FLowers and Cheese

This post is a little delayed, but better late than never. As we get closer to the official start of summer I'm hankering for some outdoor time and some simple food. Here's what i came up with....
This should probably be the second pict, but oh well. Above is some homemade bread that I used some of the leftover whey in from the homemade mozzarella below. Dipped in some deliciously garlicky olive oil it was divine.

And yes, you heard me correctly, I made mozzarella. I was actually fairly quick and easy. I used this kit which my husband smartly gave me for my b-day. This is just the beginning of my cheese making forays. I've actually since learned to make Ricotta which is even easier and homemade withorganic milk, beats store bought any day! Cheese and veggies  = simple and soooo good!
And I started some planting on our little deck which allows us to dine al fresco in a garden like atmosphere. This picture is actually from several weeks ago. Some Miracle Grow soil paired with a whole lot of rain has these guys all at least twice the size of what see here already.

Spring has Sprung..but it Feels Like Summer

We've been having some April showers recently but instead of bringing May flowers it looks like we're getting temps in the 80s this weekend! Here's a little citrus colored and flavored warm weather inspiration.

An image from Easter

Here's how it all started

And after some careful pith removing and slicing they looked like this

Then a lot of boiling, a healthy dose of sugar and a little help from this recipe left me with some really delicious natural candy. I love how the candied citrus peels look in the vintage looking glass bowl with clementine colored flowers!

Uh...yummmmm

Ok....so we didn't actually eat dessert first but since the pict appeared first when I uploaded it I'll leave it there. This is apparently a famous American treat called Icebox cake. My Mom always made a different kind of icebox cake that I love. It consists of chocolate pudding layered between gram crackers and topped with Coolwhip.

This one is equally as good and actually has much more of a cake consistency. You but those very thin, old fashioned chocolate cookies and layer them between home made whip cream. The box has the recipe and shows it in a log form but I decided to make two individual "cakes." I also opted to add a little almond extract to the whip cream which turned out to be the right thing to do. You have to let it sit in the fridge for at least 8 hours but you can also make this the day before serving. This is where the magic happens. Somehow those crispy little cookies become cake and it looks and tastes like you bakes many tiny layers of a really good chocolate cake.

I topped with strawberries that I cut up ahead of time and let sit in the fridge with a little superfine sugar to draw out their juice. It was slightly reminiscent of an Oreo flavor in the end but way better! (and I love Oreos!)
Our actual meal (and this was our Valentines meal. We usually cook at home on V-day and go out another night.) consisted of the best asparagus I've ever had. I feel  slightly guilty buying it out of season, knowing it was shipped here from somewhere far far away, but this stuff was so tasty and actually sweet it was well worth the guilt. Here they are slightly pan sauteed in olive oil and salt. That's all.
And the most complicated, but still surprisingly simple part of the meal was seafood risotto. Awesome. Enough said. Contact me if you want the details.