Chocolate and onions...

I woke up at about 9am this morning so it seems I needed the extra sleep! In the morning, I spent some time relaxing, and Sophie and I sorted out all our recycling. We had collected several Pringles tubes, mainly Paprika flavour, as well as bread bags and crisp wrappers. Later in the afternoon, we planned to take them to George in Milton Keynes. After dropping off our recycling, we wanted to visit the Hotel Chocolat café and shop near Junction 16 of the M1.

We left home at midday and made a stop at the care home to drop off some things for Mum and Dad. Then we went to a local shop to send off a bag of Tassimo discs. After that, we drove to Milton Keynes and dropped off the recycling with George. We used to go more often when he would take pet food pouches and coffee pods to raise money for two local charities. Unfortunately, we don't go as often as we used to.

Yesterday's grey weather had cleared, and we saw sunshine in the afternoon. However, driving towards Junction 16 of the M1, we saw waterlogged fields due to the heavy rain we've been having lately. We are all tired of this miserable weather and long for longer, warmer days. Hopefully, it won't be long!

The Hotel Chocolat café was crowded with families enjoying a Sunday afternoon treat. Sophie and I picked a hot chocolate and a sundae from the café menu. I enjoyed my ice cream, and the drink was very indulgent, with thick chocolate cream topping the mug. 

Browsing in the shop afterwards, we picked out some chocolate treats and then headed home. On the way, we were shocked at how much standing water there was on the roads. In our village, two huge areas of water hadn't drained away as the drains just couldn't cope. There's more rain forecast over the next week so I dread to think what it'll be like then.

Back home I started on tonight's dinner - French onion soup. I sliced three onions and put two baguettes into the oven to bake, to make the croutons. I cooked the onions with garlic very slowly so they softened and caramelised. 

Sophie and Keith watched football again (my daughter wanted Luton to thrash Manchester United) and at about 7pm we enjoyed the soup which I had covered with crusty bread and a layer of Gruyere cheese. It was a perfect meal for a chilly February evening!