The McNay

Ice Cream!

One of my graduation presents was a gift card for William and Sonoma, which has to be one of the worsts presents ever because I COULD NOT decide what to get because I wanted pretty much everything. Until I saw the ice cream maker. I have wanted to make my own ice cream since I was little. As soon as I saw it I knew there was some deliciousness in my near future.

And so a little over a week later this happened:
















Burnt Carmel Ice Cream
It's amazing.

Cucumbers + Lime + Rum = YUUUUMMMMM

I finally made my second amazing summer drink. Cucumer mojitos.

It was so easy, I soaked sliced cucumbers in rum for almost a week. The last two days of infusing I added mint. Then today before the party I juiced a TON of limes into a bottle and added a touch of sugar. At the party I combined the juice with the rum, and added sparkling water. See? Easy.


I am most definitely making this again, and SOON.

Equality

Adventures with Kale

A friend of mine recently gave me some Kale from her garden plot, and having never eaten, let alone cook, kale I was very excited.
I decided that my best option was to keep it simple so that I could really taste the kale. I heated some olive oil in a saute pan with some large diced garlic and pearl onion. Once it was nice and hot and the onions were almost clear I tossed in the Kale. I sauteed it for about 3 minutes, it got bright green and wilty and beautiful. I added a little salt and cracked pepper before eating.

It was heaven in my mouth. The only thing I would change was the amount of oil, less next time. Why have I gone this long with out eating kale?! I need to eat more again soon! Yum!

The First Sangria of the Season!

I have been waiting all winter to make Sangria. Not only because it's so delicious, but also because it's my way of congratulating myself for surviving another winter. And now finally it seems warm weather is on it way.
So for my trial run I decided to make two flavors, both with white wine. The first was just a simple mixed berry sangria with a touch of blackberry brandy. The second however, was just plum and nectarine.
They were both fantastic. The plum one was very good, not too sweet and very clean tasting. Very refreshing. The berry one was sweeter, much better for something to serve with dessert, or just some vanilla ice cream. (Mmmmm)
The one part of this recipe that was true experimenting was the resting period. Generally I just make my sangria a day before and let it rest in the refigerator. But because I wanted the plum one especially to be very fruity, I decided to rest them in my closet for two days in tightly sealed glass bottles. (Dark cool environment) I think it made a big difference, and I'll probably continue to do it that way the rest of the summer.

As a side note, if following drinking this amount of sangria you are expecting to ride a bike anywhere...maybe consider getting a cab instead.

Cheers!

Days at the Beach

The past few days the weather has been absolutely amazing. It feels like spring is already on its way in. Of course, this is Chicago so I don't doubt that another bout of freezing weather is lurking around the corner.
Which is why I have gone to the beach the last two days. What better time to enjoy some sun and sand?
Yesterday the frozen remnants of winter were still clearly visible. The lake was a clear beautiful turquoise colour with giant sheets of ice covering most of its surface. (It was a very funny feeling to be taking pictures of ice while wearing a cotton dress, standing barefoot in the sand.) There was, however, still a strong Chicago wind blowing off the lake.
Today it's a very different scene. All of the ice from the day before is almost completely gone. There is only a few lonely clumps of ice left in the water. And the lake is a completely different colour, it's almost a perfect mirror of the sky. It's impossible to tell where the lake ends and the sky begins. Not quite as mesmerizing as the day before, but beautiful none the less.