Confessions of a Window Cleaner

This is my window cleaner. I was thinking he was overdue as my conservatory windows are filthy... he came this morning and after a little chat I discovered that throughout the whole of November he only worked 3 days - it rained too much for cleaning windows you see. I never thought about how the weather affected his job, and of course because he only worked three days... he only got three days pay! How sad is that!



I had just taken some double chocolate cookies out of the oven...

.... so I gave him and his mate a giant cookie each. I am sure they would have rather had some extra money... but that is a tight commodity here too. Then I sat down to have a cup of tea and a cookie... mmm... I think I'm going to have the cleanest windows in the village...


Nigella's devine recipe.........

Intense Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:
125g dark chocolate
150g plain flour
30g sifted cocoa powder
1tsp bicarbonate soda
1/2 tsp salt
125g unsalted butter, softened
75g light brown sugar
50g caster sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
1 free-range egg, cold from the fridge
350g dark chocolate chips

Method
1. Preheat oven to 170C/325F/Gas3
2. Break the dark chocolate into pieces and place into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until melted.
3. Place the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large bowl and mix well.
4. In another bowl, cream the butter and two sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate and stir well.
5. Beat in the vanilla extract and crack in the egg, then mix in the dry ingredients. Finally stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Scoop out 12 equal portions of the mixture - and ice cream scoop and a palette knigfe are the best tools for the job - and place onto a lined baking sheet about 6cm apart. do not flatten them.
7. Transfer to the oven and bake for 18 mins (16 mins in my oven... so you best check on them towards the end of cooking time) Test with a skewer, it should come out semi clean and not wet with batter, if you pierce a chocolate chip, try again.
8. Leave teh cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 4-5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to harden as they cool.