I'm Baaaack!

Hey everyone! Yup, still alive! After a long break I have decided to come back to my little  blog. I think this time around it will be a bit different. I'll still be sharing food and recipes now and then, but posts will include more gardening, crafting and knitting, daily life, and sometimes might just be a picture. Pretty much whatever I'm feeling at the time. I know, less structured and always changing, but such is my life!

Nothing much out of the ordinary has happened in the last few months, but I'll fill you in on May. Here are a bunch of pictures... enjoy!

Our garden is really taking off this year. Hopefully we'll get some fruit from this apple tree!

One of my favorites! This lilac smells sooo good!

My 29th birthday was on Sunday. It was a perfect day! Lots of time spent relaxing, reading, knitting and strolling through the garden and property with Ben and my dog. It was also a day full of delicious food! Ben spoiled me rotten!

Breakfast:

Dinner was a huge salad with greens fresh from the garden, cucumber, avocado, grilled asparagus, spot prawns fresh from the dock, and homemade garlic dressing with toasted almonds. It was DELICIOUS!

Here is the amazing cake Ben made for me. It was beautiful...

and drool-worthy! Lemon chiffon cake filled with fresh strawberries and lemon curd, frosted in whipped cream, and topped with more strawberries. Life is good (and so is cake)!

To completely change the subject, I have recently learned to knit, and it has become a new obsession! I am currently knitting wash cloths, flip-top mittens, kids fingerless mitts, baby Uggs, socks, a scarf, and a hat! Yikes! Here are a few of my recent projects.

Those of you that are still around, thanks for sticking with me!

Ben's Birthday and Angel Food Cake!

Last weekend was Ben's 27th birthday!

He had just gotten a new row boat, so we went out in that to celebrate the day.

 Luckily it was beautiful out and we really enjoyed ourselves!

We explored new beaches.

Found treasures.

Admired the scenery.

And enjoyed the sunset.

For his birthday dessert Ben had requested an angel food cake with mocha whipped cream, and the same dark chocolate ice cream I had made for the FIL's birthday but with peanut butter swirled in. I complied.

I used this same recipe for the ice cream, but at the last minute of churning I spooned in some slightly melted peanut butter. It took some light stirring by hand, but I swirled it in pretty well! That was all done the day before so it would freeze properly.

I also made the cake the day before, but frosted it the day of. I used Cathy Burgett's recipe for angel food cake. It's the BEST!  Here it is!

Angel Food Cake
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 cup sifted cake flour (regular flour will work too)
1/2 tsp. salt
10 egg whites
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract (I didn't use this and just doubled the vanilla)

-Have ready one unbuttered 9" tube cake pan or springform pan. Preheat the oven to 350*.
-Sift the sugar twice.
-Sift the flour three times with 1/4 cup of the sifted sugar and the salt.

-Whip the egg whites with the lemon juice until the mixture is foamy, then add the cream of tartar and continue whipping at medium speed until the whites take in a lot of air and are stiff but not dry. Do not overbeat the whites. They should be just softly peaked.

-Gradually whip in the remaining 1 cup sifted sugar. The whites should just fall over slightly when lifted up from the whisk.
-Sift the flour/sugar mixture in thirds over the batter. Fold it in gently and briefly after each addition.

-Fold in the extracts with the last addition of flour.

-Pour the batter into the unbuttered tube cake pan and bake for 40-45 minutes,

or until the cake is lightly golden on top.

 A knife inserted into the middle of the cake should come out clean.

-To cool, invert the pan and let the cake hang by resting the pan on its legs for about an hour.

-When the cake has cooled, turn it right side up and loosen it by running a knife around the outside edge and around the center tube. Invert the cake onto a wire rack or onto a serving platter.

-If the cake is to be used within a day, wrap it in plastic wrap and store it at room temperature. Wrap it in foil for freezing up to one week.

On the day of Ben's birthday i whipped a few cups of cream with some powdered sugar, a tablespoon of instant espresso powder and a few ounces of melted dark chocolate. I covered the whole cake, covered the sides with chocolate shavings, and piped a boarder on top. Oh, and what birthday cake would be complete without sprinkles?! I do love sprinkles!

Everyone gathered at the table, and I lit the candles. Ben blew them out and we dug in!

Everything turned out great! I ate about five times as much as I should have, but I totally enjoyed every bite! The ice cream was especially good. I loved the big chunky swirls of peanut butter in it.

Seriously, what is better than dark chocolate and peanut butter with a bit of cream and sugar mixed in?!

NOTHING!

All in all it was a total success! Ben opened his presents, we watched a movie, and snuck another spoonful of ice cream before calling it a night. What a fun day!!!

Happy birthday Ben! I love you!

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream and My Father-In-Law's Birthday!

Hi there! I have been so excited to write this post! I think ice cream is my favorite food group! hehe

So, last weekend was my FIL's birthday. We had some white fish made by my MIL, sauteed chard by me, and a fantastic cheese souffle made by Ben (a betty crocker recipe, I believe!).

I looove cheese souffle! It is beyond good. I just have to hold myself back from consuming the entire bowlful of light, flavorful cheesy goodness!

It looks so amazing coming out of the oven, before it falls!

Needless to say, we had a great time with his birthday celebration and dinner. Then, we got to the important stuff! My father-in-law is all about chocolate. I mean the good stuff. Dark and uncontaminated (aka unflavored and without added nuts etc.) chocolate, straight up. That's his thing.

For his cake I made some plain, and some chocolate pastry cream which Ben used to fill between the layers of a marbled chiffon cake. Frosted in chocolate whipped cream, it was so amazing!

The FIL asked for a "small" cake. Said request was happily and intentionally ignored by Ben as he made the most massive cake ever!

Keeping with the chocolate theme I decided to make some dark chocolate ice cream to go with the cake. After searching around I found this recipe from the cilantropist. I love that blog! It looked chocolatey enough, so I gave it a go!

Dark chocolate ice cream

1 cup fat free milk
2 egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbs cocoa powder
1/2 tsp instant coffee powder
2/3 cup sugar
5-6 oz. chopped dark chocolate
1 tsp vanilla

Place milk in a medium sized bowl with a strainer over it. In a separate small bowl whisk the egg yolks. Set both bowls aside.

In a large saucepan combine cream, cocoa powder, coffee powder and sugar. Whisk over med-high heat until it just comes to a boil. Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate, making sure all chocolate is melted before proceeding.

 Mix a small amount of the hot chocolate mixture with the yolks, whisking constantly, then add it all back into the saucepan. Return to heat and whisk constantly until mixture thickens a bit.

Strain chocolate mixture into the bowl of milk to remove any cooked egg bits. Stir in vanilla and cool completely in fridge. When cool transfer to ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturers instructions.

This is goood stuff! So rich and chocolatey! Ben has actually requested it for his birthday too, but with the addition of some peanut butter swirls. We'll see what I can do! Hope you guys enjoy this recipe, and make sure to go check out the Cilantropist, and see all of the other great recipes there!

Happy (late) birthday to a wonderful FIL!