The Rise and Fall of 40B440

There are some things rarer than diamonds. Pale women in Essex; Men who admit that they watch America's Next Top Model and having a week off work in the UK when the sun is shining all week. Astonishingly the latter is exactly what I was blessed with this week so in true British celebratory style I stayed inside most of the week complaining it was too hot. However, I did manage to knock off another few miles of my Cheshire Ring walk (Stockton Heath to Dutton) and thanks to the glorious weather, combined with me actually remembering to water my plants, I am pleased to say that this is the current sight in my balcony box:

Not bad eh?! When I failed the "Grow something" task back in the Spring it was due to a mixture of my neglect and the weather getting the better of me but this time both myself and Mother Nature have learned our lessons and the results are pretty fantastic. I'd like to say that all four of the plants in the box are doing that well but let's just focus on the positives for now!

So my plants are clearly the rise in this post title, having risen triumphantly from seeds into flowers but what is the fall? Well, at this very moment, in my oven, is my first attempt at a souffle. I've never attempted one before - generally my cooking exploits reach as far as the jars of sauce in the cupboard but I thought I'd see if I could achieve another seemingly impossible task by "Successfully cooking a souffle". Now "successful" is a very subjective word. One parents idea of success for their child maybe that they've performed their first violin recital at the Royal Festival Hall aged 6 whereas for another parent it would be that Diddums hasn't stabbed anyone today with a sharp instrument. Who is really to say what success is? Well as it's my blog I suppose that would be me so I hereby declare that for a souffle to be deemed a success it has to achieve the following:

1) Look like a souffle
2) Not be burned
3) Be edible (not make anyone vomit)
4) Not collapse in on itself as it's brought out of the oven.

So I carefully chose a recipe for a cheese souffle from the interweb and purchased my ingredients and put off attempting the task until the last afternoon of my holiday but finally I've had a go. So does it fulfill the brief? Here's the picture of the one from the website (which clearly isn't done following the recipe as it uses a different type of dish for starters):

And here's the picture of the one I've just made:

Er....Well it's not burnt. 

I've not tried it yet to know if it's edible but I'll keep you posted on that one.

It's not collapsed after coming out of the oven...but it hasn't really risen much either.

Whether it looks like a souffle though... I'm less sure.

What do you think? Please comment below (rather than on Facebook) - just state YES if you think I've achieved a "successful souffle" or NO if you think I need to go back to the books and start again another day. Plus if you have any handy tips or recipes that might help feel free to share those too. I'll leave it until the 19th July to let you vote whether I can cross this off yet. The majority decision will be final and I will abide by your decision 40b440ers. I fear I may know the answer already!

As they say on Big Brother: You Decide!