One of the nicest things about living in a village is that you know everyone and everyone knows you. Now, I can imagine that if you liked a lot of privacy or had secrets you wished to keep, a village wouldn't be the place for you. Luckily, I don't fall into either of these categories. I have often borrowed a cup of flour or sugar or other baking ingredient from one of my neighbours and there is a very nice community feel. In true village spirit, this morning the postman knocked on my door (he has recently been having a few samples from the book so knows I like to bake) to ask whether I could help him with cup conversations in a recipe he had. Having just "cup and stick" converted 365 recipes, I proudly knew the answers without even looking it up! In return I asked for the recipe and was so intrigued by the limited list of ingredients (no flour or butter?) that I made them in my lunch break today and can happily report that they are yummy, although very sweet! I added chocolate to the recipe in the hope that they would taste like my favourite Reeses peanut buttercups. Not quite...but they were nice all the same

Postman Howard's Peanut Butter Cookies

200g/7oz caster sugar
340g/12oz crunchy peanut butter
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla essence
200g/7oz milk or plain chocolate, chopped into chunks.

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5/190C/375F and grease a large baking tray. Cream together the sugar and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix again. Stir through the chocolate. Place small balls of the dough on the tray and press down. The cookies do not spread very much. Bake for 7 - 8 minutes until golden brown.