only as a show, but as a media experience.

However, with the latest episode, I must say, enough is enough.  Just what do you think you're playing at?  A Temple/Sanctuary?  Really?  You're going to throw a new location into the mix?  What ever happened to the mystery of the polar bears or the black-mist-with-images-inside monster?  Or how about Jacob?  Hell, how about any of the other 58 locations previously mentioned?  What was with the word "contaminated" we saw over and over?  Or the fear of infection?  Or the whispers?  No.  Instead of answers we've been given rather desolate flash forwards and often cryptic flash backwards.  In the last episode, for a while I thought we were flashing frackwards and borwards.  You know things have spun out of control when the "Previously On Lost" segment went back to the first season.  "Previously" is right.

Look, all I'm saying is get it together, man!  We (your collective audience) have hung in there too long for you to fall apart on us now.

Now man up, and answer some bloody questions.

xo
h

ps - A little "Not Yet" flag that pops up when you attempt to activate a bomb?  Really?  I thought better of you.  Suck it up, Lost.  It's in the past, but let's not have any repeats of this.  Even in a frackwards flash.  No more.

Some Things Green and One Thing Sweet

Green things first.  Remember when I said I had planted sticks in the mud in my vague attempt at gardening (which I insist on pursuing at least once a year)?  Well, some sticks have sprouted!  Here we have blackberries and raspberries, quite happy in their containers.  No fruit yet, but there is plenty of time.

Next, you can just make out a strawberry plant peeking around the corner of the deck.  This tiny guy is laden with green berries (and by laden, I mean about a pints worth).  I am very excited.

And Yes, I did wait until it was pouring down rain to take pictures.  I have impeccable timing.  Why do you ask?

Now for something sweet.  Easter is around the corner and we have family coming into town.  This, or course, gives me the perfect excuse to order easter candy from Fowlers Chocolates.  When I was little, we used to get candy from Fowlers every year for Easter.  This is one of the many reasons why - Sponge candy:

There are no words.  Just look. You can choose from dark, milk or orange chocolate which enrobes a core of brown sugar sponge.  It has the consistency of florist foam, but in a good way, that melts against the roof of your mouth leaving behind the deliciously bittersweet taste of butterscotch.  Bliss.....

Much Needed Update

Well, I live.  Just barely.  We are drowning in pollen here and my defenses have finally caved in causing me to have a head weighing about 4 pounds heavier with snot than usual.  But I have been busy.  And I bring you pictures to prove it!

New TV on DVD Obsession:  Carnivale
My god, that show is awesome!  What is it with my love of cancelled tv that leaves so many loose ends?  Bring back Carnivale!  At least a Carnivale movie that ties things up a bit.  Please?

Knitting:  Hot Lava Cardi in Peace Fleece.  In progress:

Gardening:  Tomatoes!  Heirloom Pineapple and Mr. Stripey Tomatoes to be exact:

More Gardening:  The front of our house has been overhauled.  We replanted everything and filled it with loropetulum and lantanas.  The photos are weird, but you get the idea:

New Project But No New DVDs

A new project is on route and its about time. With my 2 jobs and school, there has been precious little knitting in my house as of late.  The new project?  The Hot Lava Cardi by Blue Alvarez Designs.  The yarn?  Super delicious Peace Fleece in Baikal Superior Green.  Oh so yummy!  At Job #2 I am always frezing while I'm on break so I think this will be just perfect.

Hey!  Still no new dvds!  We got nothing!  Now J want to try Lexx.  I need help!

Otherwise, I just sleep when I can and hope that just one thing will be taken off of my plate at somepoint in the future.

I Need A New TV On DVD Obsession

So, we need a new DVD obsession.  Let's face it, there is bloody little on US television now worth watching.  So J and I are working our way through worthy dvd collections.  Unfortunately, we're coming to the end of our list and aren't sure what to pick up next.   A lot of the stuff is not from the US  b/c amazon.uk + all-region player =  my best friend.  I just want good, quality comedy or sci-fi or both.  Actually, anything really.  Read below for our tastes.  I need suggestions!  HELP!

What we've seen and LOVED so far:  The IT Crowd, Father Ted, Vicar of Dibley, I'm Alan Partridge, Knowing Me, Knowing You, Firefly, Dark Angel, Little Britian, Brass Eye, Red Dwarf (yes, all of them), Wonderfalls, Strangers with Candy, The Mighty Boosh, League of Gentlemen, The Office (UK), Doctor Who (2006-present) and we're just finishing up MilleniuM.  There are others I am forgetting...

ARGH!!!  Where to next?