Review :: Chocolate in the Post.

So, of all things that you can get in the post, chocolate has got to be pretty high up there, particularly when it's dreamy, creamy Lindt chocolate.

Back in August (yes, August) I was lucky enough to receive free samples from Lindt's 'Hello My Name Is...' range, a cute new collection of chocolate sticks and bars in an array of tasty and exciting flavours. Designed for indulging yourself and sharing, it goes without saying that after this little care package, I was stocked up on chocolate for a little while.



Overall, while tasting luxurious, none of the chocolates were as dense or rich as I thought they would be and were really easy to eat. That sounds a bit silly because who doesn't love chocolate, but as someone who doesn't have all that much of a sweet tooth, getting five large bars of chocolate when I probably wouldn't get one that size more than once every six months, it was a bit daunting.

I thought my favourite from the off would be the Salted Caramel and I was right. There was just the right amount of caramel with a slight hit of salt towards the end, I can't get enough of anything salted caramel recently and I know it's pretty trendy but I personally think all the hype is for good reason.


I think the two biggest surprises were the Crunchy Nougat and Caramel Brownie. I think it's generally because these chocolates are so good anyway that any flavour combination was going to be delicious but I did worry that the nougat would be too 'nougatty' and the caramel brownie would be too chocolatey but both flavours were more there to enhance texture while only hinting at what variety they were, something I quite liked.

These were definitely a winner for me, offering a bit more than a bog-standard chocolate bar without having overpowering flavours that take away from the fact you're eating chocolate, I hope that this range is around to stay.

Surprise snow.

That crept up a bit, it's a bit melty now though. I didn't go to Shortlist today as it was still icy and snowy this morning and the trains from New Malden are slow and late on a regular basis anyway, let alone when you throw freak weather into the mix. Seems like a bit of a waste because although it's a two week time span so far, this would have only been my sixth day...

I'm nervously awaiting an email from the company I had an interview with on Monday. It would be nice to just be told, even if I don't get the second interview, which I hope I have. Both Long and Chris landed jobs this week, I'm really hoping this is a sign of of good things to come and that Moon and I will get something soon. I have another interview on Monday through a recruitment agency, which sounds quite promising so I'm a bit excited. I've been semi-researching rental properties in anticipation and I think it's begun to depress me so I'm going to stop.

Anyway, here are some photos I've taken this week. It's all been a bit uneventful and I've been so sleepy but I've spent today trying to psych myself up, so hopefully that will work and next week will be pumping.

Tuesday was a bit of a 'why not?' kind of day and I re-discovered this dress, which I love but just haven't worn in ages.
Cardigan: Primark
Necklace: Gift from Moon's mum (Accessorize)
Dress: New Look
Belt: Dorothy Perkins
Tights: Dorothy Perkins
Socks: New Look
Shoes (current fave, so comfy): Dorothy Perkins


Everyone has full-on caught Valentine's fever this week, almost putting me off it a bit. It does remind me that I have to work on Moon's card over the weekend though. So thanks, Pizza Express



I do really like McDonalds, but it is pretty annoying that it's one of the better places to eat for under £5...



This is a cake that my sister made for her friend's 18th birthday. It's quite nice, but you definitely have to love chocolate.


Thursday's lunch - Itsu, High Holburn




Obligatory posey kitten picture.


I know these aren't exciting but I like them. Like I said, I'm hoping things will pick up soon. I'm planning on starting on the Photography book my sister got me for Christmas so I'll share my efforts from that with you. It's just all about finding the time at the moment, and when I finally find the time, I just want to eat and sleep.

Recipe: Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I suppose I'm somewhat trying to create a bit more structure to my blog and have less really long posts about several different things.

Here is another thing I did at the weekend which I mentioned in my previous post. Moon and I baked cookies!
I know it's actually quite bad of me to bake these kind of things but every now and then isn't going to do anything except make me happy with a full tum.

Tumblr is a source of all kinds of wonderful baked good and these cookies are no exception. Moon posted the link on his Tumblr and that was it settled, we were baking these when I got down to his! The original recipe can be found at How Sweet It Is and we basically followed the recipe exactly, it's just ours look a bit different, and we changed a few things to adapt to our basic British baking knowledge. They were delicious though so I thought I would share the recipe with you, with pictures!

I recommend once baked that you enjoy with a glass of milk, which is exactly how Jessica over at How Sweet It is feels, you can't have anything Oreo without milk.

We followed with American measurements because I have measuring cups and vaguely know the quantity from sight but to get a conversion to weight follow this link.

Makes around 15-20 medium to large sized cookies
Ingredients
1 cup of butter
1 ½ cups of sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups of plain flour
½ cup of cocoa powder (we had ¼ cup of cocoa powder, ¼ cup of Lion milkshake mix)
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 cup of chocolate chips (they didn't have any at Tesco so we put in chunks of milk chocolate)
1 cup of Oreo cookies (we used a whole packet, -2)

Instructions:
1. Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until fluffy.
2. Add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and mix until combined.
3. Crush your oreos.
4. Fold in chocolate and crushed Oreos.

5. Add dough to cling film, compact and roll up.


Thankfully this isn't what he usually looks like.6. Refrigerate dough for 2-4 hours (or even overnight).
7. When ready to bake, pre-heat oven to 300 or Gas 6 and cut through your cookie dough roll and place dough onto greased up baking tray (foil/baking paper will also work).

8. Bake for 12-15 minutes then remove from oven and allow to cool.

Once cooled, enjoy!

It may look like a brownie but they easily taste better than any supermarket cookie, delicious.

Thank you Mr Postman.

Even though I am still waiting on so much stuff. I love getting things in the post.
These are my new salt & pepper shakers to replace the grimey S & P ones.

I also got a label maker. I have already labelled the fridge.

I also made this discovery, nom.