Little things that I love

I am avoiding homework, so I started thinking about little summer treats I love.

Blackberries- I never got blackberries until I moved here. They are so expensive and usually not delicious from the store, but here, where we pick them - AMAZING.

A few things I have done with blackberries:

Balsamic blackberry reduction- I basically covered blackberries in balsamic brought to a boil then reduced to low and let simmer until syrupy. yummy over ice cream.

Black berries in salad. MMMMM.....with a red wine vinegrette and some chevere.

S'Mores - I have recently tried different kinds of smores. I have gotten bored with regular graham crackers and milk chocolate with the plain marshmallow. Here are some I have tried.

Chocolate, marshmallow, graham and STRAWBERRY! mmmm

Chocolate, marshmalllow and Almond Butter cookie

graham, mallow and caramelo

Graham, Malloa and godiva drk chocolate/raspberry bar.

I could go all day with this! I think I will try one different smore each cook out!

Ice cream!
I recently made my own ice cream, it was kinda of an accident. I took heavy whipping cream and whipped it until it was stiff, mixed in brown sugar and maple syrup. I used the whipped cream on some peaches. then I absentmindedly put it in the freezer. The next day it was so delicious, it tasted like real ice cream.

Speaking of whipped cream, I have been trying different types recently to put on stuff.
- Lemon Ginger - lemon zest, grated ginger and pwder sugar
-Maple brown sugar- maple and brown sugar
- Almond liquer- amaretto and pwder sugar
- Orange - orange zest and pwdr sugar
- lime- lime zest and pwdr sugar.

These are so good on fruit!
lemon ginger goes with all berries
Maple and brown sugar on peaches or apple pie
Almond liquer - peaches, plums or cherries
Orange - blue berries or strawberries
lime - pinapple, mango, strawberries or raspberries

The last thing I want to add is an Ice Cream Sandwich

I have been using these Almond Butter Cookies a lot. They are light, crisp and low in fat and sugar. a serving is 140 cal and 4 gs of fat. But a serving is 8 Cookies! I have found that if you put a tablespoon of Skinny Cow Dulce de Leche ice cream between two of those crisps you have a rich, low cal, low fat satisfying dessert! It makes me want to experiment with different types of Ice Cream sandwiches.

I could try all day. I wish I worked for a food magazine or something. I would be fat, but happy. :)

Chilled Avocado/Cucumber Soup

It was cold and rainy out, but I still could not stop thinking of that Cumin & Orange sheep's milk cheese. I could just imagine how delicious it would be with Cucumber. Then I saw the recipe for chilled cucumber soup. Mmmmm....Yeah, its a little too cold for that, but I had to experiment. So off to the grocery store I went. Hmmm....green was the color. So I bought some avocados and cucumbers. Let's look around the produce department...mmmmm lemongrass... delicious. Off to the dairy section I go. I bought some greek yogurt and some vegetable stock. When I got home, matthew and I went to work.

So my list of ingredents is as follows:

1 cucumber peeled and cubed.

2 avocados

2 cups vegetable stock

1/4 c. plain low fat yogurt

1 oz of fresh OJ

1/8 tsp orange peel

some chopped cilantro

1tsp cumin

1/4 tsp lemongrass paste

Sea Salt

Pepper

I combined all the ingredents and pureed with my beautiful kitchen aide hand blender. I LOOOVE it. I had to keep tasting it to make sure I had the right taste. I pureed it until it was smooth and velvety. I let it chill for 1 hour in the fridge. When It was done, of course I put that yummy cumin & orange cheese crumbled on it. Along with some cilantro. It was very good. Matthew, well, he didn't like it as much. Or at all. He did like the olive bread with the lemon rosemary butter I made. He tried to eat the soup, but after 3 bites, he completely gave up.

I went ahead and added some olives to my meal and I was more than content. Wine would of been great, but I opted for minted lemon water instead. It was a fresh day. All I really needed was some warm weather and sunshine.