Can I Have These Please?

Thanks. You're a peach.

And I wonder why I've gained 20 pounds in 4 years...

I've been on an ice cream kick this summer and it seems as though this cute little phase is going straight on through fall. Yikes.

This summer I made blackberry vanilla ice cream, mint chocolate chip ice cream, cherry basil ice cream, pomegranate sorbet (for many reasons it turned out disastrous, but it's worth another shot), peach ginger ice cream, and most recently, apple pie ice cream (served in mini pre-made graham cracker crusts and topped with caramel).

Last week I made the peach ginger ice cream, mixing a teaspoon of Trader Joe's ginger spread (which, coincidentally, is also delicious on top of brie, but that's beside the point) with my cut up peaches.

For all of the recipes, I've essentially done the same thing: used The Best Recipe's vanilla ice cream as a base (without the vanilla in most cases) and cooked down some fruit and then combined the two prior to freezing.

The Best Recipe's vanilla ice cream recipe:

1.5 cups heavy cream

1.5 cups milk (I use non-fat just to cut some calories somewhere)

4 egg yolks (I save the whites to make omellettes later)

3/4 cups sugar

First, combine the cream, milk, and 1/2 cup of the sugar in a pan and heat on the stove until it reaches 175 degrees.

In a separate bowl, combine egg yolks and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and whisk together.

Once the milk/cream mixture has reached 175, ladle a bit of it into the egg/sugar mixture and whisk. Add more milk/cream little by little until it's a soupy consistency, then slowly add the egg/sugar/milk/cream mixture back into the remaining milk/cream on the stove. (Hopefully this makes sense. This is obviously my writing, not the Best Recipe's writing.) This is the ice cream base. Continue heating it (while stirring) until it's 185 degrees, at which point the eggs are cooked and you can stop. If you've made a fruit mixture to go in it, this is the time to add it.

Once it's reached 185, remove the pan from the heat and put the mixture into an ice bath to cool. After it's cooled to room temperature or so, cover the bowl and stick it in the fridge for a few hours or overnight until it's sufficiently cold. Once it's thoroughly chilled, you can then make the ice cream in the ice cream maker.

Fruit Mixture

1-2 cups fruit

Water

Sugar

Spices or herbs

A little of whatever else you feel like adding

This is much less exact than the previous recipe. What I've done is just taken a cup or two of fruit (blackberries, cherries, peaches, apples) and either cut them up or put them whole in a pan on the stove over medium heat. Add whatever you want (a little cinnamon and nutmeg for the apple pie ice cream, a teaspoon of ginger spread for the peach ice cream, a little currant vodka for the blackberry ice cream, and about 6 basil leaves for the cherry basil ice cream) and reduce the fruit down over low-medium heat until it's bubbly and gooey, making sure that there's a little bit of liquid in the pan so it doesn't scorch. Once it's cooked down, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool a bit before adding it to the ice cream base.

I wish I had more pictures of my various ice cream flavors, but alas, I am a fatass and I ate it all.

Louis Ghost Chair

I loooooooooove this Philippe Starck chair, but Mr. Responsible keeps pointing out that it's a $362 plastic chair.
But it's soooooooooo preeeeeeeeeeeetty!

Gasp!

I've been wanting a red bag forever. And I'm thinking it's time to take the plunge this fall. I love this one by Hayden-Harnett, but I want to either a) get it with a coupon code, b) wait til it goes on sale, or c) get a different (i.e. cheaper) red bag.

Sigh.

Drool...Venini Glass

I have been seeing Venini glass a lot lately in design magazines and blogs and good grief, is it beautiful! I covet the hourglasses, but at $1,000 a pop, it just ain't gonna happen. :(

The last set is a little over $7,300. For 5 pieces. *sniff*

Dream Kitchen

I saw this kitchen awhile ago on Apartment Therapy and I immediately loved it. It's small, but it looks like it makes great use of the space and it manages to feel light, airy, clean, and uncluttered. Hopefully our kitchen will take a few steps forward soon with new cabinetry and countertops.

Some Weekday Retail Therapy

I've been really needing a pair of brown boots that I can wear with skirts. Unfortunately, my awesome Frye Harness boots don't quite fit the bill. So, I ordered these from Banana Repubic. They were 30% off and then I got an additional 15% off with a coupon code. Hurray!

I also got the cutest ice cream bowls at Anthropologie. I got them in red (which isn't posted on the Anthro website) so the color comes through with our new glass cabinet doors in the kitchen. I plan on making peach and ginger ice cream this weekend. Just so we can test out the bowls. Gotta make sure they work, you know?

I also got this little glass from Anthropologie. I should have bought all 4, but I was afraid they were too fancy for every day use and I didn't want to add more stuff to our already-packed kitchen. So I'm using it to hold my makeup brushes in the bathroom. It's silly, but it makes me smile.

I also picked up a little something for my best friend's Christmas present, but I'm not going to post it online. :) I'm too good a secret-keeper for that!

Fennel and Mandarin Orange Salad

Easiest salad ever. I ran a fennel bulb over our new mandoline to get thin, even slices, then threw in two little packs of mandarin oranges (without the juice). Olive oil, rice wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and a few chopped fennel fronds were the only other ingredients and it was heaven.

Etsy Smackdown

I love Etsy. Here are a few things I've been lusting after:

Pommebirds letterpress print from Ink & Wit, $40

How cute is this little stuffed elephant??? I want him. $30 from Tiny Warbler Designs.

I love this photo. Actually, all of Alicia Bock's photos are awesome.

I ordered this print a few months ago from Ashley G and I love it. It's currently hanging in our guest bedroom and it's really cute.

Green Chair Press print

Just ordered this letterpress print from Etsy. I have no idea where I'm going to put it, but I love it and I'll find a place for it, I'm sure.
Green Chair Press has lots of other cool prints available here.

I. Am. Awesome.

Yesterday we spent some time looking around at Borders and reading cookbooks (because we're super cool like that) and in Jamie Oliver's "Jamie's Dinners" cookbook, he had a recipe for poached pears with walnut cream. It all seemed simple enough: the pear was poached in white wine with a little vanilla and I took the liberty of adding Triple Sec, a pat of butter, and a stick of cinnamon; and the walnut cream was just some ground up toasted walnuts mixed in with some mascarpone cheese and a little honey.


So I made it myself and reduced the leftover poaching liquid to make a sauce. I added a bit of honey and brown sugar to temper the tanginess from the wine. I have to say, the whole thing was heaven.



I wish I was better at food photography and Photoshop. Taking photos of food with our point-and-shoot camera does okay, but I long for the fuzzy background and warm tones that would turn our food pictures into full-blown food porn.

Anthropologie Fall Catalog

It always sucks when the new Anthropologie catalogs come in the mail. They have so many pretty things that it's hard to make a decision. Unfortunately, their ridiculous shipping prices coupled with inconsistent quality make me hesitant to buy more from them. Which is a shame because the designs are always gorgeous and the prices would be reasonable if the quality lived up to the price, but so often it just doesn't. Sigh. Oh well, it's always fun to look at. I'll probably pick up a few pieces here and there this fall. Here are three of my favorite new looks:

The beginnings of Cherry Basil Ice Cream

We got an ice cream maker once upon a time as a wedding present from my brother Rob and we've never really used it much. Until this summer. Suddenly I have this overwhelming urge to make ice cream all the time. Within the past two weeks, I've made blackberry ice cream, mint chocolate chip ice cream, pomegranate sorbet, and now cherry basil ice cream:

I'm excited.

I got two pounds of cherries at Costco yesterday and used about half. I pitted them with the cherry pitter (best little uni-tasker ever!) and pulsed them in the food processor about 6 times. I added the cherries to a pot with about 8 basil leaves from our plant out back, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and 3 tablespoons Absolut Kurant. I heated it through while I was working on the ice cream base. (I've been following the recipe for vanilla ice cream from The Best Recipe cookbook, minus the vanilla, and it's served me quite well so far.) After the cherries were heated through, I removed the basil leaves.

Once I heated the milk and cream and tempered and cooked the eggs, I put the cream mixture in an ice bath, then did the same with the cherries. Once both the cherries and the cream were cool, I added them together and now they're all mellowing out and chilling together in the fridge. The mixture will hang out for about 3 hours or so and then I'll put it in the ice cream maker. I'm excited.

From what I can tell so far, the cherry and basil flavors are both coming through really well. The addition of the basil adds an element of intrigue, but it complements the cherries well. We'll probably have some later tonight and I'll garnish it with some fresh basil leaves and a few whole cherries. I'll try to remember to post pictures.

Fall Wish List

It's hotter than Hades here today, but all the fall catalogs have started arriving and making me wish for cooler weather. Here are a few items I've already bookmarked for fall purchasing.

The Bella jacket from JCrew in Heather Coral. I could totally wear this with my brown tweed skirt and tall brown boots, or with dark trouser cut jeans.

I need a pair of classic brown knee high boots. They're a basic wardrobe staple that I'm missing.

I also don't own an argyle sweater and I need to have one. I'm not in love with the colors in this one from JCrew, but I'll continue to search til I find one that's juuuuuuuuuuuust right!

Attempts last fall to find a basic wrap dress failed, so I'm on the hunt again this year. This one from Boden looks like it could work.

I've never purchased anything from Boden, but their catalog always has great things. I like this v-neck top in the pretty grape color.

RIP Britt Kitty

July 2, 1992-July 16, 2007

Best Cat Ever. Britt was awesome. She was a total bad-ass: she could catch a hummingbird mid-air, corner and scare the hell out of a raccoon twice her size, and scale a 6'+ wall with no problem. Then she'd come in and lay on your lap with her soft, buttery belly exposed. Or she'd sit on your lap facing you and stretch her paw up toward your face like she just loved you so much, she just had to pet you. She was awesome.

My brother Bill has kept her for the past few years and they got along famously. I know he'll miss her just as much as I will. He had to put her down today due to renal failure. And while I'm sad she's gone, I know he did the right thing.

Sigh.

Trader Joe's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Consumer Reports just rated them #1 cookie, so of course, we had to try them.
Consumer Reports was, as usual, correct. They are great. Chewy, chocolatey, and buttery. And the best part is that they're already pre-shaped so you can bake as many (or as few) as you want. You could probably pop 1 or 2 in a toaster oven even, if the urge struck.

Diptyque Baies Room Spray

This room spray totally changes the way I feel about home fragrance. I'm not a fan of overpowering fragrances in a home, but this room spray is so wonderful.

Low Tide Cardigan

Despite the high shipping price from Anthropologie ($11?!?!?) and the fact that the crochet trim almost completely came off even in the light cycle in the wash, I still love this cardigan. The lime green color is perfect for summer.

I must have a thing for white lately...

Everything I've posted in the last 24 hours has been white. Odd. I guess I'm just liking the looks of a white object against a bright background.

Boob Vase

Part of me kind of wants this vase. I love the shape and if you look closely, it's boobs!

Here's a much bigger picture, so you can see the detail.