We found a recipe for strawberry souffle and thought we would give it a go. Unfortunately we must have done something wrong because although the end result tasted quite good, our souffles failed to rise. Below is the recipe we used.

Ingredients
Souffle aux Fraises
Strawberry souffle
to serve 6
450g of strawberries
350g if frozen
3 eggs size 2 separated
1 extra egg white
200g of caster sugar
25g of cornflour
50g of double cream
1 dessertspoon strawberry liqueur or kirsch
juice of 1/4 of a lemon
18cm / 7 1/4 in diameter souffle dish
Strawberry Souffle

Heat the oven to 190c or 375f gas 5 hull the strawberries and blend to a puree.
If frozen thaw and drain first. Butter the souffle dish, beat the yolks and sugar together until white and frothy.
Add the cornflour, cream, liqueur and a few drops of lemon juice and beat until smooth.
Add the strawberry puree and mix well.
Beat the egg whites to a stiff peak and fold into the strawberry and egg yolk mixture very carefully.
Pour into the souffle dish about three quarters full.
Bake in the oven for 30 mins serve straight away.
You now have a strawberry souffle

The mixture before it went into the oven.

I and Rory checking the progress of the souffle.

The finished dessert, tasty but disappointingly flat.

We will try this again in a few weeks, perhaps with a different recipe. Watch this space for attempt number 2.

Apparently it is no longer acceptable to have a brainstorming session, instead you should have a thought shower. That's according to Tunbridge Wells Borough Council which has suggested staff stop using the term in case it offends epileptics. Its the first time I have come across the term thought shower, it seems to be one those very pointless office terms that exists just to irritate. It certainly irritates my husband so I will use it frequently.

I often come across articles that make me think scientists have a little too much time on their hands. This is a good example. A group of scientists have been working really hard and have found the formula for the perfect sandwich. What a relief. It is based on algebraic variables and takes into account factors such as the thickness of the cheese and the bread and the amount of margarine that is used. You can give it a go here and can be sure you will never mess your sandwich up ever again. Thank you science.

In case you are wondering my perfect sandwich had the following dimensions.

White Bread : 10mm
Farmhouse Cheddar : 2.25 mm
Pickle : 3 mm (3 teaspoons, random chunk distribution)
Butter : 1 mm (average spread thickness)
White Bread : 10mm

The optimum thickness of Parkham Mature Cheddar for your sarnie strata selection is 2.25 mm.   

I do my shopping monthly so usually shop online because my ford fiesta is simply too small to take a months worth of groceries. I was surprised that the usually quite reliable Sainsbury's website was down when I tried to place an order on Wednesday. It appears the issue was caused by by a technical problem which meant they couldn't process any orders. What did surprise me was the website was down all of Thursday as well and the issue only appears to have been resolved today. Apparently during those few days more than 30,000 customers have not received their orders, with all deliveries being cancelled on Wednesday, Thursday and today. The good news for people that use the Sainsbury's online service, is it appears to be working correctly now, so fingers crossed the problem is fully resolved by next weekend when I am expecting my delivery.

According to this article gardeners are likely to see an invasion of slugs this year. Apparently the warm and damp spring has provided the ideal conditions for slugs to breed. It certainly seems to the case in my garden. The slimy little critters have been enjoying my nice ripe strawberries before I can get to them myself and I took this picture of a particularly large and slimy slug crawling down my patio door this morning.

If you have £3.2 million to spare then you might want to spend it on an island. Sanda island in Scotland has just been put on the market. The new owner will be able to issue their own postage stamps and even mint their own gold. The price also includes two smaller islands Sheep and Glunimore. Its just a little bit out of my price range.

This is BMW's latest concept car and surprisingly it is made of cloth. The cars skin is made of an expansion resistant textile which stretches across movable metal wires controlled by hydraulics. The car is more flexible than a car with a metal skin and it is able to change shape at a touch of a button to suit the owners mood.

This article suggests that tea could be good for you. According to the article drinking at least four cups of tea a day can be good for your health and can help prevent heart attacks. It can also help to improve alertness and mood levels and can strengthen bones. It certainly makes me less irritable in the morning.

Wine prices are likely to rise as much as 10% this year according to this article. The chief executive of Majestic has said that the increases are to cover increases in wine duty and currency costs. It will mean that bottles of wine that currently cost £6 or £7 will go up as much as a £1.00. That's quite a lot on the price of a case, maybe its time to cut back and save some cash.

I came across this article about a product called LipContour briefs. The makers of the briefs claim that the product can take inches off of the hips and thighs without the wearer having to do any exercise. All you need to do is wear them for eight hours a day for eight to twelve weeks. Personally I'm a little skeptical, although at £49.99 they might be worth a try.