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Chocolate Chunk Oat Cookies

Hello again Toodles Noodles readers, it’s Lydia from Lydia Bakes here again bringing you another yummy recipe. These cookies are an absolute favourite in our house. Everyone I’ve shared the recipe with has kept it as their go-to cookie recipe, once you taste them you’ll know why. The cookies are delicious and chunky, with a bittersweet chocolately kick. The best part is they’re made with oats so they’re filling too! Chocolate Chunk Oat Cookies Recipe by Jo Seagar Ingredients: 250g Butter, softened 3 T Sweetened Condensed Milk 3/4 C Sugar 1 1/2 C Flour 1 1/2 C Rolled Oats 1 t Baking Powder 200g Dark Chocolate, roughly chopped (I use Whittaker’s 50%) Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line two baking trays with baking paper. Beat butter for about 30 seconds then add the sweetened condensed milk and sugar. Beat until light and creamy. Sift in the flour and baking powder then throw in the oats and chopped up chocolate. Mix together until nicely combined then roll heaped tablespoons full of mixture into balls and place on baking trays. Flatten with a fork (I love the look that gives them!) and cook for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Cool cookies on wire racks and then try not to eat them all at once, believe me, you'll want to!

Weekly Roundup 2 August

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you've all had a good week as we head into the month of August. This week has been a big one for us behind the scenes. We met with some amazing people, had a sample of an exciting new product arrive, had an stellar Once'it sale, and started to plan our stand for the NZ Gift Fair! With so much planning and the to do lists growing, stress levels have gotten a bit high. And when stress rolls around, the comforts come out. This week's round up is influenced by things that represent comfort to me - as you can see, I rely a lot on cooking and wine in times like these! Have a great weekend everyone - I'm personally super excited to attend the Auckland Food Show on Saturday and eat way too many tasters.

1. Linen Striped Paonia Tablecloth from Portugal.
2. Beautiful wine packaging designed by Australian company Picturelab.
3. Comfort and cheese platters go hand and hand.
4. Fun metric ceramic crocks - currently on sale!
5. One can never have too many nesting serving bowls.
6. Roasted beetroot and goat cheese tart - yum!

Weekly Roundup 26 April

This week the weather has certainly changed to an Autumn feel. With the weather cooling down, rain becoming more constant - my urge to start cooking warm, comfort meals has increased immensely. This week I tried for the first time My Food Bag - a great new company here in Auckland started by nutrionist and 2011 MasterChef winner - Nadia Lim. On Sunday three big bags of food arrived along with four recipes to cook healthy meals during the week. The recipes have proven to be absolutely delicious and quite generous creating leftovers for lunch every time! Not only has this service made it so we no longer have to go grocery shopping - but it's having us eat new meals every night that we know are well balanced and easy to cook. Of course with so much cooking, it makes me want to start upgrading some of my kitchen tools! With that I leave you with this inspirational country kitchen roundup. Have a good weekend everyone!

1. The perfect scarf for you to go and look around the farmers market by Cloth & Ink
2. Love the handmade look of these bowls.
3. Would love to have a set of these baskets around the kitchen and house!
4. If there is one thing I'm learning - you can never have enough cutting boards.
5. Beautiful French linen will surely spruce up any kitchen.
6. Kitchen art at its best.
7. Love everything about this reclaimed wood storage unit - just perfect.

Weekly Roundup 18 January

Happy Friday everyone! Looks like 2013 is off to a booming start for so many people - including us here at TN!  Just last week we found out that we might be able to move into a new bigger, sunnier home and just this Wednesday we found out we're moving this Sunday!  Nothing like a short deadline to get things going! With that in mind I have put together this fresh, new feeling weekly roundup!  I hope you find it as peaceful as I have and have a fantastic weekend!

1. Nothing says comfort like Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Stuffed with Homemade Caramel - oh yum!
2. Loving the fresh olive branches on the table settings at this wedding beautiful wedding.
3. Who would mind doing cleaning when your dustpan is smiling back up at ya!?
4. Absolutely love these beautifully designed bottles by Amy Hardy featured in Southern Weddings Magazine.
5. This week I discovered a new beautiful blog named Age Old Tree - beautiful!
6. These colourful spoons will brighten up any morning...

I hope you all have a lovely weekend and can't wait to show you images of our new home! x

Bees Blessing

I have a soft spot for products made locally. When you combine that soft spot with cooking and beautiful packaging - things get can get a bit crazy! Over the past year, I've been lucky enough to meet Jo from Bees Blessing. And I can guarantee she is as delightful as all their products! Tonight I made an absolutely delicious marinade for our chicken made with their latest treasure: Lemon & Thyme.  I've never tasted anything so tender and full of flavour - it was absolutely fantastic. The chicken tenderloins were only marinaded for 30 minutes before being grilled. Here is what I made this evening (give or take). 1/4 cup Bees Blessing 3 Tbs soy sauce 2 tsp fresh ginger 2 Tbs fresh garlic 1 tsp chili flakes 1 tsp dried coriander The chicken was served along side a large green salad made out of: baby spinach basil sundried tomato feta sundried tomatoes pine nuts sunflower seeds Look for Bees Blessing in a cafe or store near you and make sure to pick it up on your next shop!  I guarantee you won't regret it!

Staycation 2012

I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday break so far! As all my family is in the US and my partner who's family is in beautiful Wanaka originally thought that he would have to be working through - we are having a "staycation" in Auckland this year! With so many people leaving the Auckland region for the holidays we thought it would be a great time to explore our "new" home. Unfortunately the weather gods have had other plans. Providing us with some pretty bad weather. So we've made the most of it with doing what we love! I FINALLY got some new gym shoes (been wanting some for about a year - yay!) and have really given them a go with going to the gym for the last five days straight - wowie (helps justify that summer wine of course)! I did the girly thing of cleaning out my closet, tidied up my desk (that was seriously needed) and have given our apartment a nice big clean. We've also made some delicious meals (pictured top right - recipe to come) and did my first baking in four months! Since going super healthy I've stopped baking - which breaks my heart - but sacrifices have to be made...  We also managed to get on over to White's & Co  (pictured bottom left) for a delicious soft serve yogurt treat thank's to The Collective! Fingers crossed, the weather is supposed to improve and tomorrow we're venturing out for our first tiki tour! I'm sure to keep you posted and hope you're all having a lovely break full of family, friends, and great food! x

Weekly roundup 14 December

Well everyone the countdown is really on for Christmas now! Orders have really been flying through the shop and we have our last market of the year! You can find us this Saturday at Britomart's Moad Christmas Market open from 10-2:30. Then on Sunday I'm super excited for the Day on the Green concert at the positively beautiful Villa Maria Estate Winery featuring The Black Seeds and Fly Me Pretties! Do you have some fun weekend plans - we'd love to hear them! Now onto the good stuff - this week's roundup is a gift guide for the cooks in your life!

1. Beautiful mini wood bowls by Wind & Willow Home.
2. A lovely handmade apron by Beth at Chirp will surely do the trick, located locally here in Auckland.
3. OneCanoeTwo make the most beautiful and vibrant letter-pressed stationery including these recipe cards.
4. For the baker - this colourful cookbook is perfect!
5. Have lots of shopping to do - no problem! This notepad will help keep you and your home organised.
6. Time to make those baked goods shine with this handcrafted cake stand.
7. There's nothing like a tidy kitchen, keep your cooking utensils looking fab.

Sure do hope this roundup help bring some inspiration for those cooks and bakers in your life!  See you all next week!