Ice Cream and Cake is Great

The big reveal from last night, is that I baked Stephanie a birthday cake! Of course I had to make it crazy and special, so I went with chocolate owl cupcakes for the peeps, and a psychedelic mini-cake for Stephanie. I think it turned out pretty rad. But all that really mattered, was that she was surprised. :-)

Cake layers pre-bakeCake top decoratedCake sides decoratedNow check out the crazy insides!Don't forget about Hootie cakes

Anticipation

I leave you tonight dear readers, with anticipation for Stephanie's Birthday BBQ tomorrow, and just what the heck I might be doing with all of this...

Food, Inc.

I heart a good friend date every once in a while. Yesterday afternoon, Stephanie and I had one such date. It was also on the cheap none-the-less, which made for a super time. Since Steph and I both consider ourselves foodies (despite my disdain of the word) and locavores of sorts, we've both been eagerly anticipating the arrival of Food, Inc. to the Michigan Theater, and we decided to make a date of the very first 4:30pm Sunday showing.
First up though, we had to check out a newbie on the campus foodie scene: Swirlberry. I know, I know, you're thinking, "Lady Lisa, don't you remember your post here about how terrible Pinkberry was? Why could you possibly want to sample such a terrible impostor?" But I do it for you dear readers, in the name of food love. Plus, I've got a penchant for all things new, and any arrival onto my radar is reason alone for me to try it. Stephanie and I even joked about a fro-yo Ann Arbor tour, what with Yogobliss, Swirlberry, and very berry all appearing on the scene in the last few months.
Swirlberry was, in spite of my best intentions to hate it, actually quite good. There are currently six different soft serve flavors to choose from (regular tart, blue tart, acai, mango, vanilla, and deep chocolate) and all the toppings similar to Pinkberry. Unlike Pinkberry though, this soft serve is actually good! All of the tangy natural yogurt flavor, with none of the sick citric acid intrusion. I made a mess of a cup that included vanilla topped with cocoa pebbles and strawberries, acai topped with mini chocolate chips, and deep chocolate topped with coconut flakes. I really can't pick a favorite. I truly enjoyed each one.

Swirlberry fro-yo, I see you!Steph is also excited for her Swirlberry

To close the deal on the Swirlberry situation, we both also had $1 off coupons, which made the whole thing worthwhile. Otherwise, the 65 cents/ounce price tag is pretty hefty, especially when you consider the only size cup they offer holds a whopping 16 ounces. Nothing like some savvy marketing, eh?
After our bellies were swirling with yogurty goodness, we headed on over to the Michigan. Have I mentioned my love of old theaters? The seats may be the most uncomfortable, but where else are you treated to an organ player before the show, and beautifully lit stained glass theater windows during previews? I won't even lie and say that the free passes Steph scored us for the movie didn't help that ambiance. ;-)As for the movie itself, I struggled with it a little bit. I struggled because I have so much to say about it's subject matter, but try my hardest to not come off as "preachy" or "fanatical" when talking about it with those that I care about. You see, I've been working pretty hard on changing the way I eat and how I view our national food chain ever since I read Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan 2 years ago. It's a book that I can honestly say, changed my life. So watching a movie loosely based on it's content, was obviously going to be pretty emotional for me. I think I held it in check, which may have been aided by the fact that I was somewhat disappointed with the outcome of the movie. For a message that I so strongly believe in, and has so much potential, I felt like the movie producers really missed a big opportunity to spread the word.
In case you're not familiar with the movie and it's premise, it's basically about how all this man-made processed and packaged food is really doing a number on our society (i.e. obesity epidemic and higher onset of type II diabetes and metabolic disorders). The movie goes through some of how we've got where we are, describes facts and figures about how bad things have gotten, and then tries to walk the viewer through how to go about changing that by voting with your mouth, one meal at a time. Something I whole-heartedly believe in.
Unfortunately, there's not much assistance provided in the movie about how to go about making good choices to help usher change. I thought it would have been a great opportunity for some organizations like Slow Foods Huron Valley, the Farmer's Markets, or the local food movement organizations to be handing out literature about what types of substances to avoid on product packaging, reasons for buying organic, and local (and cheap) sources for how to feed yourself and your family better to improve health. But in spite of my initial disappointment, I have to take a step back and realize that I'm a bit more educated about the issues than that average viewer. Thinking about it from that perspective, I think the film actually did a good job of trying to capture and motivate the relatively uninformed. If you haven't already checked the film out, please do. I'd love nothing more than to discuss it when you've finished. :-)

House Guests

This past weekend, we've had some house guests here at Casa Zawacki. Seth came to visit with his girlfriend Lisa! I was so very honored to host them on their first airplane trip away together. I thought the occasion should be marked with a personal welcome basket and mints on their pillows.

Welcome basketPillow mints

Of course, first thing Seth did was complain that I never make him a welcome basket and give him this sort of treatment when he comes by himself. Duh, dude. For girlfriends I pull out all the stops. :-) Anyhow, I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to show Lisa around Art Fair here in Ann Arbor this weekend, so I took the day off work Friday, and we hit the fair bright and early around 9:30am.

Art Fair in all it's glory

This year the art fair weather was unprecidented, and Lisa and I enjoyed temperature highs of only mid-70's with slightly overcast skies so the sun wasn't even beating down on us the whole time. Who knew art fair could be so much fun in that kind of weather! I managed to pick up a few things, and Lisa found herself a cute little braclet and a perfect birthday gift for Seth. Awesome!

Art Fair Finds

In the early afternoon, Seth and Brad met us on the South University part of art fair. We decided to skip the browsing for a little bit, and head to Dominicks for Sangria. Again, we could not have asked for a better day. And to spend it with such good friends really makes it extra special. Awwww.

Smiling Sangria faces at Dominicks

After Sangria, we drove to Ypsilanti for a friendly game of mini-golf, then to dinner at Casey's to meet up with our friend Dr. Eric Riles from the old undergraduate days. Good times were had by all, and Seth tried the mac and cheese at Casey's I've been meaning to try forever. I snagged a quick bite, and it was super tasty! I'll have to head back soon to get a real portion of my own. Finally, we spend the evening catching Lisa up on watching some of the Harry Potter movies, in anticipation of a showing of the sixth movie in the theater the next day. I promptly zonked myself out at 10:30 pm. So much for being a lively host. :-/
Saturday morning I woke up all rested and ready though, which was good since we planned on entertaining Seth and Lisa that night with a party at our house! Some of our usual cast of characters were busy (Nick and Carly were in Europe and Rick and Kristal had prior dinner plans), but it was a good showing of friends (thanks again to first-timers Rachel, Don, and Riles) and we had a great evening of chilling on our new deck, noshing, and beer ponging.

The deck is finally complete!An intense round of beer pongRachel and Don learn basement golfGood friends and good times

Finally, we closed out Seth and Lisa's visit with a necessary stop to Jimmy John's before taking them to the airport on Sunday to catch their 3pm flight. It was a packed weekend that went by much to0 quickly for my liking, but we'd love the opportunity for them to visit again soon. I just simply adored Lisa, and want her always to know that "Mi casa es su casa!" Y'all come back now, ya hear?

a mini brief

Just a brief little update about all things mini:
Stephanie found me this mini oxo peeler. Too cute for words!And I found these mini wine glass aliens:They're especially effective at parties, because you can use them on glasses OR bottles. Score!

Leftover fruits galore

As I mentioned in my post earlier in the week, I've got a lot of fruit sitting around my house. After the jam making experiment, I still had about 4 cups of chopped rhubarb, 4 ripe peaches, and 8 cups of sweet cherries to rifle my way through. So what's a Lady to do? But make more stuff.

I started off first with two Rhubarb/Cherry crumbles (one for myself, one for the neighbor). Crumbles are always pretty easy to make, and with the fruit already being cut-up, I was most of the way there! So I coated it in some sugar and flour, spread it in the bottom of a casserole dish, and covered it with a mixture of brown sugar, oats, flour, and butter. Throw that in an oven for about 40 minutes at 375 degrees F, and your neighbors will go: Mmmmmmm.

Making Rhubarb crumble

Next up, I still had about 6 cups of sweet cherries leftover that had pits.

So I used my new Cherry Chomper!

Pitting cherries is kind of the pits

Pitting cherries really isn't a job that I'd want for a living, and after doing it (and having permanently stained fingers) I'm even more thankful for the giant automated pitter at Spicer's. Anyhow, after fully pitting, I ended up with about 5 cups of good cherries, so I set them aside, and got to work making my pie crust. I use the basic pie crust recipe from Joy of Cooking, and it turns out perfectly every time. Plus I can feel good about it not containing a bajillion sticks of butter. Make sure to not overwork your pastry!

Pie crust resting

Chill the pie crust (overnight) if you can, and then roll it out onto a cutting board, and then back onto your rolling pin once the correct thickness has been achieved. And don't forgot to mix your cherries with some sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and almond extract while you're waiting.

Pie preparation

Once your pie is all prepped, throw that baby in the oven, and let her bake. She'll be beautiful!

That's a nice looking pieSweet Cherry Pie

In the end, my pie looked like a million bucks, and tasted like 10 cents. Don't get me wrong, I didn't do anything wrong recipe-wise; the crust was perfect (tender and flaky) and the cherry goop was the right consistency. I just discovered I don't like sweet cherry pie. There's a reason that people call the tart cherries "pie cherries." So I've been schooled, and next year will be a whole new pie experience.
Now moving on to those few remaining peaches. I found a recipe in my Gourmet magazine for "grown-up" popsicles. The peaches and cream ones I just couldn't resist making. I can't recall the exact recipe off-hand, but it included 2 cups of finely chopped peaches, plain yogurt, caster sugar, a touch of vanilla, and amaretto all mixed in the blender.

Blending up peachy goodness

Peaches & Cream Popsicles

The popsicles are fantatic, and I'll definately being making them again. Maybe I'll even sneak one or two to work!! Now, what kinds of crazy fruit chaos will I get myself into next year??

A Happy, happy

Birthday to my husband today! I hope he enjoys his "Holy Gr(ale)."I think he'll also enjoy his "Boston Creme Pie" Cupcakes.

Boston Creme Pie Cupcakes

1 box golden recipe cake mix (prepare according to directions)
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
1 cup cold milk
1 1/2 cups melted semisweet chocolate chips
1 small container cool whip
chocolate curls for garnish

1. Prepare the cupcakes according to cake mix directions.
2. While the cupcakes are cooling, mix 1 cup cold milk and vanilla pudding mix in a medium bowl. Let stand in fridge for 5 minutes, then fold in 1/2 container cool whip. Stuff this filling into a pastry bag, and pipe into the cooked & cooled cupcakes.
3. Mix the remaining 1/2 container of cool whip with the melted chocolate, and any remaining vanilla filling.
   
4. Frost the tops of the cupcakes with the chocolate mixture, and sprinkle on chocolate shavings.

The slow road to domesticity

This past week has found me on the road to becoming a domestic goddess. Or at least that's the way I like to think of it. I somehow got the bug up my butt to pick cherries, which then turned into picking raspberries, which then turned into making jam. Remember that post a few days back about easing my way into canning? Not so much. Unless you're hardcore enough to consider 44 jars of various jams, 6 jars of a top secret experiment, 2 rhubarb/cherry crumbles, a homemade sweet cherry pie, and a batch peaches and cream Popsicles to be "easing."
I have to say though, I've had a blast.
As I mentioned, my domestic adventure starts with picking some cherries. Check out Steph's blog post here for a full run-down and more pictures of cherries and a massive cherry pitter. Cherry picking itself was actually much easier than I thought it would be, and being that it was such a nice day when we went, I was really enjoying the adventure. The orchards are so pretty! And who can resist taking pictures of delicious ripe cherries?

Spicer's Cherry OrchardsRipening Cherries in the trees

After cherry picking was done, I moved on to raspberries. Somehow from last year, I had already forgotten how much I dislike picking raspberries. All the bending and the leaning in the hot sun makes me rather grumpy. Although I do like being able to shove as many berries as I can fit into my mouth at free will. :-) Post raspberry picking, there was a trip to the Ann Arbor farmer's market to get the last of some local strawberries, then I headed home to play with all my loot.

Look at all those berries and cherries!

And that doesn't even include the 3 lbs of rhubarb and 10 peaches I had sitting in the fridge waiting for my jam making adventure! My goodness, that's a lot of fruit.
So armed with a whole lot of fruit, canning jars, and pectin, and with limited off-hand experience, I ripped open my ball blue book of canning and got to work. I decided on recipes for strawberry-rhubarb jam, a peach raspberry lavender jam, and a sweet-tart cherry amaretto jam. Most of the recipes are pretty basic, and call for washing/hulling/chopping about 4 cups of fruit mixed with a given amount of sugar, lemon juice, and either a package or two of pectin. For the strawberry rhubarb, I added nothing extra besides the sugar and lemon. For the peach raspberry lavender, I got a few cuttings of lavender from my garden, put them in some cheesecloth, and poured about 1/4 cup of boiling water over the packet. I then mixed in this lavender scented water with lemon juice in the jam.

Lavender sachet

For the cherry amaretto, same thing, but here I used amaretto to mostly replace the lemon juice. The next step in jam making calls for heating the macerated fruits at a boil that can't be stirred down, adding the sugar or pectin, and then boiling for another minute.

Macerated strawberry/rhubarbBoiling up some peach/raspberry/lavender

When the minute is up, you start ladling the goopy mess into hot sterilized canning jars. It looks a little like this:

Ladling jam into jars

Once the jars are full to about 1/4" head space, you take your hot lids, set them, hand tighten the outer caps, and plunk the jar into a canner (or in my case, a big pasta pot) to boil for 10 minutes.

Hot canning action

As the jars come out of the boiling water, you set them in a cool undisturbed place for about 12-24 hours. If you hear that blessed popping, you know the jars have been appropriately sealed. The noise was actually a weird sort of symphony to my ears. Beautiful music leads to beautiful results though, and check out my haul after all was said and done!

That's a lot of jams

Overall, I would say my first experience with canning was pretty straightforward. Somewhat time consuming, but the overall steps are easy, so that helps. Later in the week I'll post about the crumble, the pie, and the Popsicles I made with all of my leftover fruit. Until then, the question is, does this adventure down a slow road pave my way to easier canning and pickling in the fall with my bounty of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers?? Guess we'll see. Now grow garden, grow!

The power of two

Dear sweet cherry duo,
Do you know just how beautiful you are?
How much time I have invested in you this last week?
How delicious you are in my belly?
Stay tuned for domestic cherry updates to come...

Cuckoo, cuckoo

Ever since we got back from Europe a few months back, I've been waiting in the mail for a certain package to arrive. My new handmade in Germany cuckoo clock! The clock actually arrived in early May, but it's taken me a few months to decide on just the perfect place to hang it, read the massive amount of instructions for it's operation, etc. Anyway, I think I finally found just the right spot, and Brad helped hang my new baby. I could listen to it's beautiful cuckoo all the time, and in fact, I shall.