ice cream sandwiches

Jeff's birthday is right around the corner so I had a great excuse to make ice cream sandwiches.

I used this Martha recipe for the chocolate cookies and spread half with vanilla and half with mint chip ice cream. Yum!

I've made these twice before -- little Christmas trees with green mint ice cream for the holidays and hearts with strawberry ice cream for Valentine's Day -- but this is the first time that I've made them in summer. Because who associates ice cream and summer, right?

And while we're on the subject of summer treats...

Isn't frozen fruit great?! Definitely less labour intensive than homemade ice cream sandwiches, and it's just so refreshing. I love frozen cherries, mango, and peaches. Oooh, and chocolate-dipped bananas! Man, it's been a long time since I've had those.

This frozen pineapple looks good too. Note to self: gotta get some pineapple and try that.

The other treat we've had this summer is homemade fudgesicles. Frozen Jello chocolate pudding -- you know, the kind from a little box -- works great in freezer pop trays. And sometimes a fudgesicle totally hits the spot.

habit

Lately, I've been enjoying habit daily.

It's such a lovely project -- the photographs and snippits are beautiful and inspiring, so real and spot on. Check it out.

ribbons

I made a toy!

First, let me set the scene. The babe just went down for a nap, Jeff and I were going to get into the spring-cleaning (our weekend project that most people get to in...well, spring), and I got an idea. Ribbons!

You see, the babe really digs tags of all sorts, getting her little finger going back and forth, back and forth, over them. So she's in the zone for ribbons. Remember this project? This is the easy one-hour version of that lovely softie. A chewy, cushy square of fabric with lots of ribbons that little fingers can poke into (and promptly put into little mouth.)

So while my sweet husband washed the floor (on his hands and knees, people!), I got to cut ribbons, pick out fabric, and whip this out before the babe woke up.

I tell ya, some days, the little things just make you feel like a million bucks. Today, it was being able to act on that creative burst of energy the moment it happened. Not writing it down on a list for later, but making and doing that very minute. What a kick.

It's a 'sew right-sides together and turn right-side out' kind of project, with the ribbons folded and sandwiched between the layers.

And when she woke up, she knew just what to do.

summer

...is finally here.

playing decorator

Help! I don't know curtains and would like some more opinions.

In the baby's room we have a window (glass blocks) into the building's main hallway so there's always light coming in. We have venetian blinds to block most of the light, and heavy red corduroy curtains to darken the room entirely at night.

Question is, should I hem the curtains? The point of the curtains is to darken the room so they'll always be a bit 'heavy', just wondering if they're too heavy and formal... or whether the hemmed version makes it look even sillier.

Here are the options.

As is:

Or hemmed:

What's your vote?

**Thanks guys! Jeff agrees with you. Long it is!

kale chips

Who here manages to get their recommended share of green leafy veggies? Now that I've discovered kale chips, we'll be gobbling down bunches of the stuff with grins on our faces. I could very well look like Popeye in a couple of months.

kale chips

serves 3-4

1 bunch kale

olive oil

salt -- I used fine-grain sea salt, but I've heard seasoning salt is good too

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash your kale and dry it well (I love my salad spinner.) Tear into bite-size pieces. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and toss to coat well. Spread on large cookie sheet that's been lined with parchment paper or one of those non-stick mats. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the kale is deep green, crispy, and not yet charred. Timing is everything -- I recommend you start watching it more closely after 10 minutes even though my last batch took almost 20 minutes. Enjoy warm from the oven -- and go ahead, lick your fingers!

finger lickin' good

Usually, when I'm going to roast a chicken, I make, what we have lovingly dubbed, a 'Jorge' (long story.) While we don't make a habit of personifying our food, Jorge is an exception.

Making Jorge consists of filling his cavity with lemon and rosemary, massaging his skin with olive oil, salt and pepper, and putting him in a pan with a little white wine and chicken broth to keep him moist. Jorge is reliably tasty, but this new recipe is... oh, so good. I'm at a loss for words to describe and do justice to just how good this roast chicken smelled as it was cooking and just how good it tasted.

The recipe comes from Saveur, a great foodie mag with lovely photography. The original recipe is Sara's Roast Chicken with Sage and Garlic. I substituted the sage for some fresh lemon thyme I had on hand and tweaked a few of the ingredients, but mostly I followed the recipe, so I'll encourage you to jump on over there.

Since my picture of the finished product was not as appetizing as Saveur's (not surprisingly), here's my bird ready for the oven. Make the leap to see how delicious it looks when it's done. Seriously, it's like one of those scratch n' sniff photos.