This evening’s blog will be brief because my eyelids are heavy and I MUST go to bed early – well, earlier than usual. So with this in mind I’m challenging myself to prepare and publish tonight’s entry in record time. 

On the subject of record times, did you know that it takes about 3.16 minutes for the first of those magnificent horses running the Melbourne Cup to finish the prestigious 3200 metre horse race? That’s an impressive feat! I’m certainly looking forward to following the event on television tomorrow afternoon. 

SO racing ahead… today I made as steaming pot of nourishing Chicken Soup from Scratch and served it with hot buttered sourdough toast. It certainly cheered up my sweet natured six year old daughter Sofia who was suffering from an ear and throat infection. Chicken soup manages to make everyone feel so much better. You can find my recipe on the post dated the 27th May. 

Times almost up! Afternoon tea was a simple, but satisfying batch of Mixed Berry and Dark Chocolate Muffins. I followed my recipe for Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins published on the 16th June but I used dark chocolate melts along with a mixture of raspberries and blueberries. Inspired by the muffins in David Herbert’s cookbook, “Best Ever Baking Recipes”, I added 125 grams of melted butter, instead of my usual extra virgin olive oil to my mixture. These golden coloured, buttery muffins have a moist, dense texture and although not quite so ample in size, they were certainly very tasty.