* Starting with coffee (two spoons identifying the one made with soya milk) and cake (him) in the nearby market town whilst the Boy, home for the weekend, had an appointment with the dentist. Just for a check up. Fortunately, neither of my children, both now in their twenties, have experienced dental problems or treatment and have perfectly healthy tussies. * Grocery shopping at Sainsburys. No list but at least we remembered the wine. * The weekly visit to my elderly aunt. She has a habit of getting rid of ('filing') unpaid bills (she refuses to have direct debits set up, suspicious of any automatic withdrawals from her account) and, on a couple of occasions, her complaints of the phone being out of order have turned out to be as a result of being cut off. * Watching an Arena programme about photographer Norman ('Oh, I just take snaps') Parkinson. His pictures of Wenda, his wife, are especially stunning. Maybe you spotted the Google Doodle as you searched online yesterday, the day which would have been his 100th birthday. * Another batch of oatie peanut butter and chocolate chip biscuits, after tinkering with the original recipe from here to produce much less sweet and much more chocolatey results. Recipe below, if you fancy making them. * Vegetable, lentil and coconut curry with homemade chapatis for supper. * Evening walks with the dog, interspersed with bouts of jogging. Boo wonders what that's all about. So do I. * Ending with a very scary, watch from behind a blanket film. It didn't give me nightmares. Only because I didn't dare sleep.
Oatie peanut butter and choc chip biscuits
Makes 12 biscuits
4 ozs plain flour
3 ozs porridge oats
1 level tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
3 fl ozs sunflower oil
3 ozs (approx 6 tbsps) peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)
2.5 ozs caster sugar
2.5 ozs soft brown sugar
2 fl ozs milk/soy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 ozs dark chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan assisted/gas mark 4.
Line 2 baking trays with baking parchment.
Mix together the flour, oats, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. You should end up with a fairly stiff mixture.
Uisng your hands/spoon/ice cream scoop, form 12 evenly sized balls of dough and place 6 on each baking tray, spacing well apart.
Bake for 12-15 mins until lightly browned. Halfway through cooking, lightly flatten each cookie, which will have puffed up, using a metal slice or a palette knife.
Remove from the oven and leave the biscuits to firm for a couple of mins before placing on a rack to cool.
Eat and enjoy.