RECIPE: HONEY LAVENDER ICE CREAM

So here's the deal...if you're not a fan of lavender, you're not going to be a fan of this post. It's lavender-swoon-crazy as I'm crazy for lavender. I'm a bit of a fanatic actually. Lavender in its purest form (the bud of course) does something to me that only rivals the neroli blossom. It makes me calm. It makes me happy. Inhaling those lavender vapours just makes me peaceful. It really is true, lavender does have all kinds of medical uses. From headaches/migraines, insomnia, bug bites and even disinfecting walls/floor in World War II, lavender has a multitude of uses. I have many uses for lavender myself. I tend to use lavender for its medical purposes (as a migraine reliever) and also in culinary uses.

Enter honey lavender ice cream. Say what?! Yes, you read that right, honey lavender ice cream and it's more delicious than you think.

Taken from a recipe from Martha Stewart, I spent three hours on Saturday afternoon, making ice cream. It was the first day back to cooking since the heat wave started.

Mise en place:Individual ingredients beginning with 2 cups of whole milk:1/4 cup of dried lavender buds:1/3 cup of honey:5 egg yolks (save the whites for a huge egg-white omelette): 1/4 cup of white sugar:and 1 cup of heavy cream:Simple right? Okay, here go!

Directions: (these are my directions, not taken from the MS website. If you want her directions, check out the website)

1. Place milk, dried lavender and honey in a medium saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover saucepan with a lid and let steep at least 5 minutes. (I went with 10. I like my lavender a LOT.) Strain mixture, reserving flavoured milk and discard dried lavender. Set aside.
2. Beat egg yolks and sugar with the paddle attachment of a stand-up mixer (or whatever you've got) until thick and pale (about 3-5 minutes).
3. Add half the milk mixture to the egg yolk mixture and whisk until blended. (You're doing this so that the egg doesn't scramble from the hot milk.) Stir the egg-milk mixture into the remaining milk and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick (coats the back of a wooden spoon). (Note: I was really confused about this part. Like how thick should it be really? But it has to get pretty thick. You'll notice the difference when it happens. But stir constantly. Not a desperate, vigorous stir, just a lazy stir is fine. You just don't want to cook the egg-milk mixture.)
4. Once thick, remove from heat and immediately stir in cream. Strain into a medium bowl set over an ice bath. Let sit until well-chilled stirring mixture occasionally, about 30 minutes. (There's definitely no harm in letting it sit longer--if you're patient.)
5. Freeze in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. For my Cusinart Transfer to air-tight container and store for up to 2 weeks.

That last sentence is from Martha's website. You'll see if your ice cream lasts that long...it probably won't--especially if you make yours into ice cream sandwiches. Stay tuned!

HEALTHY WHOLE WHEAT PANCAKES

My cold is not relenting. I thought I was getting better yesterday but after finishing what I'd consider to be a big meal and a mug of hot water, lemon and honey, I feel worse than yesterday. I'm afraid of catching pneumonia. So far, so good because I have no signs of a cough but I've now got a slight headache and my chest still hurts. I've added more layers of clothing and have put on thicker sweatpants in hopes that the warmer clothes will help. I've also turned up the heater in my room. Sorry for the increased heating bill dad, but I'm not risking pneumonia again.

For those of you not in the know, I had pneumonia five years ago this month and it was seriously the worst illness I've ever had. I was out of school for three weeks, mainly because it was misdiagnosed as bronchitis the first week. After the first week I finally got the right medication but it took two more weeks to recover from and then after that I was told by my doctor to take it easy at school and work (which was easier said than done). I feel like I never fully recovered. As a result I have a weakened immune system and lower pain threshold. Pneumonia is not something I would mess around with. Five days in I didn't think I was going to make it.

Anyway, what's with the title...well, I want pancakes. Ah, pancakes. What an interesting relationship we have. Let me start from the beginning...

My childhood memory of pancakes doesn't involve a lazy Saturday morning or a box of a pancake mix. In fact, it involves my mom, my brothers and pancakes from scratch. My family makes almost everything from scratch: pasta (when we were younger), tomato sauce, cakes, bread, for a while even ice cream and heck, even fish paste! So it came as no surprise to me when my brothers and I all gathered around a large stainless steel bowl and as my mother let us dump in the ingredients for pancake mix: flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, eggs and milk.

My parents' penchant for making everything from scratch kind of marred my delight of eating-out; nothing really tasted as good. When your parents give you your first taste of bone marrow or beef tongue, it's hard to imagine that an all-day breakfast diner could measure up.

As a result, I kind of hate pancakes; the light, fluffy texture that everyone adores...well, I detest it. I find it repulsive. It reminds me of stuff you eat when you're a toddler. I also hate how bland they are and how "exciting" they become only until after you've poured over a truckload of maple syrup. Oh and don't get me started on maple syrup; that brown viscose liquid you get in those plastic bottles? That's not maple syrup.

But I digress. I will eat pancakes if they're filled with fruit...for example, the strawberry pancakes Sean's dad made for his family and I on Valentine's day several years back when Sean was out of sorts because he had just gotten his wisdom teeth taken out the day before. Or banana pancakes...the last time I had them I can't remember from where, or blueberries pancakes that Sean had from...from...well I can't remember but they were good. I also like pancakes topped with actual fresh fruit or made with whole wheat or buttermilk or just something that tells me that they didn't come from a box and you just added milk and eggs.

And so I found this recipe for whole wheat pancakes that didn't include any oil and used whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose white flour. It also gets bonus points for allowing me to incorporate applesauce and an almost-rotten banana sitting on the kitchen counter!

About an hour, I had a plate of these beauties:Nom, nom nom! Satisfying! The added banana and applesauce gave them a texture that wasn't quite light and fluffy and therefore not "dough-y" as traditional pancakes are, thankfully. They also contain whole wheat flour and will fill you up longer than regular pancakes will and my mini pancakes mean you can dip them into your cute heart-shape silicone baking cup filled with 100% real maple syrup.

Sorry for the long post but the end result was worth it. To me anyway.