mangoes and chocolate chip cookies

I'm blogging from a TRAIN - oh the novelty of National Express WiFi!!! Am speeding northwards again for more blood checks and I daresay a fresh supply of backache-inducing G-injections. Meh. Anyway I'm sure you have been waiting with bated breath to hear how the 36-hour chocolate chip cookies turned out. I tell you now: they were the best chocolate chip cookies I have EVER eaten in my whole entire life. They are the kind of cookie you think would be impossible to make at home; they look so professional somehow, with appealingly cracked tops and crunchy edges and gooey middles. I ate three last night. At 10.30pm. Even Mother ate two - and another for breakfast this morning. (And now I bet she wishes she didn't have a daughter who blogs so honestly.)

We have the New York Times to thank for these - David Leite wrote this article last summer and it has slowly trickled down through all the food blogs to me (via Gluten Free Girl's adapted GF recipe). I won't bore you with another recipe since I basically used hers, but the big secret is to refrigerate for 36 hours. If you can stop yourself eating the raw cookie dough for that long. (I admit it: I struggled.) They are good at 24 hours, but at 36 they are sublime darling!


Oh and sprinkle a bit of sea salt on top to bring out the chocolate flavour. A note on the chocolate: I used Green & Blacks 70% cocoa and it worked pretty well. Michael wanted milk chocolate but you can't please everyone....tsk.

Last night, just before the cookies were ready, I realised I was shortly going to be very unhealthy and eat a lot - so in an effort to appease the coming guilt and balance out my diet a little, I ate a mango. This was a mango from a box that Jess sent me. (Instead of the Twilight DVD/books she was going to get me, before I beat her there. Sorry Jess....I just couldn't wait!! But thank you :) for the mangoes.) MMMMM these are also sublime mangoes. I have one in my packed lunch right now and am rather excited. I also have the last cookie. Life is good.

Unfortunately I still haven't worked out how to eat a mango in an attractive and delicate manner - does anyone have advice on this?

Right, back to cancer because that's what you want to know about: chemo #3 is next Tuesday, and my white cells are being checked today. I will most likely get the G-injections as default now, because of what happened last time. We can't really afford to have chemo delayed again. I do NOT like G-injections: they make my back absolutely kill, like bad period pain.

Side-effects have mostly settled down - the arm no longer hurts, only niggles. My appetite is back with a vengeance, obviously. The hair loss seems to have slowed a little, or maybe it's just not as drastic now the hair is shorter. At any rate I seem to have a lot of pinky blonde fluff left. Have taken to wearing headscarf to hide the bald patches. My mouth is starting to get a bit sore - gums bled a bit this morning when I brushed my teeth. Perhaps is time to start using the Corsodyl....hmm. Anyway now I am no longer convinced I have MS - thanks to a great GP consultation - I am quite serene. Like these mangoes all nestling together....