treats

Earlier this week, feeling a bit depressed and sorry for myself, I made a batch of cookies as an "I love me" treat. While I am not usually one to rely on food for comfort, at times nothing else will do the trick.

They may look like ordinary chocolate chip cookies, but their smell and flavour verge on the addictive. These are animal-friendly, gluten-free... and in all honesty the most delicious I have ever tasted! Their texture — slightly crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside — is absolutely perfect. You will find the recipe here, near the bottom of the article; I used brown rice flour, which was easy to find in a good health food shop. Future batches, already planned, will feature sliced almonds and dried cherries in place of chocolate chips, a well-tested winning combination.

Another wonderful treat recently discovered: peach-flavoured Long Life Oolong tea from David's Tea, which was enthusiastically recommended to me when I asked to have a sniff on my last visit to their store. I am happy to report that it does live up to its hype, its flavour developing in subtlety with each steeping.

Winter drags on endlessly here, cold and windy. I am counting the weeks until I can hope to hear the trickle and tinkle of melting snow...