Of Early Mornings, Steaming Coffee and Solitude

I'm not really a morning person. It's not the waking up that gets to me, I'm an early riser. I guess I don't like talking first thing in the morning, it's the one thing that annoys me above all else. I hate making conversation in the morning. At our home there are strict instructions in place that conversation should be avoided until I've had my coffee and it's had a chance to work its magic :) It's probably a good thing that the hubby is a late riser... and when he does wake up early, its usually to go for his run. The good thing about this is I get my 40 minutes of 'me time' where I can enjoy my 2 toasts and my mug of coffee by myself, and more importantly, in silence:)

There is something about the morning. It has a quality I can't quite put my finger on, it simultaneously captivates and comforts me. There is a certain stillness, a quietness to it that says the world is still not fully awake. And you can hear the chirping of the birds outside, sparrows (we are lucky to have a few around) fluttering around, singing a happy song that complements the soothing cooing of the pigeons. 

I love these moments I have that are just mine. I sit on the couch, with coffee mug in hand, and enjoy this solitude while the sun's warm rays stream in from the windows casting a warm glow over the room and forming dancing patterns of light and shadow. The other day I had my camera lying around and I captured a few images that I thought I'd share with you.

Have a great day folks!!!

[Images- Shalini Pereira]

P.S- Some really good things happening on All Things Nice... We are going to be having our very first giveaway! Can't believe its taken me so long! Am going to be posting very soon on this to stay posted! 

*Images above are the property of Shalini Pereira. Please do not use without prior written permission.

Quick & Simple Chocolate Chip Oat Cookies

Did you all have a great weekend? I did. Made it to the Windmill Design Festival on Saturday and picked up some nice stuff for the home. Will update you about my experience there soon. Caught up with friends after a really long time and discovered another awesome place to chill and have a few drinks (perfect Saturday date night with the hubby). See more about that here. 

I was going through the blog a few days ago and I realized I've not done a recipe post since probably before Christmas... actually I don't think I've actually done any baking since then, so it was a good thing that last Friday I had the most unbearable cookie craving. This usually happens when work is a little slow and my mind starts wandering to food. I also blame Pinterest :) I tried to ignore it, I tried to make myself busy... but it just wouldn't go away. My mind was saying cookies, cookies, cookies... and soon my stomach also joined in this chorus :) 

Do you sometimes have these unbearable cookie cravings? You know, the ones where you feel like you will absolutely lose it if you don't get a cookie fix? And then you open the pantry and to your utter despair... no cookies! This is exactly what happened on Friday. I thought I'd just eat a tiny cookie from the pantry and make the voices go away (sounding a bit crazy?) But when I saw zero cookies around I knew I was defeated and the voices in my head cheered!

Although I wanted cookies, I also wanted them quickly and I was in no mood to do anything too complicated. So I threw together a few things and whipped up a batch of chocolate chip oat cookies in, I kid you not, 30 minutes from start to finish.  The toughest thing about making these cookies is stopping yourself from eating them in the 20 minute cooling period. 

[All images- Shalini Pereira]

You know you have a problem when you make a batch of cookies telling yourself that you are making it for a loved one (in this case for the hubby), when in fact you know deep down you are making it for yourself :) But I was good this time and saved a few for him :)

Here's the recipe for these... 

Dry Ingredients

1/2 cup oats (I used Quaker oats)

1/4 cup chopped almonds

1/4 dried coconut shreds (unsweetened)

2 tbsp small chocolate chips

1 tbsp sesame seeds

1 tbsp dried ripe mango (cut into tiny bits)

Wet Ingredients

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp maple syrup

1/4 tsp almond essence

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch salt

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. In a pan, melt the butter with the brown sugar. Once the butter is melted and sugar is dissolved, remove from flame and add the olive oil, maple syrup, essence, cinnamon, salt. Combine the dry and wet ingredients. 

Line a cookie sheet with butter paper or a silicon sheet. Take heaped teaspoons of the mixture and place on the sheet, keeping a space of about an 1 1/2" between each heap. Flatten each heap with your hand. Don't worry if the mixture is a little loose. It will come together on cooling after baking.

Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until they are golden. Remove and allow to cool completely. Transfer to an airtight jar.

Love these cookies because they are delicious and ridiculously easy to make. And since they have no flour, they are slightly better than regular cookies. Next time I'm going to also add a 1/4 cup salted peanuts to the mix. Think they'll be quite tasty too. Will keep you updated.

On a totally different note, the All Things Nice FB page is in serious need of some love... so please, pretty please show it some love. The link is here. I'm thanking you all in advance for all the love & likes :) have a great day and a Fabulous week guys!