Weekend Adventure!

This weekend I ventured to the White Hot house to meet up with Cassie, and then the two of us traveled to Hotlanta to do some serious shopping.  And eating.

Lots of eating.

And lots of laughing, too.

We were surprisingly mild in our imbibing, if only because of early mornings and old age.  Seriously, last night we went to bed at 9:30 and then woke up this morning and chatted about the weather.  Did I just turn 30, or 80?  Maybe it's the grey streaks.

Shoot.

Today's been about reuniting with my little family, and phone talking whilst driving (safety first!), and somehow managing to get lost even with a GPS.  How does that even happen?  (Well, not lost so much as taking alternate routes, forcing the GPS lady to say "recalculating" in a very annoyed voice over and over again.)

Hopefully I'll be able to stay up past 9:30 tonight, and hopefully I'll be able to come up with something to talk to you about other than this fabulous spring we've had.

Pork meatball banh mi.  Make this.  Make it now.

Henry is not my biggest fan, though he and I did share some special days when Hugh and Cassie were on their two-week honeymoon.  Cassie thought I'd doctored the video of him on my shoulders, purring away.  The next time he saw me he hissed at me and ran away.  Just a fling, I suppose.

 Listening intently to Hugh's doctor talk.  Or knife-fighting talk.  I can't remember which.

 Two longitudinal strips.

We're basically like Snoop Dogg.

Could this toad be this toad? 

 Oh, that face!

Hope you had a lovely couple of days!  What'd you do?  What'd you eat?


******Psssssssssssssst!  Don't forget to check out my reviews page to hear about the awesomepants awesomeness that is HomeGoods and to hear about how you can enter to win gift cards basically by clicking a few buttons.  Do it!******

Weekend Update.

I'm in the middle of a fabulous weekend with Cassie, and I'll have lots to share with you soon.

For now, check out this awesome video of the SAV.  Then come and visit.  I've been pimping out the guest room.

Well, we're off to enjoy some gin cocktails.  It'll be like college, but classier.



Savannah Timelapse from Nicholas Reichard on Vimeo.

Very Advanced.

The other day I was talking to Matt's dad, Spence, about possibly taking care of someone else's dog.  He joked about the problems could arise, you know, like the dog returning to its owners expecting to have freshly-shredded parmesan cheese sprinkled over its food and to sleep in a king-sized bed. (What?  You don't sprinkle fresh parm over your pup's food?)

And I acknowledged that, indeed, Mitch is pretty spoiled.

And Spence said, "How could you not spoil him?  He's a person!  Those facial expressions!"

And then I agreed and felt like a little less of a failure as a dog mom.

Spence isn't the first to make this observation, either.  Opal, back when she was barely two, told us, "Mitch sits on the couch like he's a person."  (Also, you should know that Opal's voice is almost exactly like that of Luke from Modern Family, which makes everything she says fifteen times funnier.)

What keen observations!

"Oh, hey, Aunt Cassie.  How's Fletcher been doing?  He's just a riot."

And that's not all.  See, when we discuss taking Mitch for a walk, we have to spell it out so that he doesn't get prematurely excited or possibly disappointed.  Today, I told Matt I thought I would take Mitch for a W-A-L-K, and Mitch looked up, got excited, and ran to his leash.

My dog child can spell.  And for that, he completely deserves to have parmesan cheese sprinkled over his food.

Malted Milk Ice Cream

I know that I have a penchant for hyperbole, and that sometimes that might make it seem like I just loooooove everything, and sometime you  might think to yourself, "That Mandy--she's an idiot. How could everything be sooooo good?"  And you'd do my monotone and uninterested voice in your head and then roll your eyes or something.  Well, don't do that.  Or do.  I don't care.

But you just need to trust me here.  There's a tier of desserts--in this case, ice creams--that are at the very highest level of deliciousness.  There are a handful of ice creams and sorbets that I've made that I feel deserve this ranking: Thomas Jefferson's Vanilla Ice Cream, Banana Puddin' Ice Cream, Raspberry Sorbet, Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream, Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream, David Lebovitz's Chocolate Ice Cream, and last--but far from least--Homemade Samoa Ice Cream.  There are others that are also good, but not deserving of wild, exhaustive praise.

But this one, David Lebovitz's Malted Milk Ice Cream, is just heavenly.  The flavor, the texture, everything.  It's perfect.  Lebovitz has said that this is his favorite ice cream recipe from The Perfect Scoop, and I think I  might agree.

If you like Whoppers, you will go bananas for this.  If you don't like Whoppers, you will still go bananas for this ice cream.

Oh, and if you're reading this post and you're all, "Oh man, that sounds good, but I don't have an ice cream maker," then you need to go click here and purchase yourself one.  It's a need, not a want.  A NEED, I TELL YOU!

So, make this.  Make it and share it.  You'll be happier and more beautiful and everyone will want to be your friend.  People will fall in love with you and fight over who gets to take you places and buy you things, all because of the ice cream.

And I'm not the only Malted Milk Ice Cream enthusiast out there.  Amateur Gourmet wrote a song about it.

Seriously. 

Here's the recipe.  You need to make this ice cream.

David Lebovitz's Malted Milk Ice Cream
Recipe by David Lebovitz

Note: In The Perfect Scoop, Lebovitz explains that you should use malted milk powder in this recipe, and Ovaltine is not an appropriate substitute.  I used the Carnation brand, which he recommended.

Ingredients
1 cup half-and-half
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup malt powder
6 large egg yolks
2 cups malted milk balls, coarsely chopped

Warm the half-and-half, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. In a large bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, vanilla, and malt powder and set a mesh strainer on top.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and whisk it into the malted milk mixture. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. As you remove the ice cream from the machine, fold in the chopped malted milk balls.

*****Oh, and also, you should go check out my reviews page to read about my upcoming HomeGoods Hotlanta adventure and about how you will be able to enter to win a $100 HomeGoods gift card by just entering a little ol' comment!*****

An Ice Cream Sandwich for the King.

First things first.

This weekend, during all of the kitchen bitchin', I made (along with Cris, who was quite a sport) a double batch of chocolate waffle cones.  They were super cute.

Um, you can also shape waffle cones into little bowls! 

Unfortunately, they were really finicky and hard to get just right.  I thought about sharing the chocolate waffle cone recipe with you, but think that I'll work on perfecting it first.  (Like, only about 20 percent of them were the right amount of crispy without being burnt.  They tasted okay, but the texture was. . .wanting.)  If you're really jonesin' for some waffle cones, make the vanilla ones.  They're fan-f'ing-tastic*.  Also, you don't have to feel guilty about sharing them with the dog.

Anyway, where was I?

Oh yeah!  Chocolate waffle cone mediocrity.  Mmmmm hmm.  Well, here's something I figured out.  If you have a chocolate waffle cone that's not outstanding on its own, all you need to do is add some really delicious and creamy ice cream to it.

So, let's switch gears now (because I'm too lazy to come up with a real transition into what I'm really here to talk to you about).

I LOVE ELVIS.

I've loved him for many, many years.

When I was younger, we had cats named Elvis and Presley.

I've been to Graceland. . .twice.

I did my persuasive speech in high school about how Elvis was still alive.  (Why else would his name be spelled incorrectly on his tombstone??  You tell me that!)

I listened to the '68 Comeback Special CD my entire senior year.

I even have Elvis dolls.  And books.  And magnets.  And clothing.  And pajamas.  And the clock where his hips swivel.  The list goes on and on.

When I was young, I did a good Elvis impression.  "Hey 'Cilla, make me a peanut butta and 'nana sandwich."

My favorite Elvis song: "One Night."  My second favorite Elvis song: "All Shook Up."  I think Matt fell in love with me for real when I sang "All Shook Up" at karaoke one night.  I was particularly good at singing "All Shook Up" at karaoke because I had performed it with my vice principal at our after prom party in high school.  (Somewhere there is a video that would provide many a laugh.)

Check out sexy Elvis.

Well, enough already about my past obsessions (that also include: water guns, blankets, puppies, bubbles, cupcaking, Adam Lambert, and Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure nail polish).  I actually still love all of these, but they've just been put on the back burner to make room for new obsessions, like ice creaming.

And what I have for you today is the marriage between new and old, between past obsession and present obsession.

"'Hey, 'Cilla, make me a peanut butta and 'nana ice cream sandwich."

OKAY! (Also, someone had a little too much fun with the Elvis doll.)

It's really, really amazing.

See, I'd been ice creaming all weekend, and I wanted to try a few new recipes from David Lebovitz.  I made this peanut butter one, which is insanely, dangerously, easy to make.  And I made his roasted banana one, which is more involved, and is pretty good as well.  (Full disclosure: if you need to make banana ice cream to stand on its own, make banana puddin' ice cream.  It's better.  But this banana ice cream is better for the sandwich and better for mixing with other flavors.)

So here are the recipes you need.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Source: The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

¾ cup smooth peanut butter

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

2 2/3 cups half-and-half

Pinch of salt

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Covered Peanuts (recipe follows)

Puree the peanut butter, sugar, half-and-half, salt, and vanilla in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. 

Roasted Banana Ice-cream (also from David Lebovitz)

3 medium ripe bananas

75g brown sugar

1.5 cups (375ml) full-cream milk

2 tablespoons caster sugar

1.5 teaspoons lemon juice

half teaspoon vanilla extract

quarter teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. In a small baking dish, chop up the bananas and toss in the brown sugar. Bake for around 40 minutes or until the bananas are cooked through, caramelised and golden. Turn them once during cooking.
3. In a blender or food processor, blitz the hot bananas, the syrup from the dish, milk, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla and salt until smooth. Chill this mixture until cold in the fridge or ice bath.
4. Churn in an ice-cream machine until thick or place in a plastic container, pop it in the freezer and give it a good whip every few hours.

 

If you're still reading, I commend you on your patience and stickwithitness.  

Thank you, thank you very much.

*You know what's awesome?  Infixing.  Not a prefix, not a suffix.  It's an INFIX.  Fan-fucking-tastic.  That's what infixes are.

Weekend

This weekend was my first one off since I quit my second job a couple of weeks ago.  (Did I mention that I quit waiting tables?  Oh yeah, I did, and it is nothing short of incredible to have two full days off each weekend.)

And how did I spend it?  In the kitchen, of course.

See, my students have their big end of the year test tomorrow, and in an effort to bribe them (in addition to a full week of test prep and a year of harping on them about things like subject/verb agreement and what a simile is) to study and do well on their test, I made them some goodies.  Some pretty darned tasty goodies, if I do say so myself.  

So Saturday was all about kitchen bitchin', as Grandma Carol says.  It was both wonderful and exhausting. 

 

Dishes, and more dishes, and more dishes.

Sunday started off in a similar vein, and then I got some very sad, very hard news from a friend--the kind of news that makes you want to just hug your Matt and your Mitch a little tighter (the kind of news that meant that for much of the rest of the night, Mitch would be licking tears off of my face).  

I'm struggling to be enthusiastic or excited about stuff right now, but I think, sometimes, that during these  times when your heart feels so heavy, it's even more important than ever to soak up and reflect upon all of the lovely things about life.  And there are so many, aren't there?

Like good friends.

And dogs.

And ice cream.

And crazy sisters.

And cozy beds.

And wine.

And hydrangeas.

And Wendy's spicy chicken sandwiches.

And Matts.

And math jokes.

Two Handsome Fellas

How is it that I had never before seen this clip?

Also, you should probably watch His Way on HBO.

This and That

1. How long do you think it'll take for Matt and me to eat this much basmati?

Damn you, Sam's Club!

2.  Mitch continues to be the cutest animal on the planet, and I continue to be obsessed with Ann's 50mm lens (which I am never giving back to her, FYI).  

Why so serious all the time, dog?

3.  Wouldn't be a post this week without another picture of the hydrangeas that I didn't kill.

4.  I hate mosquitoes.  

5.  I showed this picture of Grandpa B to one of my students a couple of days ago and she said, "Ooh!  Your grandpa was HOT!"  How do you like that, Grandpa?  (Grandpa is blushing right now, probably about to snap those red suspenders of his.  Careful, Grandpa.  Don't want to get the ladies all riled up.)

6.  You know what's delicious?  Sprees.  And the smaller ones are better because they're just a tiny bit softer.  And they're pretty.  And full of nutrition.  And they make you smarter.  (If by smarter you mean fatter.)

7.  Yesterday, during some really exciting EOCT prep with my ninth graders, we were discussing the difference between persuasive writing and expository writing.  One of the students had a very, very interesting question, which then led us into a discussion about the difference between expository and suppository.

8.  That little episode made me check out the calendar to see how many days of school are remaining this year.  Nineteen.  I can do it, I can do nineteen. . .  The countdown is ON, the internet!

9.  I don't think I ever want to live anywhere that doesn't have little lizards running around.  Not so much because I love the lizards (even though I do when they are: behind a window or screen or in one of my paper lanterns, or more than 3 feet away from me), but because I think I am lizard-like as far as my ideal climate goes.  Yep.  Now, if only I could train lizards to eat all of the mosquitoes, then I wouldn't seem like a dirty meth addict all the time while I scratch my one bajillion mosquito bites.  Hmmmmmm.

10.  Well, I've got to get going, because Shecky just called me to rave about her new pajama jeans.  No joke.

50mm Lens

Last night I borrowed some lenses from our friend Ann who has an old school Pentax SLR.  One of the many reasons that I chose the new camera that I did was because I'd be able to fit old Pentax lenses to it, and I thought I could probably find them for relatively cheap.

So Ann let me borrow a few lenses, and, omigod.  I don't really know much about lenses and what all of that millimeter stuff means (note to self: learn that), but the first one I tried out was the 50mm.  

Um, amazing!  Like, this lens has some sort of  magical property where it just makes everything beautiful.  Ugly stuff--beautiful.  Beautiful stuff--even more beautiful.  Me--f'ing gorgeous!  

So for the last 20 minutes or so I've just been walking around the house taking pictures of things.  I kind of wish that I could see the world through a 50mm lens at all times. (Which is kind of like seeing the world through rose-colored classes, except with blurry backgrounds and less pink.)

Award for Outstanding Performance of the Century. 

Strawberry frozen yogurt that isn't very good.  At least it's pretty. 

 Not dead.  Yet.

Well, with that I'm off to take a nap.  It'll be a quick one.  Only 4-5 hours or so.