Lavender Ice Cream

I would like to go here to harvest lavender. Can you say dreamy? Image c/o CityPictures

Last Saturday, Five and I had the pleasure of spending some quality time with our long-lost buddy, S. We had so much fun eating Thai food, reminiscing about our twelve year old selves and catching up on the last year. It was really delightful. And then things got a little weird. How should I put this? After staying out until about 11pm, we came home and the next thing I knew we were waking up to a heaping bowl of homemade lavender ice cream and twelve hand crocheted flower boutonnières....

Mmmmm, yeah. I'll be the first to admit we have a problem.....    

But the ice cream was really, really delicious. 

Lavender Ice Cream

Simple Lavender Syrup:

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

4 tablespoons lavender

Ice Cream

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups whipping cream

2 cups whole milk

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup lavender syrup

Over medium heat, combine sugar, water and lavender in a small saucepan. Whisk until sugar is dissolved; reduce heat to low. Once mixture has thickened, remove from heat. 

In a chilled ice cream maker (or a normal mixer) combine eggs, sugar, salt, cream, milk, and vanilla. If you're using an ice cream maker, mix until thickened. Otherwise, mix until thoroughly combined. Stir in syrup. Before freezing, add chocolate.

Freeze for 2+ hours (or until solid) and enjoy!
I hope our loss of sleep (and sanity) is your gain.... :)

The Anatomy of a Bite

A meal is so often taken for granted.  Swallowed down without a second thought.  Flavors fade into obscurity, washed out by a swallow of coke or juice.  A nibble is most often forgotten, they are more a nervous habit than a conscious act.  People pick at their food, forgetting that the way we eat is a luxury, not a right.  We think of eating in terms of grabbing, getting, gorging. 

Here’s to food fully formed.  To taste, to flavor, and spice.  Here is to the bite, thorough and decisive, with edges clean and straight.  One mouthful, one gastronomic gift that compels you. To wait. To Stop. To savor.

Strawberry Amuse Bouche

1Qt. good quality strawberry yogurt

4 oz. chevre

2 T. super-fine sugar (or to taste)

½ t. ground ginger

3 fresh strawberries—sliced for garnish

cheesecloth folded to 8 layers.

Place the cheesecloth into a mesh sieve and empty the yogurt into said sieve.  Place the whole thing somewhere where it can drip freely and go watch a movie.  (I recently saw how to train your dragon, that might be a good one.  Also, 2 parts of any BBC mini series.)

When you’re done with your movie come back and whip the chevre with and electric mixer so it’s fluffy.  Fold in the thickened yogurt, add the ginger and sugar to taste.  Place in fridge, go call your mother (this conversation should last anywhere between 30 and 60 minutes, so no talking about 1. Why you haven’t been to church, 2. When you and your bf are going to get married, 3. Why you haven’t called in 2 weeks)

Tell mom you have to go, but next time you won’t wait so long to call.  Sneak a bite. Plate. Impress.

The Definition of Optimism According to the Gospel of Two

When all the world is hum and drum

or even worse, when it is glum.

Your boss is mean, you have the flu

your friends don't seem to care for you.

And maybe things aren't all that bad

but for some reason, you feel sad

The summer's over, who's to know

what's next to come, where's next to go

But next time when you're feeling blue

here's one yellow idea for you:

Call someone who you know's in need

do something nice, do some good deed

Try to do at least one each day

and your troubles won't go away

but somehow you will also see

the goodness around you and me

You'll feel it, be it, give and share

and soon you will become aware

that even when your life gets rough

You'll find sunshine and find enough.

~by two

Saturday is a Special Day!

We love having Husbandaddy all to ourselves on the weekend. The babes and I drag him to all our "greatest hits" destinations. Or we go exploring new things together.

Or we do laundry. 

One of our favorite outings in Denver is the Children's Museum. I used to play there as a kid, and volunteered in the (now defunct) Science Lab every week when I was a teenager.  So it was a special kind of thrill -- the "you're really freaking old" kind -- to come back with my own little family. I thought is was pretty awesome then, and am even more in love with it now.  Observe:

Writing the great American novel

One of many amazing contraptions in the Bubble Room

They have an entire shoe-free wonderland, just for crawlers and toddlers -- this boat used to be the Princess' favorite, and now Tiny loves it :-)

A well stocked art room? With full-coverage smocks? Where somebody else cleans up?!  HEAVEN!

So the "super market" looks like a Soviet-era grocer...

Princess H is an excellent hoarder, so it works out

Twirling

Color-coordinated seating

Did you notice the new skirt? Did I mention we're potty training? Around here, we don't have "mistakes;" We have "wardrobe changes."

Dreamy

Peanuts and Cracker Jacks

Mr. One's company had a little outing to the ballpark!

 

We had dinner in the President's Club, full of adorable old pictures of Presidents at ball games.  I suppose they had some more recent pictures, too.  But those weren't adorable.

(I love Harry!)

Also, funny Presidential quotes behind the buffet.

Z says this picture of the press room is really boring. But I thought it was cool. Maybe I need to take a photography class.  Or get out more...

Self-portrait (with batting cages).

The Spotlight's on Us! . . . (and you too, because you're cool.)

Hey all!

Just wanted to alert you to a neat opportunity that we had to be a spotlighted blog in Latter Day Woman magazine. If you want to read the blurb, here's the link.

Here's the link to their website, as well. In my opinion, it's pretty fun.

You Know Where You Can Stick Your "Inspiration"?

A few weeks ago, I posted about some Hungarian inspired felt wallets that Two, Four, and I created. I thought that they were pretty sweet -- they were some of my more pride-inducing attempts at crafty-ness. So pride-inducing, in fact, that I submitted this:

to the website Craftgawker, convinced that it was a shoe-in. Now, occasionally FIVE's submissions to the aforementioned site are rejected. They always give some sort of reason, like bad lighting or blurriness -- I don't like it, but I understand. However, this time it was:

MORE INSPIRATIONAL?! Does it GET more inspirational than hand-sewn, 100% recycled felt wallets with adorable, heart-bellied blue birds?! (don't answer that). And even if that one is a little askew, there's no need for that passive aggressive. . . aggressiveness. Is it really necessary to place a value judgment on a little felt pouch that has never hurt a fly? When all's said and done, was anything productive accomplished by calling the poor thing uninspirational?. . . I think it's at least as inspirational as 'flowers' made out of old coffee filters.

I'm sure that there's an excellent lesson here about pride coming in the summertime (or something like that), and I still quite admire the wee satchels, so perhaps I should stop massively over-blowing this seriously insignificant event. In fact, I'm going to end this post on a truly inspirational note. Craftgawker, I will no longer seethe at you for shunning my petite handicrafts. I release you from the terrible, soul-munching guilt that has been consuming you since you typed those nine impudent words. Yes, Craftgawker, I forgive you. And, while I have your attention, could you tone down the feathers? I get really sick of them.