Gingerbread Caramel Corn.

Last December I got a caramel corn recipe from a flickr friend. I finally got around to making it. Or, at least, my adaptation of it.

I initially was going to make it exactly how she did. Real popcorn, light corn syrup, etc.

Then I burnt the real popcorn. And I didn't have corn syrup. Blah.

I decided to create my own version.



Gingerbread Caramel Corn
1 Cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (vegetable spreads are not recommended)
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves
1/2 tsp baking soda


Pop 2 bags of 94% fat-free popcorn.

Heat oven to 200 degress F.

Over medium heat, cook brown sugar, butter, molasses, salt & spices in 2-quart saucepan, stirring occasionally until bubbly around edges. Continue cooking 5 minutes; remove from heat. Stir in baking soda until foamy.

Pour sugar over popcorn; toss until evenly coated. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. cool completely & store in air-tight container.

Brown Sugar.

Yesterday I made lots of cookies. Abby wanted to make chocolate chip cookies, so we made those too. For whatever reason, I suck at the most basic cookie. Anyhow, I was getting everything ready and realize I was out of brown sugar. Duh.
I made some. It was so easy and kind of cool to watch it come together.

1. 1 Tbsp of molasses to 1 c of white sugar.


2. Blend.


3. Blend some more.



4. Store.

October 2. Creamy Butternut Squash Soup.

I had no intention of making soup until my sister walked in my house with two butternut squash that she wasn't going to use.
SOUP TIME!

I looking at my usual recipe site (Cooking Light) and I saw this soup. Seemed simple, but kind of bland. I read the reviews and saw that some one used evaporated milk. I just happened to have evaporated skim milk in my cabinet. I just decided to wing it and came up with my own recipe. It's delicious!

I wanted to top it with homemade croutons, but instead spent most of the afternoon outside and therefore didn't have time. I did, however, make parmesan crisps. All you have to do for that is sprinkle shredded parm cheese in a hot pan and let it brown. Lift it up off the pan before it burns and let it cool.

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

2 medium butternut squash
1c 1% milk
1 can of evaporated skim milk
2 14oz cans of vegetable broth
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp dried rosemary
dash of cinnamon
dash of paprika
dash of chile powder
olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Cut butternut squash into 1" cubes. Toss with olive oil, sea salt, dried rosemary & cinnamon. Roast at 425 degrees for 50 minutes.
Let cool.

Combine milks, 1 can of vegetable broth.

Add roasted squash and milk mixture in the blender to thoroughly combine ( should be done in 3-4 batches. Or use an immersion blend if you're lucky enough to have one!)

When all is combined, pour into large pot and slowly add the second can of vegetable broth. If too thick for your liking, add more broth or water. Stir in ginger (don't skip this, it really adds a great depth of flavor!), paprika, chile powder, salt & pepper. Simmer and top with croutons and/or parmesan crisps. Enjoy!

Adapted.

Last summer I made a polenta tomato tart from the Whole Foods website. It was pretty good. A light summer dinner. I was going to make it again last night. Then I went to the grocery store and refused to pay $7.99 for sun-dried tomatoes. And then were out of basil.

I adapted. I created a polenta caramelized balsamic-rosemary onion tomato and goat cheese tart. It was delicious.


Polenta Caramelized Balsamic-Rosemary Onion, Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart

Polenta (I used pre-made polenta that I crumbled and smooshed into a greased tart pan)
2 large onions
4 oz crumbled goat cheese
3-4 plum tomatoes (seeded and diced)
olive oil
pat of butter/margarine
1-2 garlic cloves
2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/8c sugar
spring of fresh rosemary
sea salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

Crumble and smoosh prepared polenta into a greased tart pan. Splash some olive oil on top and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 20-30 minutes until a little golden brown.

While polenta is baking, thinly slice onions and saute in pan with sea salt, olive oil and pat of butter. As onions start to sweat, add sugar, balsamic vinegar, and rosemary that is removed from stem. Continue to cook onions until they are a rich brown color and the vinegar has evaporated. (About 20-30 mintues)

When polenta is golden, remove from oven and spread caramelized onions over top. Sprinkle goat cheese on top of onions and then layer with diced tomatoes and freshly pressed (or chopped) garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and put in oven for 10-15 minutes.

Let sit for 10 minutes. Serve and enjoy with a fresh salad!

Father's Day!

First off, I have to apologize for the mish-mash organization of the photos...it's just not working out today, but I have faith that you'll be able to figure out what pics go with what. ;)

My husband is an amazing Daddy. He's patient, fun, tolerant, and loving. We had a wonderful day at a zoo preceded by breakfast and presents. (Abby decorated his chair with crepe paper.)
For breakfast, I adapted Paula Deen's french toast casserole. I made this once before, but followed the recipe. I like my version much better. Sorry, Paula! I decreased the fat a lot, and really, it could be decreased much more and still be delicious.

For dessert I made a simple, but much loved Fruit Pizza. Seriously, this is the easier recipe ever. It's not even really a recipe! A roll of Pillsbury sugar cookie dough, a small container of cool-whip (use fat-free for less guilt), 8 oz. cream cheese (I use 1/3 less fat) and mixed fruit of choice. I just used strawberries. Let the cookie dough and cream cheese come to room temperature, let the cool whip sit in the fridge so it's no longer frozen.
Shape the cookie dough into one big cookie and bake. Blend cream cheese & cool whip (oh, I add a bit of confectioner's sugar and vanilla). Once cookie cools, spread cream cheese/cool whip combo on cookie. Layer the fruit. The end.

Father's Day Gift:
I made a pillow with some a little swatch I purchased from Spoonflower. It's a drawing Abby did of "Daddy."







French Toast Casserole (adapted from Paula Deen)
1 loaf of Italian bread
4 large eggs
2 cups of fat-free half and half
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
dash of salt
Praline topping (recipe follows)

Slice bread into 1-inch each. Arrange slices in 9 by 13-inch flat baking dish sprayed with Baker's Joy (or something similar). In a large bowl, combine the eggs, FF half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with maple syrup.(I skip the maple syrup b/c it's sweet enough, IMO.)

Praline Topping
1 stick of butter (probably could use 1/2 stick)
1/2c packed brown sugar
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg

Combine all ingredients & blend well.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

Yes, that's right, make some damn delicious lemonade!

I got a lot of lemons this week; both figuratively and literally. With the figurative lemons, well, that'll work out. With the literal lemons, a big, fresh batch of homemade lemonade was made.

Got the recipe here. But, I'll write it out because it's pretty simple. It really is quite sweet so next time I'll add a lot more lemon juice. While I was squeezing the lemons, I wished I had one of those old depression glass hand juicers that my parents used to have.


Perfect Lemonade

• 1 cup sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 cup water (for the simple syrup)
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)

1 Make simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely.

2 While the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract the juice from 4 to 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice.

3 Add the juice and the sugar water to a pitcher. Add 3 to 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength. Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes. If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it.

Serve with ice, sliced lemons.

Serves 6.

Lots of Food, One Picture.

Yesterday was Easter. While I'm not religious, we do celebrate the Easter bunny's arrival with brunch.
I made a french toast casserole, hash brown casserole, broccoli rabe and red pepper frittata, and basil-lime fruit salad.

First, the french toast casserole. I didn't have a piece of my own, but I sampled my husband's. The topping was delicious, how could it not be? It was butter, walnuts (instead of pecans), brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and corn syrup! The inside of it was too soggy for my liking.

The hash brown casserole was rich and tasty. It is similar to Cracker Barrel's. In my opinion, the french fried onions on top were unnecessary. The broccoli rabe & red pepper frittata was my favorite dish despite the excessive amount of cheese. It did not need the amount of cheese that was called for. I had leftovers for breakfast this morning and took off all the cheese.

The basil-lime fruit salad was yummy! Such an unusual combination, but worked perfectly in this fruit salad.

Cookie Exchange.

I hosted a cookie exchange on Friday night. I know, the smartest thing to do just after starting Weight Watchers (again.) But, I did, and I'm glad because it was fun. I learned about some things that I just didn't need to: something that involves a glass inserted into an area of the body...I'm just gonna leave it at that, and that the I am a very lucky lady to have wonderful, talented friends and family, a kick-ass husband, and an amazingly, well-behaved little girl.
I made two drinks. One looked pretty, but was not too good. One that was just beige, but was quite delicious.
Drink #1:
Pecan Pie Martini (sounds good, right?)
Firstly, I have to say that I abhor Rachael Ray. This is one of her "recipes." Seriously, Rachael, did you even *try* this recipe? Really? Did you? Because, if you did, (and I'm not gonna blame her fully because I should've thought of it too, but then again I don't get paid gazillions of dollars for thinking up stupid abbreviations and grinning like the joker) but, the corn syrup solidified in the shaker with the ice and vodka. Duh. Corn syrup + ice = clogged shaker holes. Could barely get the drinks out. I didn't even make one for myself because based on my guests reactions, it hardly seemed worth the effort. On the plus side, the rim
was tasty: corn syrup, toasted pecans, and brown sugar. (Oh, and in my defense, I was perusing my sister's Rachael Ray mag when I saw the recipe...I didn't go hunting for it. I think it hunted me down.)

The next drink, I will give the credit to Rachael, or one of her drunken interns: Oatmeal Cookie Crusher. Delicious! (Not delish or yummo, thankyouverymuch!)
Again, not much to look at, but quite tasty. This isn't a drink for a hardcore drinker, really. It's too sweet, but that's fine with me because I like sweet girly drinks. There. I confess. But, I also love me an extra dirty martini with three olives, so go figure.

Now, onto the cookies. It was a COOKIE EXCHANGE, afterall.
I, in an attempt at watching my points, made three cookies from Cooking Light:
1. Double-chocolate biscotti (good, but could've been better by adding some orange zest, or dried cherries and/or cranberries)
2. Swedish Almond-Cardamom Stars (eh, won't make again. I don't know why I insist on making cut-out cookies. I hate the process.) Plus, I don't know what makes them "Swedish."
3. Chai shortbread. (Will make again, but will increase all spices about 75%-100%) Not spicy enough for me. I didn't get a chai feel.
I have pictures of these cookies, but am not going to upload them right now because I just realized I've spent too much time on the computer and I need to get moving. Instead, I will leave you with just a few photos from the delicious creations my friends and family made:

How ya like them apples?

Made applesauce the other day.
Very easy and so much better than anything purchased in a store.

I cut 6 peeled and cored apples in half and placed them in a casserole dish with a few tablespoons of water and several dashes of cinnamon.

Microwaved for 12 minutes (2 minutes per apple). Let them cool a little and mushed them in a food mill (borrowed from my sister) with the coarse grater.

Ridiculously simple. Ridiculously delicious.

No-bake.

My sister had a housewarming party on Saturday.
I made two desserts. Honestly, there was so much food I don't think it was necessary, but alas!, I made two artery-clogging, cholesterol-raising treats.

First up:
The no-bake cheesecake in Martha's Halloween issue. I couldn't be bothered with the spiderweb decoration and just spattered the ganache Jackson Pollock-style. My only issue with the cake: the ganache did not stick to the crust sides like Martha says it should. I didn't let that stop me; I just poured it on the bottom instead of fighting with the side crumbs. This cake, as you can imagine, was so filling. Me, my daughter, and my father split one small piece. The three of us, as individuals are sweets lovers, and we were all satisfied sharing. Overall, good cake, would recommend for making it for a party.

Second:
Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars from my Philadelphia cream cheese cookbook. This is a no-brainer. Cream cheese. Peanut butter. No need to say more. (I must admit, I am not a real peanut butter fan, but my love and chocolate and cream cheese makes this dessert worthy of a piece or three.)

That Time of Year.

The time of year when there's a little chill in the air and sweaters are optional, but preferred.

The time of year when I get an obsessive need to bake and/or make soup.

The time of year when your daughter gets a cold and keeps you up all night watching Barney on Sprout and you thank you the gods that there is a 24 hour channel for preschoolers despite the fact that when you were child-free you wondered why the hell there should be a 24 hour channel for kids.

I made lentil soup this morning. Kinda just threw it together without a recipe and it's delicious (and vegan). I had two bowls for lunch.

Lentil Soup
1 lb. lentils, picked through
8 c. (4 cans) vegetable broth
2 c. water
olive oil
3 carrots (finely diced)
2 small onions (finely diced)
6 cloves minced garlic (I heart my pampered chef garlic press)
liquid smoke (didn't measure)
sea salt
pepper
chili powder
cumin
parsley
coriander
(I didn't measure the herbs/spices)

• Saute the garlic, onions, carrots in the oil. Add the herbs and spices. Saute a bit more until well combined and the kitchen smells delicious.
• Pour in the vegetable broth, water, the lentils and liquid smoke.
• Bring to boil and then simmer until desired thickness.
  

Why the Gods Invented Nutella.

My first Nutella experience was years ago. I was still living with my parents. I was still eating meat. I was still going to the Italian deli every Saturday with my mom. The deli had a lot of imports from Italy: Italian greeting cards with saints on them, Italian sodas, and the sweet thick chocolatey goodness that is Nutella. I'm pretty sure my mom bought it on a PMS-induced whim. The container recommends spreading it on bread. We just dipped spoons into it, as I'm sure most Nutella disciples do.
Now, I don't live with my parents, I don't eat meat, and the Italian deli is closed. But I can buy Nutella in the average-Joe grocery store; however, I don't because I cannot live with the guilt that is involved with being the sole consumer.
I never made anything with Nutella until I found this cake recipe. It is delicious. It is loaded with hazelnut happiness. It has more calories and fat than you need in a week. It is definitely a special occasion cake. My sister asked me to make it for her friend's birthday. (Happy Birthday, Cate!)
The recipe is from "The Whimsical Bake House."



Hazelnut Cake with Nutella Mousse & Nutella Butter Cream

Cake:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 c. sour cream
2/3 c. finely chopped toasted hazelnuts

• Grease 2 8" round pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Beat butter and brown sugar at high speed unti light and fluffy.
• Add eggs one at a time and beat until combined.
• Sift dry ingredients together.
• Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar/egg mixture alternately with sour cream.
• Beat until smooth.
• Stir hazelnuts in by hand.

Pour 3 cups of batter into one pan and the remaining batter into the other. Bake the less full pan for 20-25 minutes and the fuller pan for 30-35 minutes, or until cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes before turning the cakes out of the pans.

Nutella Mousse:
2 c heavy cream
4 tbsp. 10x sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. nutella

• Whip heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla in electric mixer at high speed, until stiff.
• Soften nutella in microwave for 10-20 seconds
• Gently fold nutella into the whipped cream.

Nutella Buttercream:
( I am not using the book's buttercream recipe; I'm using my own with the deletion of all but a tsp. of vanilla, and whatever nutella is leftover from the mousse.)

12 tbsp. melted butter
6 c. 10x sugar
2/3 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
remanding nutella

• pour melted butter into mixer bowl
• alternately add 10x sugar and milk
• add vanilla
• mix in nutella

Assembly:
(Cut each cake in half horizontally making two layers per cake; 4 layers total.) Please note, in photograph, there are 3 cakes instead of 2.

• Bottom of cake
• Mousse
• Top of cake
• Buttercream
• Bottom of cake
• Mousse
• Top of Cake
• Frost with Buttercream.
  

Apple Crisp.

I've had this recipe for years. I make it every autumn. Due to those two facts you'd think the recipe would be perfected. Nope.
I tried gala apples instead of granny smith. Eh. Too mushy.
Added more nutmeg. Nope. I don't know why I can't just accept the fact that I don't care for nutmeg in anything except pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread.
This one also ended up a bit soupy. Overall, I liked the crisp part better than the apple part. I'm thinking I just may make up some "crisp" and have it on hand as a topping for misc. autumny treats. (And I wonder how I gained those 20 lbs.?)

Recipe:
5-6 GRANNY SMITH apples
1c brown sugar
3/4c oats
3/4c flour
1tsp cinnamon (I don't measure, but I'm pretty sure I use more.)
1stp nutmeg (if you don't have a non-pumpkin aversion to it.)
1 stick of softened butter
1/4c apple juice or water

• 375 degree oven.
• mix apples with cinnamon and nutmeg and put in pie plate
• blend remaining ingredients...top apples
• pour juice over top
• bake 35 minutes
  

With this Ring.

I feel like my every attempt at starting and completing a project has been cursed. I will not get into it because it will just frustrate me and I'm not finished my first cup of coffee yet. I don't have the energy for frustration.
Instead, I'll discuss onion rings. I don't know why I'm like this, but once I get something into my head, I become totally preoccupied with it. OK, that doesn't hold true for everything, just things I'd like to make.
Anyhow, for whatever reason, on Saturday I became possessed with the need to make onion rings. I had two huge onions sitting on my kitchen counter and I had everything else I needed, so there were no additional purchases needed . . . a big bonus in my mind!
I read a few recipes online and just winged it. In an attempt to trick myself into thinking I am making an effort at losing weight, they were baked instead of fried.

I was pretty disappointed. I'm more than positive that they would've been absolutely delicious if they were fried.

Here's what I did:
sliced onions thickly (duh.)
dipped onions in egg wash
coated onions in a mix of flour, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt, pepper
dipped in egg wash again
coated with seasoned bread crumbs

Baked in a 425 degree over for 20 minutes. After 5 minutes, rotated pans. After 10 minutes, flipped rings. After 15 minutes, rotated pans again. Bake another 5 minutes. Done.

Grape Tart.

Baking with grapes. Who knew? Apparently, Cooking Light did. I happened upon this recipe and was instantly intrigued. I purchased the grapes with plans of making the tart Sunday morning. The tarts calls for both red and black grapes. Besides never baking with grapes, I've never eaten black grapes. They are delicious! They taste like grape juice. (duh!)
Anyhow, I realized that I didn't have butter or oranges like the cooking light crust calls for. I whipped out the Veganomicon book and found an apple galette recipe and just used the pastry recipe from that (plus an additional tablespoon of sugar...I like sweet pastry dough.)
The tart was really good. I was surprised that the grapes didn't wilt or shrivel from the 400 degree oven heat. Also, it would have been vegan except that I brushed the crust with egg yolk, I realize that is easily remedied. (I would have used soy milk to make it 100% vegan, but I assembled the tart at my parents' house.)
So, here's the recipe:

CRUST
2 c flour (I used 1c unbleached, 1/2c whole wheat, 1/2c whole wheat pastry flour)
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 c non hydrogenated vegan shortening
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2c - 3/4c ice water

FILLING
2 1/4 c black grapes
2 1/4c red grapes
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
(Crust)
Combine flour, sugar and salt. Add shortening in small amounts. Cut into flour mixture until dough is crumbly. Combine vinegar & ice water. Add that combination to the flour mixture in three batches. Form into ball, flatten, refrigerate 30 minutes.
Roll out dough into 11" circle.

(Filling)
Combine all ingredients and gently stir. Put fill in center of crust. Leave 2" to fold crust up on the filling.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

(Oops! Forgot to mention, brush crust with egg yolk and sprinkle entire crust and topping with raw sugar.)

Red Zinger.

I love red zinger iced tea. There really is no way to describe its taste. There's a hint of mint, but it's not overpowering. The main ingredient is hibiscus, which I find intriguing. I enjoy this tea so much that I purchased some hibiscus sorbet from Whole Foods. I was sorely disappointed. It tasted like cold sweetness. No flavor. Red zinger set my expectations too high.
Oh, why did I take a picture of this particular glass of red zinger? Can you guess? Does it have to do with lavender? Why, yes, it does. Since I had to half the recipe for the ice cream because I only had half of the fresh ricotta, I had extra lavender simple syrup. Not that you can tell from this photo, but there is some lavender simple syrup in there. And, that syrup made my iced tea so much better.
I think I'll make lavender simple syrup and pour it into a glass of plain seltzer for some lavender soda.
Ooh, I also thought that since the ricotta ice cream base was just so creamy, I could use that to make other flavors like cannoli ice cream. Ricotta base, bits of dark chocolate and broken up cannoli shells. Sounds good in theory.

Lavender Simple Syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp dried lavender

Combine sugar and water. Heat until sugar dissolves. Turn off heat and add lavender. Let sit for 30 minutes. Strain over mesh sieve to remove solids.

Dinner & Dessert.

For dinner we had Black Bean Quesadillas with Goat Cheese. I made this a couple of weeks ago and it was a hit with everyone involved. Plus, it's quick, so you can't really beat it. I would like to try this with homemade tortillas, but that kinda defeats the "quick" part.

My only alterations to the recipe are:
1. I use a lot more cilantro and cumin than recommended and
2. I use peach/mango salsa; it adds a nice sweet complement to the tangy goat cheese.

For dessert. Ah, sweet, sweet dessert. I made the ice cream. Since I messed up somewhere in the cheese making process and only had half of the amount of fresh ricotta I needed for a full recipe of the ice cream, I halved the ice cream recipe. To my chagrin, I only have half a recipe of the lucious, creamy, smooth, aromatic, savory, deliciousness that is the Honey-Lavender Ice Cream. Oh. My. God. This stuff is divine. It is reminiscent of Capogiro's rosemary honey goat's milk gelato, but the base is sweeter and the flavor is more condensed. The only potential adaptation would be the elimination of the honey because the flavor is masked by the lavender, and it really only adds more sweetness; I have an intense sweet tooth, so I love it, but I know others will find it to be too sweet.

Also, this is the first homemade ice cream that I've made that isn't overly icy or hard. I always make the ice cream low-fat or even vegan. Sometimes both. Those two things do not contribute to a creamy ice cream. They really only satisfy my need for an evening sweet. This ice cream, this ice cream is pure bliss...don't let the bland photo trick you!

Say Cheeeese!

I made fresh ricotta cheese. My mom let me use her candy thermometer, so I didn't have to buy one.

When I asked the grocery store clerk the location of cheese cloth, you would've thought I asked where they keep their crack. So, I found a cotton meshy cloth and used that. It worked quite well, but I did have sew the two cloths together to make one big cloth.

Overall, I enjoyed the cheese-making experience, but I can't say I'll do it again soon. I honestly didn't see the benefit of the thermometer, because you could see when the curds were forming, so the temperature on the thermometer was irrelevant.

I don't know what I did or didn't do, or if I did everything just right, but there was a lot of extra whey. A lot. The curds to whey ratio was kinda off, and I figured that would be the case, just not as extreme as it was.*

Later today, I'll probably be making ice cream.

*I was definitely off! The recipe should have made 3 cups. I only got 1 1/2 cups. Not sure what I did wrong...

Lavender.

Several months ago, I saw a recipe for Honey-Lavender Ricotta Ice Cream in Cooking Light. I have been on a half-assed quest to make it.
I couldn't find lavender in the regular supermarket or in Whole Foods. I realized that I'd have to get it at Reading Terminal Market or The Spice Corner in the Italian Market. I happened to be in the Italian Market on Friday, and therefore purchased 3 oz. of dried lavender.
I couldn't remember how much the ice cream recipe called for, so I figured I'd be on the safe side. Turns out the recipe calls for 1 tsp. ONE TEASPOON. I have 3 ounces!
So, I thought I'd be making the ice cream this weekend, but then I saw the recipe recommends fresh ricotta. I like the idea of making fresh cheese; however, I need to get some cheesecloth and a candy thermometer. The half-assed quest continues. Sure, cheesecloth is easy enough to find, but I gotta go out specifically to get a candy thermometer. This ice cream better be damn delicious once I get all the stuff I need to make it!
And now, to the main point of this post. Since I have so much extra lavender, I've been searching for lavender recipes. I found the perfect recipe. (Perfect = Having all ingredients on hand).
Lavender Shortbread.

It's pretty delicious and I am pleasantly surprised that both my husband and daughter seem to like it. The recipe called for the cooled cookies to be sprinkled with powdered sugar, but I didn't feel like getting into that mess with my, um, little preschool-aged helper.

The First.

So, I've become intrigued with this whole "refashioning" thing. You know, reusing, restyling, reconstructing clothing that you already own or have thrifted.
I have more than a sufficient amount of stain t-shirts. I also have a lot of t-shirts with mysterious little holes by the waistband. I theorize that these are victims of my zipper, but I have yet to see it happen, so I cannot be 100% sure.
Anyhow, I am attempting to refashion one of my peculiarly holed t-shirts. I had some scraps from a t-shirt I made my sister, I started yesterday, but am unhappy with the result. I need to reconstruct the reconstruction.
~
Last night we had veggie burritos for dinner: red peppers, green peppers, onion, garlic, tomatoes, black beans, kidney beans, corn, misc. spices/herbs. We (me and Abby) have been making our own tortillas. Very easy. Very delicious. Try it.