Get ripe, darn your little green hides!
Chocolate Chantilly
Have I said that a recipe is insane before? Oh, probably. There were Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies that were crazy delicious. Sweet Potato Pecan Coffee Cake will drive you nuts. And my all-time favorite cookie recipe Molasses Crinkles are pretty amazing. But – not like this!
Chocolate Chantilly combines two things that convention says just can’t be combined. When you are melting chocolate, if you get one tiny drop of water in there, the whole thing is ruined, right? It seizes up, turns all stiff and grainy and useless, and you might as well throw it away. That may be true, but this recipe proves that done properly, chocolate and water can not only be combined, but can be combined to make something truly delicious. It can be found pretty easily on food blogs, but I first saw it on my friend Grace’s site, La Mia Vita Dolce. Grace is always making something great and taking gorgeous photos of it, so I was drawn right in. I have seen the proportions listed slightly differently here and there, but I did it exactly as Grace explained it, and it came out perfectly. If you go to the link to her blog, above, you will find her recipe.
All you are doing is melting chocolate and water together, and then whisking the mixture as it cools over an ice bath. Nothing could be simpler. It is rich, and creamy and over the top. The most important thing is to use really good quality chocolate, because it makes all the difference in the final result.
It makes 4 4 ounce servings, but these little two ounce shooter glasses were the perfect size after dinner.
Give this a try – it is deserving of every bit of the hype!
Crazy Sky
The weather this whole year has just been nuts. Winter went on forever, then spring was unrelentingly cold and rainy, then we had 6 weeks where it didn’t rain at all, and the temperatures got up above 100, which the highest we ever remember seeing it here. This bank of billowy clouds came by as the drought was breaking up finally, on a hot summer night when we were relaxing on the front porch.
Have a lovely day, friends!
Posted in photos
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The Zucchini Collection
This post is offered purely as a public service. I want to help. I know I am not the only one who is scared to walk down to their garden right now. It’s frightening. You know “they” are in there, just waiting for the unwary visitor to wander by, giving them a chance to pounce and drag you into their leafy abode. Their numbers grow, not day by day, but hour by hour. Glance away for but a moment, and they increase their girth and length to unimaginable proportions. “I just picked every single one yesterday” you muse, as you puzzle over a canoe-sized specimen. You throw a chain around it, hook it up to the pickup truck and haul it out of there, only to be faced with the problem – how to cook yet another zucchini.
Yes, dear friends, today, it is the zucchini of which I speak. Those ubiquitous gourds, presently covering every available surface in the kitchen, and spilling out onto the porch and down the steps, only to be met by a phalanx creeping up from the garden. And while I am working on a couple of new ideas to share with you before the season is over, I thought you might like to take a look at some golden oldies, from the zucchini recipe vault.
Ready in minutes Lemon Garlic Zucchini is a fresh, bright side dish
From my first blog – Pasta La Vista, an awesome chicken and zucchini saute that is the perfect summer meal
The flavor of a favorite tea in fast and easy Chai Zucchini Bread
Sweet little wonders: Zucchini Poppyseed Muffins
Bring the spice with Spicy Zucchini “Fries”
Rich molasses flavor in a quick bread, Zucchini Oat Bread:
A delicious one dish dinner – Pasta Stuffed Zucchini 
Rich, gooey Chocolate Fudge Zucchini Brownies are what I want I for my last meal
That should be enough to at least get you started – and, as I mentioned, I have a few other tricks up my sleeve for the next couple weeks. It’s a good thing too, because our second planting is just starting to get blossoms!
Posted in Garden Fresh, recipes, Side Dishes, Vegetables
Tagged vegetables, zucchini, zucchini recipes
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If you look up bucolic in the dictionary
You’ll find this picture
Larry, Mark & Anna, fishing on the Black River July 2011
Posted in family, grandchildren, photos
4 Comments
