use real butter

Recipe: chocolate ice cream

Congratulations to my pals, Amos and Louie, on the birth of their baby girl! Amos is one of my oldest friends (oldest as in I’ve known her longer than most friends – she’s not old… we’re the same age because we share the same birth date). Since both Amos and Louie love chocolate and love ice cream – it’s almost a genetic guarantee (I jest, I jest! Biogeeks, please be seated!) that little Alejandra will too. I recently made a batch of teh best homemade chocolate ice cream evar. Smooth, creamy, rich, and most of all: chocolaty. What better way to celebrate Alejandra’s arrival than with a post on chocolate ice cream.

Recipe: strawberry mousse cake stata

I’m not a fan of pink. In fact, Beth and I were discussing this just yesterday – how we both dislike pink. I like pink that occurs naturally, but I don’t seek it out and I certainly don’t wear it. I think it’s an unfortunate result of my rebellion against society’s expectation that girls should dress in pink. Growing up a tomboy, I shunned pink at every opportunity. I like black and blue.

But pink has its place for a good cause – and everyone (I hope) knows what that is: fighting breast cancer. Susan G. Komen for the Cure has mobilized action and awareness for over a quarter century. I’ve run some of the 5K races and raised money for the organization in the past. It’s a good thing to do.

When I was in graduate school, my sister called up one day to tell me that my mom was having two lumps from her breast biopsied. Mom told Kris not to tell me because she didn’t want to disrupt my studies. This is typical of my mom. It was also typical of Kris to tell me immediately. We did not keep secrets from one another and Kris was scared – she wanted to talk to me about it. Sure, we both rolled our eyes when Mom nagged us about this, that, and the other thing, but our family is really tight. It changes your perspective to think you might lose someone you have taken for granted all of your life. Kris and I decided we’d surprise Mom by driving/flying out to visit the day she got her results from the lab. We would be there to celebrate or to comfort. Either way, we’d be there.

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: chocolate hazelnut petits fours glacés

Sometimes it takes me a few iterations to realize that I hate something… Humans have an amazing capacity for blocking out bad experiences like relationships, suffering, and making petits fours glacés. I’d like to think my inspiration was spurred on by the extra sheet of vanilla chiffon cake I had in my freezer from last time, but I honestly believe I had forgotten that I uttered the words, “I’m never making these again!” just over a month ago.

It’s the same story with a slightly different cast – a cast that probably appeals to more people because it includes our friends chocolate and hazelnut.