If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to ask for a glass of milk.
And if you give a mouse Chunky Lola cookie dough, he just might ask for vanilla bean ice cream.
Or something like that.
If you’ve spent any time with me (in real life), I’ve probably fed you some cookies called Chunky Lolas. And now, even if you and I have never had the chance to hang out outside of blog-land, I’d like to do the same to you.
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For me, risotto is one of those foods: the kind I love, but would rather pay someone else to make for me. Right up there with croissants, fresh bread, and pad Thai. There are some exceptions, but usually… $18 instead of stirring for an hour? Yes please!
I actually have no idea how they prepare risotto in restaurants. What poor underpaid soul gets stuck stirring that stuff full-time?!
Luckily, this risotto is different. And that’s because we’re subbing quinoa for the usual risotto rice!
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I couldn’t let the season go by without posting some rhubarb recipe. It’s no secret that I love colorful foods, and rhubarb is right up there with the prettiest of ’em.
I hope rhubarb is still in season where you are! That way you can make this yummy cake.
Now I wasn’t raised on rhubarb; I don’t recall my mother ever making a strawberry rhubarb pie. In fact, I think last year was the first time I’d ever had rhubarb! It cracked me up when I first tasted it – looks like red celery, tastes like sour apples. What a funny little stalk!
I have a lot more experimenting to do with rhubarb, but let’s focus in on this particular experiment: coconut rhubarb cake.
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Caprese salad is one of my summertime favorites. I love how the fresh flavors somehow make red, white and green seem not at all Christmas-y!
I usually make a layered version, with big slices of vine-ripened tomatoes and fresh mozzarella sprinkled with sliced basil leaves, salt and pepper, and drizzled with olive oil. But I also have a soft spot for mini things (I think this is hard-wired into females of all species?), and little baby balls of mozzarella are no exception. So this time I decided to make a mini caprese, focusing on the awesome textures.
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I am currently on an ice cream bender.
As I posted on Facebook last week, my friend Andy donated his ice cream maker to a worthy cause: me trying out this peanut butter chunk ice cream from Edible Perspective. (Thank you Andy!!!) Well, I haven’t quite worked my way up to that fantastic recipe yet (it has 15 steps!); instead I thought I’d start with something simpler.
And then I fell in love with the simple ice cream recipes, and have made, oh, 4 batches in the past 4 days.
I actually waltzed into a 9:00 meeting without make-up earlier this week because I got caught up churning ice cream in the morning. I didn’t realize until 8:31 that I had to be into work (20 minutes away) in 29 minutes. Oops. I hadn’t gotten dressed, brushed my teeth, or put on make-up yet. Of those three things, obviously the make-up was the one that could wait until after the meeting. But don’t worry… the ice cream got churned and lovingly stored in the freezer before I left. Priorities.
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