Mar 13
In getting ready to leave town for a couple of weeks and having an abundance of lemons, we decided to make some limoncello. Actually we decided to make Meyer limoncello and limoncello with regular lemons. It will be at least 6 weeks before we can compare the two, but that's just in time for warmer weather drinks on the deck.
Mar 11
Delicious paired with a cold beer!
Mar 7
I've only recently warmed up to eating avacados. In the interest of venturing out further, I decided to make some avacado frozen custard. You can see my husband loved it, even before it was frozen!
Here's the recipe from Fine Cooking:
Yields about 1 quart
2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
4 large egg yolks
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 Tbs. loosely packed finely grated lemon zest
1/2 Tbs. loosely packed finely grated lime zest
2 medium firm-ripe avocados (6 to 7 oz. each), pitted, peeled, and cut into large chunks
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the milk and sugar over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it just comes to a boil, about 4 minutes. Stir in the vanilla.
Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with several inches of ice water. Put a smaller metal bowl in the ice water and set a fine strainer on top.
In a medium bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks. Pour about 1/2 cup of the milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from curdling. Pour the egg mixture into the saucepan with the milk mixture and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the custard thickens slightly, enough to coat the back of the spoon, 4 to 8 minutes. Immediately pour the mixture through the strainer into the small bowl. Stir in the yogurt and zests and cool the custard completely by stirring it over the ice bath.
In a blender or food processor, purée the avocado with the lemon and lime juices and about 1 cup of the cooled custard until smooth. Fold the avocado mixture back into the custard. The mixture should be thick, creamy, and pale green. Freeze the custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer the frozen yogurt to an airtight container and freeze until solid, at least 4 hours.
nutrition information (per serving):
Calories (kcal): 240; Fat (kcal): 13; Fat Calories (g): 110; Saturated Fat (g): 3.5; Protein (g): 5; Monounsaturated Fat (g): 7; Carbohydrates (g): 29; Polyunsaturated Fat (g): 1.5; Sodium (mg): 45; Cholesterol (mg): 115; Fiber (g): 4;
From Fine Cooking 103, pp. 49
December 30, 2009
Mar 7
I started some seeds today for what will hopefully become a vegetable garden come this summer. I started about a month ago with some herbs and edible flowers, which have sprouted and are still alive. Buoyed by that success, today I ventured into planting vegetable starts. I've never been successful in starting a garden from seed, so I've decided to keep track of the progress with a garden journal. I also decided to start with good seed from a place in Vermont, which promises hardy bolt resistant seeds, which should work up here, at least theoretically. I'll provide periodic updates on the blog from time to time. Now to plan and learn how to build the outdoor raised beds these starts will live in come late May.
Mar 6
A nice amber beer with a hint of ginger. Very drinkable.
Feb 28
We've been slowly remodeling our kitchen. In order to get a sense of what we were getting into we took down part of the drop ceiling. What we found were asbestos ceiling tiles, just like the original parts of the house. Unfortunately, the tiles had been sacrificed for the installation of the drop ceiling sometime in the 1980s. We've searched for a non-abestos version of the ceiling tiles to no avail. It came to us this morning while flipping through our This Old House magazine that we should ask the restoration experts. We'll let you know if we get an answer. In the meantime, if you know where to find the replacement tiles, let us know.
Feb 28
This is my second attempt. Woefully, the plants in the last terrarium died. I think it was poor plant choice on my part.
Feb 14
Whittier is south of Anchorage about 60 miles surrounded by the Chugach Mountains and water. While Zach has been there numerous times, I have not, so this weekend was my chance. We met up with about 14 other couples to stay the evening at the Inn at Whittier.
Before checking in, Zach showed me the sites. First, to get to Whittier, you have to go through a 2 1/2 mile tunnel, which can only be accessed at certain times. It's the longest dual purpose tunnel (car and train) in the country. Second, once we were through the tunnel (whew!), we drove by Begich Towers, a converted military building from Whittier's military days, now condos which most of the town live in. Not a single family house in the whole town to be seen, or at least that I could locate. Next we drove by Buckner Building, a huge abandoned building also from Whittier's military days. Finally, on to the Inn at Whittier.
Once checked in we watch some cable tv, quite the treat since we don't have cable at home. However, our decision not to have cable is always reinforced by these experiences with so many channels and nothing we really want to watch. We then headed down to a nice dinner and then spent some time in the bar, primarily watching the Olympics. This morning was lazy as the rain fell outside. We had some breakfast, lazed about again for a while and then finally made the 11:10 tunnel out of town. Back in Anchorage, the skies are blue and the weather has the feel of spring in it.
