Strawberry Ice Cream

1) Chill all ingredients: three cups mashed strawberries, 2 cups whipped cream, one can sweetened condensed milk, 3 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla, & salt.

2) Beat all ingredients together.

3) Pour into 9x13 pan & freeze until mushy, 3-4 hours.

4) Pour back into mixing bowl & beat until smooth but not melted.

5) Return to pan & freeze for another 3 hours.

This ice cream is rich & creamy. So many strawberries! For the same cost of the store-bought versions, plus a little bit of time, you get about twice as much.

I can't wait to try it again with peaches later this summer.

It was the perfect ending to an evening spent with my husband celebrating our second wedding anniversary.

He gave me two handmade marbles, blue & white, in a little cotton bag. He offered them up with such humbleness, but I truly find them amazing.

Also, check out that lovely cloth under the cup of ice cream. A present from my sweet parents!

Thank you to everyone who thought of us & sent gifts &/or love!

Favorite Song for today (led to in a more or less direct way by my favorite radio station):

Angus & Julia Stone- Bella

Zucchini Cookies

I would not change a thing about these cookies. They are sweet-addictive-cakey discs of temptation. & you can have some too!

Cream together: 3/4 cup softened butter, 1/2 cup sugar, & 1/2 cup brown sugar.

Add & beat until fluffy: one egg.

Sift together in separate bowl: 1.5 cups whole wheat flour, 1 cup flour, 1.5 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, salt, & 1/2 tsp cloves.

Add to creamed mixture alternately with dry ingredients: 1.5 cups shredded zucchini.

Add optionally

a) raisins & walnuts.

b) chocolate chips & vanilla (perhaps then leaving out the cinnamon & cloves).

c) all of the above.

(We took option c minus the walnuts.)

Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes. (Don't let batter stand for long or it will get watery.)

Favorite Song for today (led to in a more or less direct way by my favorite radio station):

Knockin' on Heaven's Door- Bob Dylan

(They also have a playlist of Bob Dylan tracks up, in honor of his 70th birthday today. I rather like that. They played Everything is Broken on the regular channel as well as Knockin' on Heaven's Door.)

Strawberry Pie with Graham Cracker Crust

If I were to change anything about this recipe, from Simply in Season, it would be to half the strawberries rather than putting them in whole as the last step. & that probably depends on the size of the berries.

Other than that it was superb. A bit sweet & the right emphasis on tart. & Strawberries are just the thing round-abouts now!

1) Blend in a saucepan 1 cup of sugar & 3 tbsp cornstarch.

2) Add one cup mashed strawberries & 1/2 cup orange juice. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until mixture boils. Stir for one minute then remove from the heat & stir in 2 tbsp lemon juice. Allow to cool.

3) Fold in 4-6 cups strawberries & pour into a baked Graham Cracker Crust. Chill for at least three hours.

The Graham Cracker crust is even more simple: Combine one and one half cup crushed graham crackers, 1 cup sugar, & 1/3 cup melted butter. Press into the pan & bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

Favorite Song for today (led to in a more or less direct way by my favorite radio station):

Julie Doiron- Glad to be Alive

Post Pi(e) Day

It was Pi day yesterday, a holiday which my husband favors. We celebrated by giving pieces of pie to his coworkers, & having my parents over for some pie. And also, of course, having pie ourselves including most of a little one still sitting on our counter today.

Since strawberries are plentiful right now, & on a whim, I decided to bake strawberry-blueberry pies. When I was a kid I would often make blueberry pies out of clay, fastidiously rolling each tiny blueberry. But I've never actually baked any berry pies until yesterday. And I mostly winged it.

I did use a recipe for the crust, curious to see what Simply in Season pie crust was like. It was delightful. Flaky with a hint of crisp. It was my kind of crust. And I sprinkled some cinnamon sugar on top before baking the last few pies, which sent it over the top for me.

Other than the crust, I roughly chopped the strawberries, poured in some blueberries, tossed them in a few tbsp sugar/cinnamon/nutmeg mix.

Then I baked the whole thing at 375 for about an hour.

Favorite Song (on my favorite radio station during prep time): Emily And the Woods- Nietzsche