Guilty pleasures

     Mr. C. is writing about guilty pleasures in a bookish sense over at C.B. today, so I thought I'd adopt the theme here and ask what your non-literary ones are.

    My confessions first. I have a weakness for an occasional breakfast in bed with good book to hand, though I rarely linger long after eating unless the book is exceptionally gripping.

    I do like a mug of special hot chocolate*, preferably sipped - as on freezing Saturday evening - in front of a roaring log fire while watching Gracie or the like on television.

   And a final indulgence: cashmere bed socks!!

   How about you?

*3 oz. very good dark chocolate, 6 fl. oz. milk, 1 tblsp. double cream, brandy (optional).

Melt the chocolate gently, either on the Aga warming plate or in a double boiler. Heat the milk until hot but well below boiling point. Pour the milk slowly over the melted chocolate while beating vigorously with a wire whisk. Return to the heat for a few moments then transfer to a mug (ideally pre-warmed). At this point, bearing in mind Julia Child's dictum that a little cognac never hurt anything, add a splash of your favourite tipple. Put a tablespoon (rounded side up) into the chocolate so that half of it is below the surface, and pour the cream over it for a full and even distribution!

Comments

[Ruth M.]

Guilty pleasures! Just the phrase gives me a thrill. On rare occasions when I have the house to myself, I love to write all morning, then race around five minutes before anyone gets home to create the appearance of having been dressed and doing proper chores all along. I'd add staying up half the night to finish a book but you said non-literary. My hot chocolate has a dollop of creme de cocoa or peppermint schnapps or -- truly wicked -- both.

[blackbird]

I think that you're thinking wintery thoughts but chocolate at any time is wonderful.

I would say that my chief weaknesses involve feathering my nest. Vintage china, sparkling glassware, fancy silverware followed by madly patterned sheets, duvets, quilts and feather-beds. Pattern on pattern and color on color- that's what I like.

[Jennifer]

Wishing I had a fireplace, that would be my guilty pleasure, but in the absence, a hot water bottle, a mug of hot chocolate, curled up in my robe and watching a good movie (if not reading a good book).

[Sian]

Mulled wine or cider at the moment... also candles, and good soap.

[Darlene]

Oh that does sound delicious doesn't it. We put Bailey's Irish Cream in coffee and add double cream but I love the thought of trying it with hot chocolate.

I recently spent a few minutes stroking a skein of cashmere at a woolshop...it was sheer bliss...and $32! Hide your bed socks if I ever come to visit.

[Margaret Powling]

Oh, good soap, too, Sian! I buy mine from a lovely shop in Ashburton (Devon, England) called The Ark. It's French soap and it comes in three fragrances - a round white tablet which is almond (although, to me, it smell more like eau de cologne, almost citrussy); then there is French lavender, an eliptical shape in a pale brown; and then, my very favourite, a rectangular tablet of creamy white honey soap, with an impressed bee design. Next flowers, I don't like the house without them and would rather buy some flowers than a bottle of wine (I even have them in the bed sitting room which is our spare room and when a friend saw them she remarked, "That's posh, flowers in the SPARE room!" Monthly glossy home style mags (Period House, Period Living, BBC Homes & Antiques et al). A glass of port on a cold afternoon in front of the fire, walnuts off our own walnut tree, Green & Black ginger chocolate,a pile of books arriving in the post, and like Cornflower, breakfast in bed and staying there just as long as I like on a cold winter's day (with a good book, of course and a supply of hot chocolate or even hot Ribena!)

[Cornflower]

Margaret, there must be queue of Cornflower readers outside your door all eager to come and stay with you after reading about all your lovely treats and pleasures! I'm on my way....

[Oxslip]

Vogue and a cup of Ceylon in the bath, wasting hot water and precious time by letting the lukewarm run away and topping up until I'm a prune

[Dark Puss]

I probably should feel more guilty about this than I do, but ...

OK, a few years ago I finally decided to have some photographs taken which were rather more fun than the usual ones. This week I will embark on photoshoot number five. The photographer I use is Morgana and a Cornflower friendly photograph of her on the "other" side of the camera can be found here. Cornflower readers may remember her wonderful photography (and my model Dawn's makeup) of the "Cranford Mitts" which you can see here. Of course Dark Puss (vain thing) would like to show you what Morgana has done with his image, but he wishes to retain some element of anonymity!