Friday feels and forest fruits...

Recipe of the week is...
... a Forest Fruits Smoothie

Ingredients: 1 frozen banana, 2 handfuls of frozen forest fruits, 1 mugful of milk, and a tablespoon of honey.

Time taken: 5-10 mins (if you’ve already frozen your fruit).

Serves: Either one big meal-sized smoothie or two smaller snack-sized smoothies.


Hi readers,

Happy Easter everyone and welcome to our four day weekend!! Isn’t it great?! For any readers not living in the UK, I’m really sorry you’re missing out this treat. Here, we get Friday off work as a Good Friday Bank Holiday.. and then we get Monday off work, too! (For Easter Monday.. and that is ???). Sorrry if you don’t share in the glory of our four day weekend.

It's this level of glorious... Turkish sunset glorious
@sert_mehmet

But, wherever you may be, I hope you’re having a terrific Friday, readers. Here in the ChefBeHere household.. things are very leisurely. I woke up without an alarm today. Bliss. And did I have to spring out of bed? Noo. I flicked through the news on my phone in a warm duvet cocoon. Finally got up, made it out on a run (and did a really fast sprint!) and then Spring cleaned the house. So, everything’s looking brighter and shinier now.

And I am DONE with achieving things. That’s me over and our for attainment this weekend. Thoroughly intend to spend the rest of my days reading and sleeping, eating and drinking, and enjoying some quality time with the friends and famalam. Easter eggs and hot cross buns will, of course, feature heavily throughout my weekend.. but how about you, readers? What do you have planned for your Bank Holiday break?

Munching lots of these?
@thedepotbakery

Or maybe you’re still making plans? If you’re looking for ideas for healing things you could do over the next four days, while your head takes and break from work and routine, maybe a little yoga would be fine idea? Have a good stretch out and unwind. Or, if the suns out, perhaps you could venture outdoors and head off on a walk? Get those legs moving and some fresh air in your lungs.

Wherever this weekend may take you, readers, I hope it has you feeling refreshed and upbeat. With the warmer weather to enjoy and with so many Spring colours around at the moment, from blossom on the trees to daffodils by the roadside and bluebells in the grass, I find it inspiring at this time of year to have a real look around. Without the rush of routine and the pressures of work, maybe this weekend will be your first chance in a while to take stock of your surroundings? And see that Spring has sprung.

Our pinkest time of the year
@maepress

I was reading a blog post just now called ‘23 Mantras To Live By’, by Jessica Sletmo, (which you can read here) and – though I’m not a big believer in token phrases and kind of bland sayings – I did find a quote amongst these mantras that struck a chord…

… perhaps this is the time, readers, to let someone off the hook for a small fault? Let it be gone and forgotten, and enjoy their wonderfulness again now. Or possibly, readers, this four days off work gives you more time than normal to surprise someone with a small act of kindness? Maybe a loved one, or even someone you never met before. All you have to do is be kind and – who knows – you just might make their day. Or their weekend. Or their April.

I’m heading out for drinks later with some of the girls and I’ve made it my intention to be filled with compliments tonight.. as they’ll all have made an effort with their hair and their make up and their outfit, and everyone deserves to feel good and be told just how great they look. So, I’m on it! Meanwhile, readers, I’ve been charging my batteries ready for tonight with a super new smoothie recipe. One I invented on the spot!

There’s very little in my fridge at the moment, but I was fancying something fruity on this Spring afternoon. And, as luck would have it, I thought ahead a while back and bought in loads of frozen fruit – perfect for occasions just like today. I really recommend this as a handy way to save money and also save on food waste, as frozen fruits cost less I find and they're good to eat for a really long time.

Good value and good for the planet

So, I dug out a freezer pack out forest fruits and turned this into a smoothie success. Fancy following in my fabulous footsteps, readers? Yeahhh?? Well, you definitely can. This is a really simple recipe, readers, with only five steps and no kitchen skills required. Very do-able. All you need is a smoothie maker or blender, and a thirst for something thick and fruity!! Here’s how to prepare a Forest Fruits Smoothie…

1.     Peel a banana, cut it up into a few bits, and leave in the freezer overnight.
2.     The next day, take your frozen banana out of the freezer and pop this in a smoothie maker or a blender.
3.     Add a couple of handfuls of berries and cherries from your pack of frozen forest fruits.
ChefBeHere Top Tip: Whenever I’m at Boost Smoothie and they ask if I want to ‘double my fruit?’ I always say no as it costs more.. sadly! If like me, you do the same, then when you add your second handful of forest fruits you can think of this as doubling your fruit.. it pleased me to no end!

Alll the fruit for meee

4.     Fill a mug with milk and then pour this into the smoothie maker, too.
5.     Add a tablespoon of honey to sweeten the deal, and blend until smooth. Then find a straw and slurp away!
ChefBeHere Top Tip: This smoothie is soo thick that my normal-width straws struggled with it. I don’t have any of the chunky ones like you get at Boost, so I tried using two regular straws at once.. and this still didn’t work! In the end, I got out a spoon. If you have any chunky straws, then this is there time to SHINE.

This straw was NO MATCH
for my smoothie

And that’s all there is to it, readers! You have a berry and cherry-filled beauty of a smoothie to enjoy, hopefully in the sunshine, and this will give you lots of energy to fuel you on for a powerful afternoon.. and potentially for dancing all night long! What do you think, readers? Has anyone tried a similar recipe in the past? How did it go?

I thought this smoothie came out really well, it was thick and colourful, and tasted lovely and fruity! A hit with me.. but would you agree? Let me know your thoughts, readers! Are you a fan of a Forest Fruits Smoothie? Where would be your favourite place to drink this fruity treat? Do you have any ideas to make this taste even better??

Fire away, readers. Let me know what you think. And I’m wishing you all a wonderful long Easter weekend away from work. Remember, if there’s a fault that could be forgotten or some act of kindness you can share with another, then perhaps this the weekend is the right time? I’m sure you have something in mind and I’m sure you can do it, readers.

Smoothie safely,

Hayley

Be bold
@awaisha_art

LIVING A TAGINE DREAM

Recipe of the week...
... Sweet Potato Tagine

Ingredients: 1 large glug of cooking oil, 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 aubergine, 1 sweet potato (or 2 if they’re quite small), 1 courgette, 2 stalks of celery, 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes, 1 handful of dried apricots, 2 handfuls of raisins, 1 tablespoon tomato puree, 2 teaspoons sugar, 2 mugs of couscous, 1 vegetable stock cube, 2 teaspoons coriander, 2 teaspoons cumin, 2 teaspoons paprika.

Time taken: An hour (Half an hour prep and half an hour to cook).

  

Hi readers,

Hope this finds you well. More than well! Hope you’re having an all guns blazing start to the week!! Firing out emails and answering the phone WITHOUT hesitation.

As I write, readers, it’s a Monday afternoon in April and Brits everywhere are recovering from the hottest weekend of the year so far… may I speak for the nation when I say what cracking weather we’ve had! It really didn’t disappoint! Clear blue skies, ice cubes fizzing in lemonade, feeling the warm sun on your face, barbecues sizzling, ice creams melting fast, lawn mowers mowing away, and beer gardens overflowing… we turn out for the sun.

Me and my lovely friends
enjoying sangria in the sun

Back to work today and I’m not the only one sporting a lobster-like sunburn! As it’s April, and all good thing come to an end, the weather’s settled back down to normal today and we’re waving goodbye to our heatwave. But, along with our glowing noses and singed shoulders, it feels as though everyone’s putting their best foot forward today and getting the week off to a good start.

Doesn’t the sun bring out the best in everyone? I think so. When the sun comes out, it’s something everyone can enjoy and it’s an event that we all share in. We rip up any plans we’d made and get ourselves out in the garden instead. We invite friends over, crack open a beer and speak with neighbours we haven’t seen in months (and don’t mind all that much). We get our legs out, cream each other up, and burn all the same. We laugh about it.

And proud

I love the sun. Love love love it. I hope you all got to enjoy it while it lasted, readers, and I hope you had a cracking time this weekend. Don’t be too sad to be back to work today! There are still great shows on TV (Broadchurch! One Born!), new films out at the cinema (I want to go see City of Tiny Lights – has anyone seen it?), and there’s ace new music to discover (I’m listening to a playlist I found on The Hungry Yogis’ blog.. which you can find here) and so much to look forward to in life. Just think.

Like FOOD.. glorious food. If you aren’t feeling too weighed down by the immense amount of BBQ food inside you, readers, I’m sure you can appreciate we’ve only six days left to go until Easter Sunday. That’s right – just six days until we’re tucking into a delicious roast and scarfing our way through more chocolate eggs than a bunny could imagine.. even in his wildest bunny dreams.

Even more than that

And, meanwhile, we can’t have any one starving before Easter! Not when we’re this close. Six days allows plenty of time for some wonderful recipes. No matter how busy your week ahead looks – why not carve the time into your calendar to cook a proper meal? Treat your insides! I’m writing to you this week, readers, to share a tasty recipe that I first tried out for a dinner party I threw not long ago.

I had a bunch of friends over one weekday evening, for food and chatter, and needed an all-in-one-pot kind of recipe to feed lots of hungry mouths! I try to broaden my friends’ culinary horizons when it comes to veggie food (and my horizons, too!) and give unusual dishes a go, and have one friend who’s allergic to milk, so I was looking for something a bit different to try, and it had to be dairy-free.

Next time we're having a
compulsory dress code

In the end, I settled on a recipe I found in Vegetarian Nosh for Students. This recipe book is a favourite of mine (and will probs continue to be cherished loooooong after my student days are past) as its recipes are straightforward and fuss-free, with cheap ingredients and inventive shortcut steps, and you always end up with filling, tasty food at the end of the day.

I found recipe for a colourful-looking vegan Sweet Potato Tagine, tripled the quantities of ingredients (to feed a houseful of friends) and hit the shops to get everything in. Prepped veg the evening before and had no trouble on the night, cooking and chatting away with a wine in my hand! All went to plan and everyone tucked in and said they’d really enjoyed the food. Which is a big relief.. one bad recipe and they might stop coming round!

Just me, then

Do you have a dinner party coming up soon? Or maybe you just fancy cooking something a bit different? Trying out new flavours? Giving a colourful veggie recipe a go? And munching through for 5-a-day in one plateful?? Hell yeahhhh! Readers, if you’re tempted to give this Sweet Potato Tagine a try for yourselves, here’s the recipe in just twelve simple steps…

Recipe: Sweet Potato Tagine

1.     Set some sensational tunes playing and – as there are quite a few of them – gather all your ingredients together on one counter where you can see them all and where nothing can be forgotten.

2.     Time for veg prep! Arm yourself with a sharp knife aaand cut your aubergine up into bite-sized amounts, peel your sweet potato(es) and chop into cubes, cut your onion up into wedges, finely chop your cloves of garlic, cut your courgette into bite-sized chunks, and chop our your stalks of celery.

3.     Heat the oil in a wok or a large saucepan and add the onion and garlic. Fry until you see the garlic browning and the onion beginning to soften.

4.     Then, add the coriander, cumin and paprika to the pan, and fry for a minute more.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: Of these three seasonings… I only actually had paprika. So I cheerily described the dish as “off season” to friends and cooked hoping for the best. I switched coriander for Herbes de Provence and subbed cumin for a sprinkling of chilli flakes instead. And the dish turned out pretty well considering! I’m a lucker sometimes. But, I will advise, that if you’re in a shop and you’re not sure your spice rack is as well stocked as you’re hoping it is.. maybe invest in the proper ingredients!

5.     Add the courgette, aubergine, celery and sweet potato to the pan and fry for a few minutes, stirring well to combine everything together.

6.     Add the tinned tomatoes and a mugful of water, along with the raisins, apricots and sugar. Stir to combine and turn the heat up high.

7.     Once your tagine begins to boil cover it with a lid or some foil, and turn the temperature back to a medium heat. Leave to simmer gently for ten minutes.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: I use this time to set the table, top up drinks, and breathe deeply. Keep going… you’re nearly there! The house should begin to smell tasty.

8.     Add the chickpeas and tomato puree to the pan, stir to combine, and then cover again to simmer for a further five minutes.

9.     Now, while your tagine finishes cooking, fill the kettle and boil some water. Pour the couscous into a large bowl and crumble a stock cube over it. Add boiling water until this rises a centimetre or so above the couscous, and stir the contents of the bowl.

10.  Then cover the bowl with a plate and leave your couscous to stand for five minutes until all the water is absorbed.

11.  Uncover and use a fork to fluff up your couscous, then spoon this evenly between the four plates.

12.  Then – last but not least – switch off the hob and dish up your tasty tagine, spooning on top of the couscous. Serve dinner to your horde of hungry guests!

A real crowd pleaser ... Sweet Potato Tagine

Readers, to say the ingredients list looks quite dauntingly long.. isn’t this such a simple recipe?! You just add everything to a pan, bit by bit, cook through and then serve on a bed of couscous. This is my kind of recipe! I promise you, readers, if I can cook this at the end of a busy day at work, with several pairs of eyes watching me, and a glass of wine in my hand… then anyone can do it! And I believe you can.

Fancy giving this recipe a try? I highly recommend! Going into this, I was a bit unsure about adding fruit to a savoury dish. Would it be a Hawaiian pizza kind of fandango? A sweet and sour sauce? A cranberry stuffing? I am not a fan, readers, in general of recipes that mix sweet and savoury flavours. Only recently have I opened my mind to the notion of sweet and salty popcorn. It’s a whole new world.

But, of course, I wouldn’t be writing to you if this recipe didn’t taste KNOCK OUT. I think Sweet Potato Tagine is a keeper, readers! It’s fruity and vegetabley and – somehow – it just works. No one turned their nose up at the table. In fact, everyone was full of (genuine, I hope) compliments, and I took tagine into work as a packed lunch for days afterwards and it didn’t get old. A tagine dream.

Give this recipe a go, readers? And fill me in on how you do in the kitchen? And let me know whether or not you like the tagine? Sounds a plan. Meanwhile, my housemate will still be telling everyone he had tangerine for his tea and it didn’t taste all thar orangey…

Power on and have an amazing week, everyone.

Chef safely,

Hayley

And look at my pretty new tealight holder!
A thing of beauty, I think.

SLURPING, BOUNCING, DUNKING... ADULTING.

Recipe of the week...
... Spicy peach pineapple smoothie!

Ingredients: 1 frozen banana, half a mug of tinned peaches, half a mug of tinned pineapple, 1 mugful of milk, a shake of ground nutmeg, and a big shake of ground cinnamon.

Time taken: 5-10 mins (if you’ve already frozen a banana).

Serves: Either one huge meal-sized smoothie or two more modest snack-sized smoothies.

Hi readers,

How are you this evening? Are you home from work? Out of the clothes you’ve been wearing all day? Feeling fresh and comfortable now? I hope you are, readers, and I hope today’s been a good one for you. A day of bold moves and memorable occurrences.

Just saving the day

As I write, readers, it’s a Tuesday evening in April and I’m away on a work trip to Milton Keynes. We’ve checked into our hotel, after a full day with a client, and I’ve enough sanity left to have put the kettle on for a strong brew. I’m adulting! Read: I’m watching Couples Come Dine With Me and dunking my way through all the free biscuits. There are a lot of free biscuits but I need to recover strength (spent a while bouncing from one twin bed to the other) before dining with my boss. Will drink modestly and speak intelligently. As adults do.

At the moment, readers, it’s a slow news day in the UK (launched search for missing boy… found missing boy hiding under his bed). Hmm. But there are a few noteworthy stories from around the world. There’s steady reporting on the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Russia yesterday. Ongoing coverage of the search for survivors following the massive mudslide that occurred in Colombia over the weekend. And continuing bafflement about the humongous South Korean ship (a VLOC.. Very Large Ore Carrier) that disappeared in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean a few days ago, and is presumed to have sunk with most of its crew aboard.

A VLOC... look how big it is!

Interesting stuff. Not inspiring exactly, a lot of lives have been lost these last few days, but lives have also been saved. Due to the bravery and determine of others.. which is a positive thought. Wish me luck, readers, dining with my boss tonight and trying to maintain the ruse that I’m an intelligent, responsible member of staff! I can do this!! I’m sure some of you can relate and I’m sure – like me – you too are intelligent, responsible people most of the time.. it’s just convincing colleagues that you are 100% of the time! When that’s a BLATANT lie.

Tonight, I write to share with you a fab fruit smoothie recipe that I tried out this weekend. This recipe comes straight from the Primavera Kitchen blog and you can read the original post here. I happened upon this recipe, readers, as I had an abundance of tinned pineapple and peaches in, along with one very neglected smoothie maker… and I thought there must be some way to turn this into a tasty smoothie?!

Where there's a will...
... there's a way

And there is! A quick google led me to this simple recipe, which spices up the fruits with a little added nutmeg and cinnamon. The result is a warm, tropical smoothie… with 3 of your 5-a-day inside! Whether you’re still feeling hungover from the weekend, readers, and in need of a vitamin kick, or you’re feeling a little unwell maybe and need something to boost your system, or you could just generally do with an energy burst to power you ahead with the working week??

Whatever the reason (perhaps you just want a fruity bev), I recommend a spicy peach pineapple smoothie! This drinks tastes like summer loving and the sun on your face, salty sea air and warm sand between your toes, like you’re sipping in a hammock under a blue blue sky, with tropical tunes drifting over from the bar, and the sound of crickets in the bushes… with only a little imagination required.

Just close your eyes...
... and you're there

 SOLD? Want to blend your own spicy peach pineapple smoothie?? Yeahhh you do. This is a very straightforward recipe, readers, with only five steps and absolutely no culinary skill required. Any idiot could do it, I promise. Even you. I’m kidding! So, all you need to do is…

1.     Peel a banana, cut it up into a few bits, and leave in the freezer overnight.

2.     The next day, take your frozen banana out of the freezer and pop this in a smoothie maker or a blender.

3.     Half fill a mug with tinned peach slices, then fill the second half with tinned pineapple pieces and tip into the smoothie maker.

4.     Fill your mug with milk and then pour this into the smoothie maker, too.

5.     Shake a little nutmeg and quite a bit of cinnamon in there, and blend for a minute or so until smooth. Then find a straw and slurp away!

SLUUURP

Et voila! What do you think?? Do you think this sounds a tempting recipe to try out, readers? And, if you’ve given it a go, did it go well? And did you like the taste of your smoothie? Did it taste how summer tastes to you??

I think, to me, summer tastes like barbecued grub (burned to a crisp) and fresh fruit, melting ice cream and aperol spritz! This smoothie recipe will be perfect for sunny afternoons on summer weekends, to drink out in the garden, sunbathing with a good book… bring it on! I cannot wait for summer, readers, and I hope this smoothie inspires you the same way it has me. Summer will be with us soon.

Until then.. slurp safely,

Hayley

See you there!

INCREDIBLE TIMES FOR A SWIRLED SWEET

Recipe of the week...
... peanut butter swirled brownies!

Ingredients:

PEANUT BUTTER BATTER … 200g crunchy peanut butter, 120g granulated sugar, 1 large egg, half a teaspoon vanilla extract, a sprinkling of coarse sea salt.

BROWNIE BATTER … 100g chocolate, 120g butter/margarine, 250g granulated sugar, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, a sprinkling of coarse sea salt, 100g plain flour.

TO FINISH … A generous handful of dark chocolate chips

Time taken: An hour (Half an hour to make and half an hour to bake).

Serves: 12 decent blocks of brownie.

Hi readers,

How are youu? I hope you’re all well and happy today, you lovely people. And I hope that the sun is shining where you! We’ve certainly got the sunshine in Sheffield today. As I write, the sun is streaming through the window warming my cheeks, and we’ve been treated to three days of good weather in a row now. It’s incredible. And it really is – after months of cold winter and short days – the clocks have finally turned so the evenings are lighter, and the weather’s showed up for the occasion. And it really feels like Spring! Incredible.

Spring has sprung this week

Also incredible – MUMS. Big shout out to all the mums out there. We celebrated Mother’s Day yesterday and it’s so lovely to see everyone, in real life and on social media, acknowledging the small miracles mums carry out every day. Working and houseworking, with childcare and husband-care and grandparent-care… and all that they do that we never even realise. Mums are amazing and they deserve their cards, their flowers and chocolates, a million times over. And breakfast in bed, and a bloody long bath. With champagne and slaves.     

ALSO incredible – what an incredible time it is to be alive – Comic Relief 2017. The show hit our screens on Friday and has raised over £73 million for those in need. A staggering total. With lots of laughs along the way, we watched clips of the lives of people enduring the famine in East Africa. As we all do, I cried and donated money. And was just blown away with the footage – and with the idea that half the people in Liberia are hungry right now… that’s crazy! And horrifying.

Comic Relief - saving lives and raising smiles

As well as the footage from the African continent, I was also touched by the sequel to the film Love Actually. Much as we all chuckled, I’m sure, watching Rowan Atkinson’s gift wrap scene – was anyone else struck by the speech from Hugh Grant as Prime Minister?? In light of the Westminster terrorist attack, on people in London last week.. his words struck a chord. Even though that clip must have been filmed weeks or months in advance of the attack, and even though Hugh Grant isn’t our actual Prime Minister (though we may wish he were), it felt like such a solid address to the nation! A chill ran through me, just watching.

Anyway, readers, if you haven’t seen this film clip I recommend you go look it up. This last week certainly has been humbling, with the terrorist attack and then Comic Relief. Makes you appreciate the things that MATTER. Like, family and friends. Having food in your belly and feeling the sun warm your face. 

I stumbled upon a blog post this week called ‘How Would You Describe Yourself in Five Words?’, by Joanna Goddard (which you can read here). It’s a really simple idea for how to evaluate how you feel about yourself, and to track how the things that define you come to change through your life.

I had a go at describing myself in five words this week. Put ‘dieter’ on the list, because I have been trying quite determined lately to shift some last Christmas weight. Then I looked back over my list and thought: honestly, that’s pathetic. There are much better things to concern myself with than the nutritional content of a cereal bar. Like the famine, Hayley. The crisis in east Africa. So I've ditched the diet, in favour of a humbled, healthy outlook. Regaining perspective. 

I then happened upon a blog post for the best-looking cake recipe I’d seen in a looong while, and decided to make my colleagues happy. And take down everyone’s diets in one fell swoop. As I’d rather we were happy, and we could simply use ‘happy’ as one of our five words to describe ourselves like Joanna Goddard does. The recipe in question is for peanut butter swirled brownies, and you can find the original on the Smitten Kitchen blog here.

It’s chocolate brownie batter and peanut butter brownie batter, swirled together with choc chips on top. It’s Andy at work’s birthday and I’ve brought a batch of these brownies in the office for the occasion. Everyone is overjoyed. Want to bring similar JOY and HAPPINESS to your own life? You do?? Well, here’s how to bake up a batch of peanut butter swirled brownies in just twelve simple steps…

1.     Set some cheerful, sing-a-long music playing and heat your oven to 175°C.

2.     Grease an 8-inch square baking tin with butter or marg, and line the bottom with baking paper.

3.     To make the peanut butter batter, add all the ingredients to a small bowl and whisk together using a fork until they’re well mixed.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: The original Smitten Kitchen recipe used smooth peanut butter, but that’s sacriledge in the ChefBeHere household. So, I switched it out. And strongly advise you do the same.  How did the creator of such an amazing recipe have such shoddy taste in peanut butter?? I wonder.

No fight at all, in my eyes

4.     To make the brownie batter, break your chocolate up into squares, and melt the chocolate and butter together in a small pan over a very low heat until only a couple unmelted bits remain. 

ChefBeHere Top Tip: You need to stir constantly to stop your chocolate from burning! Mustn’t burn the chocolate. Alternatively, you can stick them in the microwave in a bowl and heat in small bursts until the chocolate and butter melt, stirring every 30 seconds.

5.     Then when they’re mostly melted, off the heat, stir until smooth and fully melted.

6.     Add the sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and salt to the pan/bowl, and stir in using a big wooden spoon. Fold in the flour and then you’re ready to assemble your brownies! 

7.     Spread half of your brownie batter evenly in the bottom of the prepared baking tin, and then dollop peanut butter batter all over in big spoonfuls.

8.     Dollop remaining brownie batter in pan, aiming, if you can, between the peanut butter dollops.

9.     Use fork to swirl the two batters together in loose figure-8s, and sprinkle choc chips all over to decorate.

Brownie batter ready to go in the oven

10.  Bake your brownie in the oven for half an hour, until it looks nicely baked and your house smells like heaven on earth.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: Don’t delay – get your dishes done and clear up your messy kitchen while the brownie bakes! Good to get these chores out of the way and it means you get to be near your brownie at all times, checking on it through the oven door. Sending loving thoughts.

11.  Safely remove from the oven and switch the oven off, then leave to cool in the tin for at least half an hour (resist eating!!) before slicing up into blocks.

12.  Serve to adoring fans or Tupperware for another day. Brownies keep well at room temperature, so they’ll be fit to eat for a few days at least… if they last that long!

Baked and smelling dreamy!

And that, readers, is all there is to it. Quite straightforward, don’t you think? I got along really well with this recipe! I did wonder, with having different sections of ingredients and with having two bowls on the go, whether it was going to be quite tricky – but no! There aren’t any complicated or skilled steps, and you don’t need octopus arms it’s an easy recipe to tackle step by step.

I found the recipe easy to follow and my brownie came out the oven looking good. Smelling godly. I sat myself down, late on Sunday evening, closing the curtain on the weekend with a warm chunk of gooey brownie to sample and it. Was. Diviiiiine. Like, ahhhmagaaad. Ahh. Mmm. Ohh. Yeeeeeah!

Readers, if you don’t like peanut butter then go leave me in peace. If you do like peanut butter, please bake this brownie as a matter of urgency. And let me know whether you think it's a waste of your precious resource,  just not to your taste, or whether you ate this with your eyes closed and a smile in your heart. As I did.

Swirl safely,

Hayley

Enjoy your life...
... eat brownies before bed somedays.