Knitting Milestone and Cranberry and White Chocolate Cookies

Hurray!! At last I've finished knitting the jacket I have been making for myself. It's many years since I made anything for myself.

I now have to:

• sew it up
• wash it so that it drapes well
• block it so the pleats are crisp
• Make an icord for a button loop and find and attach a statement button.

The pattern was quite challenging. You start off by knitting a narrow band that goes up the centre back and then pick up stitches either side and knit sideways the back, the front and finishing with the sleeves. You then have to pick up stitches along the bottom to knit the peplum.

It will be a few days until it is finished, but hopefully it will look like this when it's done - but mauve, not green!

The kit to make this is by Hanne Falkenberg. I love her designs and hopefully, when I've got through my current 'to knit' list I shall make another one.

To celebrate I made a batch of cranberry and white chocolate cookies and invited a friend for a cup of tea. These cookies are a variation of the pistachio and almond cookies I made the other day.

You need -

• 3 oz butter
• 3 ox brown sugar
• 3oz white sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 egg
• pinch of salt
• 6oz SR flour
• 3oz white chocolate chunks
• 3oz dried cranberries
  

Zizz sugars, butter and essence. Zizz in egg. Transfer to a mixing bowl and fold in flour and salt. Fold in white chocolate and cranberries.

Drop spoonfuls on to a baking tray and bake at 180 for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven when they are golden brown.

Cool and store in an airtight tin.

If you don't have a food processor you can cream the butter, sugar and essence in a bowl.

Primula and Almond and Pistachio Cookies

Well, it's another grey day today! A quick peep of sunshine would cheer us all up now, wouldn't it? We went down to the garden centre this morning. Flowerland is just wonderful. As soon as you get through the entrance you are greeted with the mixed fragrances from the scented candles, bath bombs, hand made soaps, etc. It's all so pretty and enticing its almost impossible not to treat yourself (I guess that's the idea!). I bought four bath bombs so I could bring some of the scents home! Once you move through to the conservatory and beyond the eyes can feast on all the brightly coloured plants. I bought half a dozen primula plants for the window box under the dining room window. The pots and window boxes are all looking so sad after the snow and cold weather.














They really all need refreshing but I need to take things a bit slowly as I have been all but housebound over the past couple of weeks with horrendous back pain. I don't want to rush at jobs and make it worse again.

Having treated myself to the bath bombs and the plants, and bearing in mind things generally come in threes (or so they say), I decided a third treat was a must. What to have? I settled on almond and pistachio cookies. If you've not tried these, you really should......
















You need -

• 3 oz Butter
• 3 oz Granulated Sugar
• 3 oz Brown Sugar
• 1 Capful Almond Essence
• 1 egg
• 6 oz SR Flour
• 6 oz Mixed Pistachios and Flaked Almonds

Zizz butter, sugars and essence in processor. Zizz in egg. Transfer to mixing bowl. Fold in flour and nuts.

Drop spoonfuls of mixture on a baking sheet (I always line with baking parchment) and bake at 180 for around 10 minutes Keep an eye on them and remove form the oven when they are golden brown.

If you don't have a food processor just cream the butter, sugars and essence and then beat in the egg. I'm sorry I don't know the gas setting. I've always been an electric person!!

Cool and store in an air tight tin.

I love these cake tins from M&S. I love the chickens. They are really bright and make me smile every time I see them!!