use real butter

Recipe: blueberry muffins (cake)

My days have been up and down. When they are down, I lay low and listen to my body and just try to recover. When they are up, I’m brimming with ideas and raring to go. Yesterday was a seriously up day for me. I was able to cook a ton of food and feel as if the kitchen was mine once again. Of course, there were a few changes to work through – like the fact that my taste has been heavily wankered, that my GI tract now rejects about 70% of what I typically love to eat (spicy, sour, salty, fatty, all that good stuff), and that I can’t eat berries. Well, I CAN eat berries, but I’ve been strongly advised to avoid eating raw berries (among other raw foods) for my own well-being.

I had bought some blueberries before my treatment began last week and Jeremy was taking a hell of a long time to finish them off. I really wanted those blueberries. And then I really wanted some… cake. And then I began flipping through my cookbooks and wondering what ingredients I had to make some cake with blueberries. I mean, if they’re cooked then I can eat them, right?

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes. I am definitely on the mend although not 100% back to normal. I really can’t stand being ill, but to add insult to injury is my loss of appetite, which I guarantee rarely happens.

Peabody mentioned that she likes pears in salad a while back, and that got me thinking… It’s pear season and pears are everywhere. A couple of nights ago, I thought I’d follow a good suggestion and added it to a favorite salad. It’s quick, easy, but full of a lively array of flavors. I tossed baby arugula with a light dressing of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Then I topped it with a few shaves of Parmesan, some slices of ripe pear, and a couple of thin sheets of prosciutto. Thanks for a great idea, Peabody!

Recipe: peppermint ice cream

I can’t tell you how excited I was to finally try a peppermint ice cream recipe! I’ve been wanting to make peppermint ice cream ever since I left Ithaca, New York 5 years ago. Ithaca was where on occasion, I would buy Purity brand peppermint ice cream which wasn’t that crappy green stuff. It was real peppermint and pinkish and absolutely heavenly. I suppose peppermint ice cream to me is what Coffee Heath Bar Crunch is to Jeremy. But I was never much of a dairy expert and ice cream wasn’t high on my priority list of skills to accomplish. I don’t know why now, but I’m glad!

This recipe comes from David Lebovitz’ The Perfect Scoop. I actually found it on Elise’s terrific site here. I’ve had issues crushing peppermint candies in the past. My favorite peppermint candy is King Leo brand peppermint sticks, but they are so airy they would just dissolve in ice cream. I used those generic red and whites from the store. When I made peppermint bark in the past, there was a lot of swearing and harming of worktable surfaces. I wised up this time and remembered my seldom-used mortar and pestle.