Have you ever been in China in the heat of summer?
It is insanely hot. And humid. Like, I walk outside and my shirt begins sticking to me in a matter of seconds. The kinda humid that makes you want to stay in the shopping mall just to avoid the icky sticky humid air that awaits outside. The kinda hot that leaves you constantly searching for the next cool, refreshing drink you can find to indulge in.
Like watermelon juice.
Mmm-mmm watermelon juice! Chilled fresh watermelon juice. This stuff tasted like the nectar of the gods. I would get excited from the moment I put my damp palms around the cool cup, wet with condensation. I always finished it too quickly, but luckily it was fairly inexpensive there. In the states, I see the same small-sized cups of the stuff going for $4! Seriously? I could buy a whole, big watermelon for $4 and make eight cups of it!
So I did.
Nothin’ like a cold glass of watermelon juice for a hot summer day!
Raise your hand if you are addicted to milk tea.
Yes, I see you. And you, and you. For those of you who haven’t tried it yet, I’m not sure if you should: It’s very habit-forming, and can be pretty expensive to go out and buy. When I was ten, I remember a D.A.R.E. officer telling us that some people were so addicted to cigarettes that they would would smoke a pack a day, and at $3.50/pack, that came out to over a thousand dollars a year! My jaw dropped. A THOUSAND BUCKS TO KILL YOURSELF?!
Well, my boba-loving friends, sometimes I wonder if we’re in the same boat. Instead of cigarettes, it’s milk tea… and instead of cancer, it’s diabetes or obesity or something. But the $3.50 price tag sounds about right, and I’m willing to bet there are some of you who, if you really thought about it, guzzle down this frothy liquid almost daily. Some of you even get it twice in a day sometimes:once after lunch, and again that evening when a friend texts to see if you’re free. Oh… well… for the sake of hanging out. Yes, yes. I suppose I will have to just get another one… *giddy laughter inside*.
How did I know about that? Yes, it’s me too.
This is how I came to realize that I was addicted to milk tea. Now, addressing the addiction is probably the heart of the matter, but I’m not ready for that yet, so until then, I will merely search for a way to minimize the cost of it: MAKE IT YOSELF!
I’ve tried, JoEllen, I’ve tried! It’s just not the same. It doesn’t taste as good.
Yes, I hear you. I, too, have been trying for the last 15 years to nail down the perfect milk tea recipe myself, to little avail. As the options of milk tea shops keep expanding, so my milk tea taste buds keep getting refined. I have never been able to make a satisfying cup of milk tea to adequately stave off the next milk tea run… until now.
I know I always say this. But it’s true: this is hubby’s fav.
I’ve made so many ice creams– green tea, earl grey, strawberry sour cream, dark chocolate, mocha, salted caramel, coffee, vanilla bean, vanilla bean with roasted berries and streusel (brilliant, Lauren!), vietnamese coffee, honey lavender, blueberry creme fraiche, and… the list goes on. Sometimes, I will spend a whole evening creating a mess in the kitchen and proudly present my creamy creation to my husband: “TRY THIS.”
He obliges.
The house will smell of burnt sugar (when I missed the three millisecond window of perfection on my first batch of caramel for salted caramel ice cream) and the sink will be overflowing with more dishes than two pints should account for, and I will eagerly await his reaction… (DOYOULOVEIT?!?)
Hubby: Mm… it’s not bad.
Me: …
Hubby: I like your mint chip better.
Me: (Deflated.)
But only for a moment, as I consider how this is probably a good thing.
Do I really want my husband to love the ice cream that takes 20 dishes and 2 hours to make, or the one that takes one bowl and three minutes to stir together?
Exactly.
This looked like one of those ideas that would sound good in my head but maybe not actually taste that great in real life:
Yeah… nope. It was good.
I saw it here, but… is it just me, or is there no recipe there?
I mean, the pictures are pretty self-explanatory, but I know I used to be heavily recipe-dependent, so if you’d like a recipe to follow along with, I’ve approximated what I did to make mine! It’s pretty finger-lickin’ delicious.
This would be a great side for a bbq this summer– if you’re gonna get your hands dirty anyway, might as well! It makes for a fun presentation if you’re having friends over, and who can resist some savory garlic bread? Yum!
A friend recently posted this in a mommy facebook group that I’m a part of, and I knew I needed to follow this conversation: 
We’ve been blessed by an amazing community of friends and family that showered us with tons of love and food when we first had our baby, so I can tell you from experience that it is a REALLY APPRECIATED act of service for families with new babies! Even so, I still have trouble coming up with meal ideas when it’s my turn to sign up for someone else’s meal registry. I’m guessing you will find yourself in a similar situation soon, if not already. Whether it’s a family going through a difficult time due to illness or unexpected circumstances or new parents who could use a helping hand, a nice meal can really show your care and love in a special way.
These bars are fantastic. They’re as good as they look. I love them.
They are the perfect summer treat, with some limey tang, smooth sink-your-teeth-into-it cool creaminess, and just the right balance of sweetness. If you like tart stuff, this is the recipe for you! The original recipe says animal crackers > graham crackers for the crust, but I’ve only ever made it with graham cracker crumbs and I liked it that way. I would probably like animal crackers, too, but I just haven’t tried it. Graham crackers just felt right. Plus, you can buy a box of graham cracker crumbs nowadays, where you actually get more graham cracker per ounce than you do when buying them whole (at Target)!
I should really make these bars more often. I made them last year for July 4, and they were a hit. I’m a little sad I’ve waited almost another year to make them again. Why the wait? I don’t know. I was too busy having a baby and making chocolate things or something. But I definitely regret it now.
If you’re here for the parenting and education stuff, don’t worry! I am still working on those posts. They just take me a really long time to think through, write up, and revise, so I like to scatter the easier food posts in between :).
I had a request to post more “dinner recipes” from a friend who has been following my food posts very closely. I am flattered to know she purchased several pieces of cookware on my recommendation, specifically to make the recipes listed on my blog! Since I know I will be making a ton of desserts in the next few weeks (baby and bridal showers galore!), I figured I’d squeeze in some savory recipes before shower season hits and y’all are inundated with pictures of cupcakes and bars and puddings.
Today’s recipe is Pork and Mushroom Wonton! Wonton always seemed so novel to me that it never really occurred to me to make it myself. It’s actually really easy! I was inspired to try making them when a friend told me how grinding your own pork is way better than using store-bought pork. She said that dumplings tasted so much better with freshly-ground pork, so of course I had to try it out with my new food processor. Never mind the toasty weather. Like I said before, warm weather is no deterrent for me when it comes to good eats!
Oh happy day, my new food processor arrived this weekend! I was SUPER eager to test out the blades, and I couldn’t think of a better way to do that than to slice and dice a few bell peppers, onions, and zucchini for my husband’s favorite chili!
Yes, yes, it’s summer… and at 85ºF, it’s not exactly chili weather. It’s allllll good. A little sunshine never stopped us from enjoying foods we like, no matter how warm or unconventional! I love this recipe because it’s like a whole meal in one dish– meat, veggies, dairy, and carbs (errr do tortilla chips count as carbs? =P). I appreciate that this chili is packed full of healthy veggies but tastes so comfortingly delicious! Be sure to use the taco seasoning with the turkey. You won’t even miss the beef.
Lately, I’ve been toting this guy around everywhere:
It contains three of my new favorite things:
an excellent water bottle, super refreshing iced tea, and chia seeds.
The bottle
First, the water bottle. I have gone through a lot of water bottles in my time, from the free squeezable sport bottles from basketball camp to the once-trendy Nalgene bottles to the hipster stainless steel bottles to cups (and bottles) with straws. They all had their pros and cons. The Nalgenes had a nice, wide mouth opening so I could gulp down water quickly… but this was also the bottle’s downfall. I know I’m not the only student who tried to sneak in a gulp while trekking across campus only to spill water all over my shirt.
I loved the look of the stainless steel bottles, but those got banged up very quickly when I threw my backpack around. Any “cool” factor they had disappeared when my bottle lolled about like an indecisive top, having been dropped multiple times. Plus, the stainless steel bottles were kind of annoying to clean. You can’t really fit a sponge in those small mouth openings, and I dunno about you, but vinegar is not part of my usual dishwashing routine, so it was annoying to have to bust that out to clean this one item. Then again, I didn’t use a dishwasher back then, so maybe I’d feel differently about this now. But still, the dents.
Yes, this title deserves an exclamation point! Here in the Bay Area today, it is a sweltering 93º… and it’s supposed to get even hotter tomorrow! Nothing says delicious, freshly churned, refreshing, homemade ICE CREAM!!!! better than this recipe! David has come through for me again!
First of all, strawberry season is HERE. Chances are, you’ve been lured in by the intoxicating fragrance of those bright red berries more than once at the market. And, when their ruby-red hues are this lovely, one pint simply will not do:
You know what I’m talking about. You know you’ve come home with a flat of 3 or 6 pints before. You rinse them off and devour the first juicy basket, and then sit there wondering, Howwwww am I gonna finish the rest of these strawberries before they go bad?
Am I right?
Sure, freezing them and using them for smoothies is a good backup plan, but that kind of defeats the joy of fresh-from-the-market strawberries. No, when Rachel brought three baskets of ripe and juicy strawberries to our home last week, I knew they were destined for bigger things. I was actually secretly hoping we wouldn’t finish the strawberries, tempting as they were, because I was already plotting to transform them into something glorious and new: strawberry sour cream ice cream.
Every time I serve this, my friends exclaim, “WOW! It tastes like real strawberries!!” Even Rachel said it, and she’s the one who brought the strawberries over. I’m not sure why they’re so surprised, because I’ve already told them it’s strawberry ice cream. Maybe it’s because they are used to the store-bought version with artificial flavors and too much sugar. Or maybe it’s because, with this perfect balance of sour cream and sugar, strawberries somehow taste more strawberry-like, with their summer-ripe sweetness bursting from the spoon onto your palate.
Whatever it is, this recipe is a serious winner. Not only does it taste like summer in your mouth, but it is also one of the easiest ice cream recipes ever: no eggs, no cooking! Just blend and churn! If that doesn’t make you throw that ice cream canister straight into the freezer, I don’t know what will.
If you don’t have an ice cream maker, this pre-summer season might just be the time to pick one up
At the end of each churning, I normally try to scrape most of my ice cream off the paddle and into my ice cream tubs for freezing… but not with this one. Instead, I find myself leaving copious amounts hanging off the paddle for the pleasure of immediate licking! It’s one of those ice creams that tastes great frozen, but possibly even better fresh off the churn, so have your (chilled) bowls and spoons ready!
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