Heart felt sorrow for New Zealand

Before I waffle on about today's heart,
I just want to say my heart has gone out to the people of
Christchurch, New Zealand
- my thoughts are with them
I am sure they are in your thoughts too.

***********************************************

Today's hearts are really sweet

no - really,

they're sweets!

We'd popped down to our local village post office to buy some sugar and flour (yes our post office doubles up as a mini shop too) because the boys have got so into their baking that our supplies had run out.  Whilst queuing to pay we spotted a basket filled with valentine's sweets at half price and I - being ever ready for a bargain AND the sweets being heart shaped - bought a bag. 

The boys eyes lit up - they know I won't eat them.

******************************

I mentioned baking, the boys had invited my Mom and Dad for afternoon tea so they could have a reason to take over the kitchen.  We discussed what we could make with the ingredients we had (which is when I discovered a distinct lack of flour and sugar) and the boys decided on some chocolate biscuits from Gwnïo's Adventures and some flapjacks from Bunny Mummy .

****************************

Baking as seen through the eyes of Youngest.................... be careful, gentle reader, that you are not given palpitations and begin to feel faint at the zeal and flair this little chef exudes.....

1. Carefully weigh the sugar ...twice.... once when the sugar is first placed in the scale, the second time when too much is poured in. Chuck in the margarine and marvel at how the sugar flips out onto the counter.
2. Add the flour and cocoa mix - to be done at a GREAT HEIGHT to add air and drama to the baking session
3. knead gently - with both hands pummeling and kneading with gusto and enthusiasm, don't forget to taste at this point because you can't help it, the yummy mix is all over your fingers.....and your hands....up one arm....down your teeshirt....on the kitchen counter....
4. savagely stab a fork into each biscuit after you have carefully rolled them and splattered them into rounds (rounds? I say this lightly - lets just say - a flattened shape rather than "round")
5. bake on a greased tray and watch in impressed amazement at your biscuits gently melt into one HUGE biscuit that requires a pizza cutter.......... giggle at the crackly edges and marvel at the soft and gooey middle and deny that the oven was probably far too hot! It doesn't matter they still taste good!!

Then feeling justly satisfied with yourself, retire to the lounge with a rather fetching pizza triangle shaped delish biscuit, a cup of tea and your grandparents and spend a happy afternoon telling long and winding shaggy dog stories..........I want to be 10 years old again

*****************************

Biscuit making as seen through the eyes of Eldest.

1. Spoon out syrup, lick spoon...put it to the wash, spoon out butter, check syrup (by tasting it) get told to wash your hands by your mom, measure out sugar and pop all three into the microwave to gently melt, quickly sneak teaspoon into syrup tin before your mom notices and puts the tin away.
2. weigh out oats and stir into the now melted and incredibly tasty (you should know, a finger was used to test) buttery/syrupy/sugar mix.
3. turn biscuit mix into the silicone tray, lick out bowl, first by spoon then by finger, then lick the spoon, have to put that one to the wash too, get another one out, flatten the biscuit mix firmly into the tray, lick that spoon for good measure.
4. bake for suitable length of time and place next to younger brother's HUGE biscuit and feel suitably chuffed with one's 12 year old self as you sample the bits that fall when you break the flapjack mix into bite size pieces, and you know that they are bite sized, coz they just popped into your mouth and what do you know ...they fitted perfectly!!!

Then retire, with a mug of tea, sit next to your Granddad and chat about flying aeroplanes - a good afternoon's baking!

*************************