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Black Pepper Ice Cream

Just for fun, we sprinkled a bit of pepper on top, too!

Summer is definitely upon us. We’ve had quite a few days with the temperatures topping out in the low 100’s, and will be close to 110°F later this week. We need something to cool us off, so, we figured cool, creamy ice cream would do the trick. And, we immediately knew the flavor we wanted to try: black pepper. Yep, we planned to flavor our ice cream with nothing but black pepper, the same stuff you find in pepper grinders. How did we come up with that, seemingly unusual, idea?

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Whole Wheat Sourdough Lavash

A stack of warm lavash. Yum!

So, are you one of those people who began baking with a sourdough starter? We’ve read that many people are these days, and that’s a good thing. Making bread from three simple ingredients: flour, salt, water, and a couple of more complex ingredients: time and patience, is just amazing. I like to refer to making bread as the miracle of the prehistoric age. Every time I make sourdough bread (basically once a week for, oh, probably the past ten years), I’m amazed that something that good can come from just three ingredients. Of course, everything has a downside. With sourdough, you need to keep the starter thriving through regular feedings. Week in and week out. Even if you don’t want to or need to bake a lot of bread that week. Over the years, we’ve come up with ways to use that excess starter during the weeks when we don’t want to make three large boules of bread, and today’s post is a new one.

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Potatchos (Potato Nachos)

A new invention perhaps: potatchos!

If you’ve ever visited with Rob, you’re likely to have had Rob’s Famous Baked Nachos, and, if you’re lucky, you’ve been able to watch as Rob prepares them. It’s a great treat, watching as Rob pulls out the special nacho pan, spreads the chips just so, then starts in on deciding on the toppings for that particular batch. There are always some items that are standard, some that change depending on availability, and a variance in the amounts of each. The nachos are never the same twice, but, they’re always great.

Now, we, being scratchers, rarely make baked nachos at home — we’d have to make corn tortillas, then slice and deep fry them to make chips, then finally put together nachos for the oven. But, we have come up with an alternative that we think will satisfy anyone’s craving for nachos. Trust us, we had to have them twice in one week; they were that good.

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Asian Peanut Slaw

Coleslaw, but with an Asian twist!

We’ve gotten a number of cabbages from our CSA this year, and, for the most part, we turned them into our Light Coleslaw. It’s easy, cool for summer, and it uses a lot of cabbage, making it great to put together for a lunch or dinner side dish. But, after making Light Coleslaw three or four times, it’s time for a change. So, we came up with this Asian-insipred version of coleslaw. Try it and let us know what you think.

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Handmade Udon Noodles

Freshly made udon! Simple and easy!

Earlier this year, we happened to stop for lunch in a popular noodle shop near the University of Washington in Seattle. We had the simple udon noodle soup, which made for a nice, filling meal that gave us the energy to walk back to our B&B over in the Capital Hill area (for those who don’t know Seattle, that’s about 3 miles, not super far). And, over the months, we thought off and on about buying some fresh udon noodles at the local Asian supermarket, but we never could decide which ones. There are literally dozens of brands/styles/types; we felt overwhelmed, and wished there were something like a sign indicating which noodle would be for people who don’t know anything about Asian-style noodles. So, we just went without. At least, until now.

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Paltry Pantry Spice Cake

Quite tasty!

Ah, with nearly everyone staying inside and the shelves at the store bare, you might be thinking of having just a little snack. This might seem difficult if your pantry is running a bit low, but, it’s not. People have dealt with that pesky paltry pantry many, many times in the past, and there’s almost always something you can put together from whatever you have available. Think that sounds far-fetched? Well, we’ll show you how to make a tasty cake from whatever you have around the house. All you need is 2 cups of flour and a few other staples.

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Vanilla Macarons

Ooh, la la! So French!

We’ve been wanting to make macarons for ages. We’ve looked at recipes. We’ve copied down some of them. We’ve read the tips for perfect macarons. We’ve had them in French bakeries. We’ve just never made them before. Why? Is it that they seem impossible to make? Nah, that won’t stop us from trying. Besides, plenty of people have made macarons. The real reason is more mundane: we’ve not had fine enough almond flour. You see, normally we make our own almond meal/flour from whole almonds by grinding them in a food processor; but, that makes a moderately coarse flour, too coarse for macarons. So, they fall by the wayside. We’ve waited long enough, so let’s make some macarons!

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