Nigella Lawson – what maddy did next

Chocolate cookies – just add awesome

Hello my lovely readers! Today I’m going to share one of my favourite Nigella Lawson biscuit recipes with you. I’ve been making these beauties for a few years now and they never fail. They’re called Totally Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies but I am taking the liberty of changing their name to Totally Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookies. I am a sucker for anything sweet and salty and I think that’s why I love these so much, there is a little saltiness to them that cuts through the sugar and complements the bitterness of the dark chocolate. They also have a gorgeous texture and they hold their shape well. I, on the other hand, may not hold my shape so well if I eat one more of these little suckers so I’d better stop. I went to a bridal expo today and there is nothing like the thought of squeezing yourself into a gown and paying someone thousands of dollars to photograph you to make you want to reach for a carrot stick. But, everything in moderation I say! That includes housework.

You can find the recipe for these here, courtesy of http://www.nigella.com.

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On the getting of a new oven

There’s only one good thing about moving into a rental with a dodgy oven and that is when it breaks down. I know I sound crazy. Like one of those crazy people you see down the street who talks to themselves (on a side note, I think half the people I see everyday are crazy, until I realise they’re taking on their mobile handsfree thingy). But back to the point, it’s a good thing because then you get a BRAND NEW OVEN!

Of course there is the inevitable frustration of waiting for the landlord to get a plumber to try and fix the existing oven only to realise someone “must have knocked the thermostat off while cleaning” (is that even possible?), then wait for him to try to find the same old model on ebay for parts and then to conclude that that tactic didn’t work and the oven is beyond repair. And there’s the bother of waiting for the new purchased one to arrive and to be installed and the further frustration (and possibly tears) when the new one breaks down 10 minutes into cooking a Chocolate Cursed Cake*. But it all seems worth it once the new oven is up and running and has a light that works and a door you can see through and all these nifty little buttons (I hereby take back all the bad things I said about the buttons last week. I admit I used words that one could take to mean the exact opposite of ‘nifty’).

So, as soon as I got the opportunity I baked Lemon and poppy seed cake and my tried n’ true (also known as ‘Nigella’s’) brownies. And judging by the poppy seed-to-teeth ratio of the mouths in the office on Monday, I’d say my first oventure was a success.

*This cake is a gorgeous flourless number that I have tried to cook twice. The first time was the way I discovered the old oven wasn’t working.
And my cake turned into a biscuit in about 5 minutes. The second time was the way I discovered the new oven wasn’t working and I had to take the half cooked cake to Mum’s, practically still wiping the aforementioned tears from my eyes. At that point Dave dubbed it The Cursed Cake and begged me not to make it again. But you might like to so here is the recipe – maybe you can break the curse!