ps

and while you're at it, in your ice cream kick, drowning in the summer sun, go ahead and bake up a batch of irresistable chocolate chip cookies.

then whip up a batch of simple vanilla ice cream.

smush them together for the perfect summer snack: ice cream sandwiches - rolled around in toasted coconut or chopped almonds or just left alone to be admired and eaten as is.

such a treat.

nothing says summer like tie-dye

And margarita ice cream.

Taken from a Nigella Lawson's Forever Summer - a cookbook I recieved one christmas and didn't take one look at for about 2 years - this is so divine.

Holy crap.

It's like the heavenly Blue Bell Key Lime Pie ice cream, but better.

Cause there's tequila!

You get the pucker from all the lime juice and a slight backdrop of orange from the liqueur (yes, there's more alcohol!) and then, right in the back of your throat, that warmth from the tequila.

It's an interesting recipe, with the use of condensed milk in place of sugar and the addition of liquor. To my surprise, the lime juice didn't cause the mixture to curdle. It worked extremely well.

And on a ridiculously hot summer day (we're hitting it close to 100 degrees over here), it's refreshing. Your cocktail and your dessert in one.

You can even make yourself feel extra fancy by scooping it into margarita glasses and dipping the rim in sugar.

Yum.

Seriously.

Nigella Lawson's Margarita Ice Cream

(with slight change - the original recipe calls for 6 egg yolks, but I hate eggy ice cream. four yolks worked perfectly fine.)

1 1/2 cups + 2 T heavy cream

4 egg yolks

1 3/4 cups sweetened condensed milk (one can)

3 1/2 oz (7 T) tequila

2 T Grand Marnier/Triple Sec/Cointreau, whichever

juice of 6 limes and the zest of 1

1. Heat the cream. While it heats, whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl.

2.When the cream is almost to a boil, slowly whisk into the yolks. Pour back into the pan and cook until thickened. Cool slightly.

3. Stir in the condensed milk, tequila, orange liqueur of choice, lime juice and zest and let cool completely.

4. Freeze in an ice cream maker and then eat the hell out of it.

from a foodie to a foodie

My birthday has passed leaving behind trails of balloons and wrapping paper and ribbons in its wake.
Which is fine by me, except for the mess to clean.
Leave it to my culinary school galpal to go overboard on the presents and find some rather cool kitchen gadgets to excite me.
One of them being a salad spinner, that I must admit excites me beyond belief.
The other being a set of measuring scoops. Not cups. Scoops.
And the best one yet? The shot glass maker. The ice shot glass maker. Yes, your shot glass is ice. Way cool.
How can you not RSVP to a cocktail party when ice shot glasses are on the menu??
You can’t. Oh no.

And as for dinner?
Well.
When it comes to the big Birthday Dinner, I go for divine. I go for something to blow me away, take me away, lift me onto a cloud and float away to this-is-the-most-amazing-dish-ever land. My stomach is happy; my heart is happy.
But this year, I just opted for the fun. Because as many chateaubriands as you may consume, and the caviar and the lobster and the risottos and the fancy froo-froo, if you cannot sit down to enjoy a simple, fun meal then you cannot love food. Then you do not love food.
Ruth Reichl once wrote about Benihana: "...an establishment no self-respecting critic would set foot in. It is a marketing strategy disguised as a restaurant...", but even she went off with her son and husband and had a good time.
So there.
And besides, sometimes there is absolutely no reason to resist a flip of an egg, a turn of a spatula, and an onion volcano.

Oh and the birthday cake?
As chocolate-y and peanut butter-y as one could ever hope for.

Yum.

salad days

Im a South Florida girl.
And as a true South Florida girl I’m used to the warm weather and the humidity and the constant wearing of flip flops. Really.
I’m also quite aware of the fact that Florida is what I like to call "seasonally challenged".
While all you lovely people out there are enjoying your snowy winters and fall leaves, we’re stuck with 4 different seasons of our own: almost summer, definitely summer, kinda-still summer, and "winter". And "winter" is that random week of 60º weather that has us busting out with our gloves, overcoats, and scarves, while the rest of the country is really bitching about the justified 30º. And so.
We are in Definitely Summer. It’s beach weather. It’s flip-flop weather. (But more accurately, right now it’s shitty weather. Rainy and cloudy and thunderstorm-y. Le sigh.)
So when these days roll around the last thing I even want to think about is turning an oven on and getting too fussy with heavy meals. I want light and crisp and refreshing. Like salad.
And for the longest time I was such an awful picky eater. I didn’t eat anything green. That included parsley garnishes when we would go out to eat.
"None of that green stuff, please".
I shuddered at the idea of salad, but as I grew older I got into the habit of better eating. And one day decided: a salad can be comprised of anything I want so why not make a salad of everything I like?
Thus My Favorite Salad was born. Dumb name, I know, but there is no other way to name it. It is my favorite salad. The salad I make constantly. Especially when the days are humid and hot and yucky.
And I must say: there isn’t much not to love about this salad.

So here’s the deal. Grab yourself a medium-sized bowl. Juice a lemon or two right into it. Add in a couple of glugs of olive oil, some soy sauce (and that is the key here), salt, pepper, and minced garlic. Toss in the meat of your choice (chicken breasts are such a perfect option) and let sit for about 10 minutes. This is the simplest marinade and the marinade I use on literally everything. It’s so good and it’s simple. It doesn’t need 4 hours, it doesn’t need overnight, it doesn’t need fussy. My kind of thing.
So as that sits, grab a big bowl this time. Chop up your favorite lettuce (I’m partial to romaine. And spinach. I could eat spinach by the bowl-ful every single day. Oh how things have changed..). Add in cucumbers - seeded and peeled, grated carrots, some handfuls of corn kernels, and a good bit of feta cheese. Toss that around.
For a vinaigrette, I keep it just as simple as the marinade. A couple of lemons, juiced, some olive oil, chopped parsley, and a sprinkle of sugar to balance out the acidity. You don’t even need salt and pepper. Really.
Grill the chicken breasts (or whatever meat) and then let rest for about 5 minutes. Slice up and toss into the salad. Pour on the vinaigrette and sprinkle on sliced almonds (I like them toasted. The toasting gives them an even bigger crunch). Toss.
Now, of course this is a salad and a salad can be anything you decide to throw into a bowl, but you have to try it like this just once.
The heat from the chicken soaks up the vinaigrette and the almonds add the most wonderful texture. Every time I make this salad, it’s common to see every one grab seconds and thirds. It’s that delicious, and on a Definitely Summer day, there is definitely nothing better.

green thumb for dummies

At my local Target.
Perusing through the oh-so-addictive Dollar Spot.
With spring dollar items from mini-shovels to gardening gloves to the I-cannot-help-myself-I-want-it-now grow kits.

Little flower pots, probably a quarter of the size of my palm, containing soil pellets and seeds and it’s your own personal growing kit!
For those who simply cannot get it!
And that’s not to say that I can’t get it. The basil flourishes every spring and summer here. An abundance of basil that I can’t help but admire and then tear leaves off and just let the aroma waft around the air and straight into my nose.
It’s addicting.
Kind of like the Target Dollar Spot. Kind of like these absolutely adorable grow kits.

Of course once they start to grow you’ll have to transplant everything, but what an adorable way to start!
I opted for the chives and tomatoes. Though between you and me, I know tomatoes are finicky. And I know they’re a pain. So my money isn’t particularly riding on it.
There were tons of flower options, as well as some fresh oregano and even sweet peppers.
Absolutely adorable. Really!
And what a great little thing for kids to get into.
April showers brings May flowers, no?
So yes, happy planting, indeed!

i scream: ice cream!

On a hot spring day, I glued my eyes to Food Network and watched Giada, in all her cleavage-baring glory, talk about Nutella gelato and then...and then! make Gelato Coolers out of it. It was almost too much for a girl to handle. So I said "I have to make that. Now."
And I did. And it is...holy crap.
One taste and the only words I could muster up were "oh my god".
Nutella is a fabulous - and I mean fabulous - concoction of chocolate and hazelnuts. A sort of chocolate-and-peanut-butter combination that is so divine, so rich, so creamy, so good. I hadn’t had Nutella in ages, but my undying love of chocolate and peanut butter is indication that I love Nutella just as much.
Funny enough, my all-time, hands-down, absolute favorite ice cream is Haagen - Daaz’s Chocolate Peanut Butter.
I can’t say this tops it, but it is super close. The hint of the hazelnuts in the background add for this really distinctive, really fabulous flavor.
It’s slightly rich, but it’s not terribly chocolatey. It’s just plain good. Great, in fact.
And it’s so easy.
Homemade ice cream is a term that just comes across as so daunting. But homemade ice cream is easy. It’s a simple process and the rewards are fabulous.
I mean Nutella. And ice cream.
Together.
On a hot day, even on a cool night, one bowl of this is the perfect remedy for anything.

Giada DeLaurentiis' Chocolate-Hazelnut Gelato

2 cups whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup plus 1/4 cup granulated sugar

4 egg yolks

1/2 t vanilla extract

1/2 cup Nutella (or any other chocolate-hazelnut spread, though I can't say I know any others. And I'm not too sure I'd want to...)

1. In a saucepan combine the milk, cream, and 1/2 cup of sugar over medium heat. Cook until the sugar dissolves and it comes slightly under a boil.

2. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together the yolks and 1/4 cup of sugar until it reaches the ribbon stage: pale yellow, thick, and falls back in ribbons.

3. Temper the yolk mixture by slowly adding ladle-fuls of the milk mixture and whisking to incorporate. Do this until half of the milk mixture has been added to the yolk mixture.

4. Pour the yolk mixture into the milk mixture and cook until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. This can take anywhere from 5 - 7 minutes. But keep your eye on it. No scrambled eggs, please.

5. Once thickened, strain to make sure everything is smooth and add in the vanilla and nutella. Whisk to melt and combine. Chill the mixture completely.

6. Once chilled, pour into ice cream maker and follow the ice cream maker's instructions. Once it's churned you could do as I do and attack it right there, as is. No need for scoops or other bowls. Just the ice cream maker and me.

Or you could freeze it until it hardens up a little more, garnish it with some chopped hazelnuts, and float away into a chocolatey heaven.

homecoming sweets

So the boyfriend has been gone for the past week.
Hanging around the snowy mountains and fishing in the icy lakes of Tennessee. Not entirely successful, though why do I have a feeling it’s because of that charming 27º weather..?
Anywho.
When I see his oh-so-lovely face on Friday, I will greet him with one big hug, many big kisses, and a plate of brownies. Loaded peanut butter brownies.

That are big bites of chocolate fabulous-ness hiding little bitty treasures and swirled with peanut butter.
See also: I took just about all I had in my pantry and threw it into the batter.
Brownies - like cookies (though, technically they are cookies) - are the perfect vehicle for anything and everything you may want to get rid of.
Got some extra walnuts on hand? Ok. Perhaps some chocolate or chocolate chips? Perfect. Marshmallow fluff and peanut butter? Why the hell not?
And this brownie recipe is divine. I’ve been using it for years and years and it’s such a hit every single time.
The main thing about brownies is to really mix everything by hand. It’s how I have always done it. Put away your electric mixers and stop being lazy for a second. It’s almost therapeutic: the whisking of the butter and sugar and the eggs and the gradual addition of the flour and cocoa.
For me, sometimes cooking is so much more about the process and the ritual and the calming sense of it all, than it is about the end product.
This is one big instance where that rings true.
Boyfriend will love them. Or, rather, he better.
If anything, I’m sure he’ll love the warmer weather he’ll be coming home to.
And hey, my kisses too!

Loaded Peanut Butter Brownies
Brownie base recipe from Allrecipes.com.

3/4 cup butter, melted
1 ½ cups sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup all purpose flour
½ cup cocoa powder
½ t baking powder
½ t salt
1 pack of Reese's peanut butter cups, cut into cubes
½ cup chocolate chips
½ cup chopped nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, etc.)
½ cup peanut butter (good quality peanut butter, not store brand stuff. it really makes a difference.)

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9x9 square pan. (A 13x9 inch pan works ok, but I really wouldn’t recommend it.)
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and sugar until combined. Add in eggs one at a time, whisking in after each addition.
3. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add into the butter-egg mixture, whisking slowly to combine.
4. Sprinkle a little flour over the nuts, peanut butter cups, and chocolate chips to keep them from sinking to the bottom. Gently fold them in. Pour batter into pan.
5. Place the peanut butter in a small bowl and microwave to loosen up, about 10 seconds. Pour over batter and, with a toothpick, swirl around.
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes. The recipe calls for 40-45 minutes, but it never takes me that long. Keep an eye on them. Your oven may vary.

These are pretty fabulous all on their own. But, hey, a little vanilla ice cream never hurt anybody.