It's a Rocky Old Road...

Cutting up the marshmallows...or, unlike me, you could just remember to buy the wee ones.

Broken ginger nuts...no jokes allowed.

Melt the chocolate-and sneakily lick the spoon.

Cut up the crunchies...no nibbling.

His sole reason for helping-craping the bowl.

Post licking the bowl .

Pop in the fridge for an hour or so.

Stick the kettle on and get stuck in.

You literally cannot beat a really good high quality Rocky Road. Honestly,  I never thought I'd say this, but it even gives my favourite traybake in the entire world-the caramel square- a run for its money.
 Easy peasy, no cooking, loved by everyone-it's the absolute bomb. There are various recipes out there-ones with cherries and raisins and nuts but IMHO this one is the best. Shamefully stolen from my bloggy buddy Sarah Miles' foodie website What Would Nigella Do? it's decadent and delicious-the only problem being that it disappears far too quickly.
Top tip-make sure to use good quality chocolate-none of that chocolate flavoured brown crap also known as 'Cooking Chocolate' allowed -it must be Cadbury's or similar. (It's paramount you agree with me on this, otherwise we simply can't be friends anymore...yes, I take my chocolate that seriously).
Now I think of it, it's perfect for using up leftover Easter eggs-last year we had 11!
Here's the recipe-let me know what you think.

Rocky Roads

Ingredients

• 450g milk chocolate
• 150g ginger biscuits, broken up haphazardly
• 100g small marshmallows
• 2 x 40g Crunchie bars, cut into 1cm chunks

How to make it

Line a 20cm square cake tin with baking parchment.

Place the milk chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Allow the chocolate to melt slowly. Once the chocolate has melted, remove from the heat and allow the chocolate to cool to just above room temperature, otherwise it will melt the marshmallows.

Stir in the other ingredients and press into the prepared tin. Place in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours or until set, then cut into squares and serve!

Chocolate Substitute for Lurve.....

I do love a good double entendre...

Here's what I was presented with the other day, after my  'You never buy me anything'  rant......Yeah, whatevs, cos look a wee bit closer and you'll see that all is not quite what it seems.... And just for that, I'm gonna eat the lot!

Soooo Over Lent

I want that t shirt!

Well,  we're two weeks in to Lent and it's all going swimmingly. Really? Really? No, not really, and in actual fact, to be brutally honest, it's been a bit shit. If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, then I'm on it, cruising a steady 50. And it's not even as if I'd set myself incredibly lofty or unrealistic goals to begin with-my Lenten promises were humiliatingly modest.
First, I'd toyed with going off chocolate, (and I KNOW my arse would have thanked me), but then I remembered the endless 'diet years', so I self righteously convinced myself that I'd 'done my time'. Apart from anything, the thought of that little red Lindor choc with my nightly tea, motivates me to get up in the morning, thereby getting everyone else up as well, and its SO important to see the big picture, don't you think?.
So next, I (briefly) considered going off wine, but in the same vein, I recalled the many years of pregnancy and feeding, when wine was but a beautiful and distant memory. Have you any idea how many Lents I did? Back to back? With no St Paddy's Day in the middle for a bit of a blow out? Well, I do, and I can tell you that I'm all squared up there till Lent 2047.
So, this seems like a good time to come clean and confess that I'm a terrible picker...I mean, the worst.. really desperate altogether. Combine that with all the children, and being at home, and  preparing or serving food all the time and its not a good situation... at all. As the fridge magnet quite rightly says, 'Big pickers wear big knickers', and, between you and me, my knickers are a fair old size, (except for *ahem* a few 'less practical' pairs at the back of the drawer).
Therefore, I decided that *drumroll* I'd go off picking for Lent! And kill all manner of birds with one dirty great stone. And I can tell you that its going.....really really badly. The biggest problem is that I don't usually realize I'm even doing it, until a child screams delightedly, ' Mummy, you're picking!! You're breaking your Lent!', which is usually swiftly  followed by 'Can I break mine too?' Another issue is that I tend to pick more when I'm stressed, which coincidentally, is often when I'm trying to rustle up a dinner for seven, while asking spellings, listening to reading and overseeing piano practice at the same time. I know, I know- Excuses, excuses!
I'm also a teeny bit ashamed to admit, that the fact that the children are all off chocolate and doing very well, thank you very much, is making me feel worse. Now, obviously, this doesn't count Sundays and the odd forgetful lapse and they DO have a questionable flexibility as to the definition. As in chocolate 'chip' cookies don't count , nor does chocolate 'flavoured' ice cream. But still...
So, I'm getting back on track-we're only 2 weeks in ( see -glass half full! ) and I CAN DO THIS. I'm going to screw my courage to the sticking point and turn over a new leaf. At the same time. Yes, indeedy, MY Lent starts right here, right now!
Okay, strangely and rather dramatically, I'm hearing an orchestra and imagining myself a la Scarlett O'Hara, (if she were a ginger chubbster and much less gorgeous), sunset in the background, hand held aloft, crying  ' As God is my witness, As God is my witness ....'
(Now, I've only just gone and spoiled it by googling the rest of that quote and it's '... I'll never be hungry again', which really isn't the point AT ALL, but never mind.) So here I go, wish me luck cos I'm going to need it!