Ice Cream Truck Ice Cream

This is my dog Aquinnah.  She is a lover of fetching, hunting pieces of pizza crusts and bagels off the street.  She loves the ocean, running in the sand, chewing on bones and hanging out (as shown in bed above).  Above all other things she loves the ice cream truck man.  I made the mistake of accepting a "doggie cone" from Mr. Softie in the beginning of the summer... all this means is they give me a free adult size vanilla ice cream cone for Aquinnah.

Normally, I am neurotically careful about the food that I give her (the things she finds on the street is another story).  But I thought it was so cute that she would daintily take bites and lick the ice cream cone that I caved into those hazel brown eyes and started giving her cones.

Well, I've created a monster.  Aquinnah is smart enough that she has has circuit in the neighborhood  of restaurants and stores that gives her treats: Petopia, High Vibe, Bikes by George and Il Bagatto.  She sits in front of the doors of these establishments and won't budge until she's given a treat.  Literally, won't move, and if I try and pull her, she lays down on her stomach and defiantly stares at me until someone takes pity on her and gives her a handful of cookies.  This works for me, because I know what streets to avoid if I'm in a hurry and walking her.  The ice cream truck is another story.  Aquinnah stops for ANY truck that is similarly shaped (UPS, FedEx, Post Office) and stares at the trucks in her best "I'm well-behaved pose" and waits as I attempt to drag her away and rationalize with her that the post man doesn't hide ice cream in his truck.  Worse than stopping for all similarly shaped trucks is what happens when we hear the ice cream truck music from blocks away.

Her reaction is as I would imagine would happen if all at once 400 tennis balls got shot into a park and she didn't know which way to run first.  Upon hearing the music, she stops. Her whole body begins quivering and she starts jolting in every direction.  People walking down the street look at me like I have a schizophrenic dog who is totally and completely unruly.  Usually she is able to hunt down the truck, plow women and children out of the way and sit "patiently" under the window, drool hanging out of her mouth barely holding herself back from hurling her little blonde body 4 feet into the air in an attempt to physically get into the truck.  Luckily, there are two ice cream people in our neighborhood both of whom love her and give her 1-3 cones depending on how pathetic she acts.

As her ice cream crack habit has developed, she no longer daintily licks and takes bites of the cones as she once did.  She sucks the ice cream out in one bite and frantically eats the cone.  I don't know what they put in their ice cream, I would imagine it's more than cream, sugar, and vanilla... maybe there is some dog crack in there too.  But summer walks in the city have become a mine-field of avoiding the inevitable ice cream truck.  And the lowest I have come is having to physically pick her up (all 55 lbs.) and remove her from the trucks after her allotted and VERY generous 3 cone max is up.

What to make when you have nothing in the fridge!

Well, that was my dilemma this lovely rainy afternoon. Aquinnah and I got drenched in a rain storm at the dog park... which after I succumbed to being totally wrecked by the rain was really lovely.  The last time I enjoyed being caught in the rain that thoroughly was in college when I got caught on the way out of a summer class with my friend, drove back to his house and cozied up on a covered porch, in a hammock listening to the rain pounding on the roof.  We watched our friends, one by one, come home, clothing plastered to their bodies, big grins on their faces.   Sometimes, there is nothing quite like a refreshing summer storm.

So, I knew I was going to be hungry for lunch and want something warm.  All we had was 3/4 a container of mushroom stock, a few shiitake mushrooms, 1/2 a white onion, and two cloves of garlic.  I made risotto.  I finely chopped the onion and garlic, threw a slab of butter and a pinch of sea salt, a dash of dill, and a sprinkling of red pepper in a 1-quart pan, sweat it out until the onion was soft and then tossed in 1 cup of arborio rice and let the flavors marry.

Next, I slowly added (and you want to move as slowly as a herd of turtles) 3 cups of mushroom stock all the while stirring the rice.  If you're worried about getting bored, plug your headset into your phone and chat away.  I stirred until the rice became plump and the liquid was all gone.  Then, because I love it so, I drizzled a bit of Truffle Oil on top.

A really easy and delicious lunch.  Ideally I would have plopped it on a bed of greens, but until I make it over to the farmer's market today, the greens are a no go.

Who DOESN'T love Kale?

Kale is one of those super delicious bitter leafy greens that is great no matter how you prepare it... one of my favorite ways is in the form of kale "chips." The healthiest way to make kale chips is in a food dehydrator (I recommend the Excalibur Dehydrator because the nutrients are not lost baking.  That said, not everyone has the counter space for a dehydrator so the next best thing (in my mind) is slow roasted kale.

Set your oven on 200 degrees. To prepare the kale, you rinse it thoroughly (nasty dirt and grit gets stuck in the crevices of this lovely green) in a salad spinner making sure to dry it completely.  Once it's dry, toss it in a bowl with extra virgin olive oil (cold pressed), sea salt, cracked black pepper, and red pepper flakes.  Place the kale in one layer on a baking sheet and slowly roast it until it's crunchy (about 49-50 minutes)

This makes a fantastic and satisfying snack for kids and adults alike - and it's super healthy to boot!

The Table: Floral Arrangement

As I'm sure Martha Stewart can attest, almost as important as the food itself, is the table and presentation of your table.  Whether it be indoors or out, flowers always add a nice degree of calm and beauty to a dinner table.  My friend Miriam and I were preparing flowers arrangements for a large dinner party and were brainstorming a budget-friendly way to make beautiful displays.

We decided on Mason jars with twine wrapped half-way around and beautiful flowers stuffed into the jars.  A very clean, rustic looking arrangement.  All you need are sheers, gloves (to protect your hands from the thorns-modeled on Miriam), mason jars (which you can order online at Amazon for very little $$), super glue and flowers!

The key, we found, after a cucumber vodka with seltzer, is not to worry about the flowers or the mason jars looking perfect - because they will not.  It's just to have a pretty centerpiece that brings together the colors or feelings of the meal.

The total cost was far less than a florist would charge and the arrangements received compliments from the guest and birthday boy!  Score. We paired large and medium mason jars on every table with jumbo jars with more elaborate arrangements at the head table and tiny jars with simple arrangements in the bathrooms and powder rooms.  A little thinking outside the box gets you some creative outcomes.

Oyster Night!

If there is one thing that I truly, truly enjoy it is freshly shuck oysters. I usually don't add any flavor onto those slippery little devils because the taste of the ocean is what i'm looking for.

Joe came home with a few dozen oysters from the market and looked excited to have me shuck them all for us - a lesson ensued and he learned to shuck as well. If you're on a budget (as many people are these days) purchasing oysters at the market is MUCH less expensive than ordering them in a restaurant... try $1 at market to $5+ dollars at a restaurant. They are just as delicious and you can pop open a bottle of champagne at your own dinner table.

One thing I do recommend, and it doesn't sound pleasant etiquette wise, is giving your oyster a subtle sniff before you suck it out of the shell. The last thing you want is to be ingesting an oyster that doesn't smell "right" and feel sick instead of happy after eating them!

So here is our bed of oysters, complete with ice and lemons.