Coffee Oreo Cognac Ice Cream

I'm still working my way through the 16 egg yolks leftover from my egg-white heavy (is that an oxymoron?) American flag cake. Egg yolks just beg to be made into ice cream.

I asked Chuck if she had an ice cream flavor preference. "Something with Oreos," she said. In contrast, I was thinking, "Something with booze." Enter this recipe from Simply Recipes, which combines both AND adds coffee, which makes it even better.I made a couple small changes to the recipe, namely using instant espresso powder rather than instant coffee, and cognac rather than rum. Also, I used 8 egg yolks.

Delicious... I think the only additional change I would make is to add more Oreos at the end for chunkiness.

Panko and Mustard Crusted Salmon

I saw this recipe for spicy panko crusted salmon on Always Order Dessert this week and had to have it immediately. The crunchy topping looked so delicious... and it was!

Ridiculously easy: basically the mustard serves as the glue for some panko bread crumbs that are jazzed up with smoked paprika and cayenne. It's all crisped up quickly in some olive oil and served with something green on the side (in our case, broccoli roasted with olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes). I had a little trouble keeping the topping attached to the salmon when I flipped it, but I bet it would get easier with practice.

Roasted Potato Salad with Corn, Tomato and a Jalapeno Lime Vinaigrette

Barbara requested a potato salad for her combo housewarming/birthday/last bash before the baby party... after the holiday weekend I felt a little over mayo-laden potato salads, so I decided to research some more funky potato salads.


This potato and corn salad recipe from the Splendid Table calls for lots of sunny summer produce, perfect for using up my fresh-from-the-farm corn on the cob, cherry tomatoes, jalapenos, and red potatoes. I didn't follow the directions exactly since I didn't feel like turning on the grill, but I roasted the potatoes (which I had cut into bite-sized pieces), toasted the corn, onion, and jalapeno in a cast-iron skillet, and just whisked the dressing together rather than busting out and dirtying the blender.

Fresh, tasty, a little spicy, and definitely not mayo-y!

Crochet Hats

When I first expressed an inkling of interest in learning how to knit and/or crochet, The Real Martha, as she is wont to do, immediately mailed me a package with a learn-to-knit kit and some inexpensive (read: cheap) yarn to practice with. She also brought me a boatload of '70s and '80s era acrylic yarn that she's had sitting around for years unused. Now that I have a little bit more confidence in my crocheting and knitting, I don't need quite so much practice yarn anymore, so I decided to put it to good use.

Using this series of tutorials for a basic spiral hat (the pattern provides a basic formula that can be modified to make several different styles of hat), I've made a couple hats out of the extra yarn with plans to donate them to a local homeless shelter/food bank in DC. The great thing about this pattern is that, since it's crocheted in a spiral rather than distinct rows, it avoids the seam issue I had when making previous crochet hats.

One with a thick ribbed cuff that folds up. I used a size J hook and worsted weight (medium weight/size 4) yarn. I ended up doing 6 or 7 rows of ribbing at the end to get a really wide cuff:


A couple basic beanies with no cuff:

Chocolate Buttermilk Ice Cream

This deliciously non-traditional ice cream flavor, buttermilk chocolate, was the perfect way to use up buttermilk (leftover from cupcakes) and egg yolks (leftover from my massive flag cake). Tangy, rich, creamy and chocolatey.

I basically followed the basic buttermilk ice cream recipe from Smitten Kitchen and the chocolately modification from the Cupcake Project, although I used only 8 egg yolks. Plenty rich enough.

Happy Fourth of July! American Flag Cake

A Fourth of July BBQ calls for a dramatic red, white and blue dessert. I made this massive white sheet cake with cream cheese frosting and fresh summer berries, shaped like a giant star-spangled banner, while the neighborhood kids set off their own massive fireworks in the alley.
America... f*ck yeah.The recipe (care of the Other Martha) is really good, and there's a video to show you how to handle the giant layers. The cake itself is light and fluffy (probably due to the 16 whipped egg whites in the batter), almost like angel food cake. The only change I made was to put parchment paper on the cookie sheets rather than buttering and flouring them, for sake of convenience.

Balcony Garden

Since moving into my new place, I've really wanted to plant some flowers out on our balcony. I planted some window boxes in the early spring which didn't go over so well, I think I over crowded them :( So here's my second try with redish petunias and white begonias!

I also have this huge wooden planter that had a pretty cool vine in it from the previous owners. Unfortunately I couldn't revive it :( So I ripped that out and planted lantana bandanas, these really neat multi colored flowers. I saw them in my apartment buildings garden and really wanted to get some!