here's what I'm doing today...

baking some of these.  Double Chocolate Chunk cookies...with cherries.... mmm... and with the link....reprising an old post from 2009 on my other blog.. Tea and Scones .... and.... figuring out how to make some photos smaller so that I can continue loading them ..even though I am nearly at 98% as far as blogger is concerned ( and, thank you to Catherine for helping me figure that one out)! I guess other people probably figured all of this out long before I did.  I AM a bit slow.
And...perhaps my way is still a bit convoluted... I am now exporting them to my documents..in smaller size and then uploading them from there to blogger... but, it does make them much smaller files to upload so perhaps I will have to go back through many postings.......and reload the pics.... smaller.....oh, dear...... I see a lot of work ahead of me......sigh...... or...I could just pay a few bucks and add more space to my blog....
Anybody have a better solution?  If so, please let me know.....

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oh, it's absolute hell I tell ya.....

... when the weather isn't co-operating and I can't go out to play.  No golf, no gardening...no anything in the pouring rain and cold.  It's a lousy +5C if you please!!  update:: the rain just turned to big fat wet flakes that splat as they hit the pavement...... sigh.............and it's so dark in here, even if it is the middle of the day, that I have all the lights on .....

And, nobody is home to help with the chocolate... the beaters, the spoons, the mixing bowls...... oh, yeh...  heh heh  ...nobody is here to help.  Gee.  Had to take one for the team and lick them all myself... think I need a glass of nice cold milk now.  Isn't it funny how milk just seems made for chocolate?

oh, and...the spoon and spatula too...let's not forgot those!  hahah.....ooohhh...I'll be giddy after all that chocolate.  But, strange as it may seem...I prefer the "raw mixture" as a friend of my sister's calls it in her broad Yorkshire accent... than the actual baked goodies.  So, I don't eat more than a cookie or two of the two dozen.   Mr. BV knows they are all his.......  but, even so, I have to try to monitor his hoarding and consuming.  I hope they last more than two days.  Luckily, he is slim but, I must guard, (yes, I insist! I must!!) guard against his consumption of too much refined food.   I want him to be around for a long time.  Which is probably why I don't bake cookies too often.... muffins more so because there is a lot less fat and sugar content.  I usually save cookies for the festive season.  Go all out and then, forget about them for a year.  But..today..it's dreary, I felt like baking to warm up the house...and thought about ....cookies........

What I would really like to be doing is golfing.  Well, trying to golf, as I seem to be unable to do anything right so far this season.  Or, at the very least, digging in the dirt ...planting my annuals.!!  I'm definitely not putting them in til next week now.  It's going to snow on Saturday!.  Down to 0 C.  Sheeesh.  We already must have the shortest growing season in the world... and now this ....   see why I had to cheer myself up with some lovely warm oven stuff?  Now...what should I make for supper?

...there they sit.... getting a good soaking of rainwater.... waiting.... just waiting...
although I did keep Basil in the garage.  His leaves got frost bitten a few days ago when I left him out overnight..... I figured the Thyme and Rosemary were a bit more hardy.  I hope.

Want a cookie?  Recipe from Christmas on my other blog.  Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

photo of the week...

Cherry Chocolate Chunk cookies... from the other blog... just thought I'd lure you in with a little trail of chocolate crumbs. Ooooh... that wasn't very nice was it?

Hey... these are really simple and so tasty. I'm not saying you need to bake them today...but, come back when you have time...better yet... print out the recipe and bake them when you just want a lovely chocolate-y nibble. Cookies or squares are great for that... freeze and only take out a few at a time... so much better than having a whole cake staring you in the face.

Baked a couple dozen of these wonderful chocolate morsels... with cherries .. just because it is the season.

My stomach is totally back to normal... don't know what it was except I guess two glasses of wine at the office party were perhaps too much for me ... used to be I could drink a sailor under the table..not that that's anything to be proud of...but..there you have it.

a few days ago.... 5 dozen butter tarts... got some wrapped and sent...some wrapped and frozen and some went off with Mr. B.V. for the guys at the office... the empty tin returned home with notes.... please send more tarts... the cheek! You'd think they were on a desert island somewhere ....

Okay... this is the best of all. I got some baking too! While squares were baking today... I was enjoying my sister's cherry loaf which arrived the other day. A pretty special gift because she doesn't do much baking anymore. Which is why I usually bake plenty and send her a gift box of goodies.

Several years ago she slipped on ice; fell and cracked her skull when she got out of her car going to work ... a serious concussion .. and traumatic brain injury. She was never able to go back to work and missed it terribly ... she loved working at the school.. loved "her" kids as she used to call them. She has fought back so hard and almost single handedly.... using "coping" skills that she has developed all by herself. She should probably be teaching some of the not-very-helpfuls she has had to deal with during that time. .. there is probably even a book in there somewhere.... or motivational speaking... .. Which is pretty darn great considering where she was for the first 3 years afterwards. She's my hero... and is doing very well, but, does have some residual brain damage that manifests in different ways and is so frustrating for her. Baking is one of the things that she finds very taxing.... the reading and focussing on details. If she gets interrupted, she could forget totally where she was in the recipe...or she might get busy doing laundry and forget things in the oven.. or the horses might make some noises and she would absolutely have to go out to see if they were alright.. and not come back in for hours... it could be one of the days when it is too difficult for her to look at small print or try to force her brain to concentrate. So... this is really special...and it is verrrryyyy tasty too.... Mr. B. V. only got one piece.... hahahha.... thanks Vikki..... love the loaf... it almost tastes like there is eggnog in it... is there?