One Little Word 2012

One Little Word. It's an amazing concept devised by Ali Edwards several years ago. On a basic level, you choose a word at the beginning of each new year...a word to live with, to inspire, to lead, and to reflect upon during the year.

I have found, over the last couple of years that I have chosen a word, that it has been a powerful tool in my life. My little word can pop into my mind under many different circumstances, and can be a driving force to help me achieve my goals, to help me make decisions, and to guide me.

This year, after much thought, I have chosen the word extend.

I hope to extend myself in many areas of my life...to reach beyond my comfort zone and expand my horizons a little more.

With this little word foremost in my mind when I felt the urge to bake yesterday morning, I reached beyond my usual tried-and-true recipes to this gorgeous new cookbook that I received for Christmas...

Oh my, it is a lovely publication! Take a peek inside...

The styling is amazing! I love the retro images, the old advertisements, the memories that some of the recipes evoke...showing my age now, aren't I? LOL

It is simply divine.

I decided to make some Chocolate Mousse Puffs...much like a chocolate version of profiteroles, with a white chocolate mousse filling. This involved a few techniques that I've never attempted before, and much more fiddling around than I normally get involved in :)

At one stage I had two sets of electric beaters going! The filling used not only cream cheese, but white chocolate melts AND thickened cream...imagine the calories!

They looked quite untidy...not uniform at all...but OH MY GOODNESS the taste!

I think they may just be the yummiest thing I have ever baked. Seriously good.

So that's my one little word for 2012. I hope to use it well...and also hope that it's not my waistline that does the extending! LOL

TTFN xxx