We have been having a hard time lately. In our idyllic cottage in Devon, we more often have reason to celebrate than to slump around like Eeyores. But that is what we have been doing for the past week - all four of us. One has a cut throat (literally), one has work overload, another of us has unreasonable overtime and the last one of us has toilet troubles.

Plus, it's grey and dreary and we can't go to the beach in the rain. There, I'm done grumbling now. Sometimes it feels good to talk. And there is plenty of the good stuff on its way to brighten things up. Like my birthday (which is very soon indeed, but I won't tell you when, because of ID fraud and things.) (Oh yes, and take this, everyone who mocked me when I left Facebook 'cause of fraud: SOMEONE IN LONDON IS USING A FAKED-UP VERSION OF OUR CAR! With a fake numberplate and all. I know because I have been receiving his parking penalties. Who's laughing now, doubters? Me! Okay, not so much.). My birthday, on which I am hoping to be ridiculously spoilt. Um, then there's Valentine's, and as an unashamed romantic this is just an excuse to festoon the house and pets in red ribbons and paint chocolate on every plate. And guess what else? A birthday trip to Harrods soon, too. Mmmm....

See, there's so much good stuff, when you pause and think on it. In the meantime, in case you are living in a house of Eeyores, here is my recipe for White Chocolate and Pistachio Cookies, oh so buttery and oh so smartly irresistibly i-can't-only-eat-one delicious. You can feed these to anyone you like, no matter how posh they are. Oh but please be careful to just-cook them: they are best pale and tender.

love, a not-so-grumpy-after-all-me.

BUTTER COOKIES WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE AND PISTACHIO

3oz butter
2oz caster sugar
4oz self-raising flour
2oz white chocolate
1oz pistachios

Vanilla pod (optional)

Cream the butter and sugar as well as you can before your arm starts to hurt. Sift in (or just tip) the flour and stir it with a fork, gently amalgamating. The mixture will look fairly crumbly. Never mind: on a chopping board, set to the chocolate and pistachios, chopping to rough chunks. Add them to the bowl, with the vanilla seeds if you have any. Bring the mixture together gently with your hands: it will start to stick together as your warm hands melt the butter a little. Form into balls - about 12 - and flatten on baking parchment-lined sheets. Bake at 160 degrees for 10 minutes and cool on a wire rack. If you happened to have a tube of gold lustre in the drawer, it would look terribly graceful brushed over the tops when they come out of the oven. Or, just shovel and munch: it doesn't matter much.