5 Food Things

Some time ago, it got nice out, and I got distracted.  Blogging is for the other 80% of the year when it's slopping outside.  We've been trying some new things this summer, and lots of them are food-related but not practical, or too simple, or too equipment-specific to post on here.  And in the time since my last post, I've also accumulated some recipes that are perfect for here, but of course it's been so long now that it feels like I'm playing catchup.  And catchup is never fun.

So this is my one post to show you the impractical, stupid, and too equipment-specific food stuffs I've been playing with this summer - because I want to share - and then I'll get on to some actual recipes.

Food Thing #1:  Zucchini Chips

I gave Alex a dehydrator for his birthday, and it sits pleasantly humming on the dresser (ha, like it would fit in our kitchen..) as it turns out jerky after jerky.  Alex is pleased.  Somewhere between South African biltong and Worcestershirey jerky, I sneaked a batch of thinly sliced zucchini, salted and spiced.  They came out like chips!  Or maybe chips meet space food and have an over zealously garlicked love child, but they were good.  And they made the whole place stink of garlic.  Will make again.

Food Thing # 2: Gelato

Alex has been feeling the disappointment of no ice cream on his diet, and for his birthday, his parents got him an ice cream machine to alleviate his woes.  (I know, it's very sad.)  Only they didn't just get him an ice cream machine, they got him a GELATO machine, and it has a built-in freezer and is huge, and wonderful, but must live outside the kitchen until we move (and piece together the best apartment kitchen ever - seriously, it's gonna be tricked out, as city kitchens go).

We've been making sugar free gelato (and some sugared creations, too)..  Green tea, chocolate rum, key lime pie, blackberry ginger, watermelon sorbet, banana ice milk (essentially, "hey, wonder what would happen if I poured my breakfast in there" ...good things.  good things happen.), nectarine sorbet, nectarine banana plum sorbet, you get the idea.  And butter pecan, pictured here:

I want to make this for you.  I haven't taken many pictures of our other trials because, honestly, it's not the first thing I think of when checking a bowl of freshly made ice cream.  The pale peach color in the background of this picture is Alex's chest as he hugged the tupperware close, refusing to let it go for a photo.

If only I were kidding.

Food Thing #3: Iced Tea

This one's stupid.  I know you know how to make iced tea.  It's just, I've been making nearly a pitcher a day since May, so it belongs here (I eventually gave up on taking a photo of each one for the blog).  I like a method I found on NPR: brew 6 bags in 2 cups of hot water and a shake of baking soda for 15 minutes, remove bags and fill the rest of the way (my pitcher is 2 quarts) with water.

In college, I accumulated an arsenal of tea, and some of it, especially the flavors I don't really care for, is getting old now.  We tried everything we have iced, and found that a lot of the ones that were gross hot are delicious cold - even the Market Basket cheapo orange pekoe cut black dust, which is "okay, once you get past the fishy aftertaste", is a perfectly good caffeine staple when chilled.

Food Thing #4: Mozzarella

I followed this guide, written by a lady who gives cheese making lessons (in your neck of the woods, K & S).  My first try (shown above) wasn't perfect, but it was damn tasty, and it looked convincingly like cheese on a platter.

Food Thing #5:

Isn't a food thing, sorry!