Best Chocolate Ice Cream

Cabin fevAH. Cabin feverrrr. Got the fever! Fever when you lock me inside, fever all through the night.

Oh great, now the word “fever” looks like it’s spelled wrong. Is it? Better check.

It’s not. It’s right. My brain just isn’t used to having to read the word “fever” 8 times in a row. Oops, did I do it to you too? Forgive me. This is how my brain works when it gets cabin fever.

As usual, I’m being overly dramatic. It’s only been a couple of days since my nose has been glued to my books, and I haven’t yet gone a day without going outdoors. Staying inside for entire days tends to be a staple of my exam-studying prep, but now that it’s gorgeous and sunny outside I don’t know if that’ll happen this semester! Cause for celebration!

Here’s how cabin fever generally manifests itself: I fidget. I switch positions when I’m reading notes – from sitting to standing to the chair to the couch to the floor. I read out loud when my brain gets sleepy and doesn’t want to pay attention anymore. I obsessively use FocusBoosterApp (lifesaver). I leave all the dishes unclean. I take impromptu dance parties. If my phone tells me I have a message, I lunge across the room at it, even if it’s only from like, Amazon.com. Texting becomes a lifeline. I eat, probably too much. I eat the last of this ice cream later at night than I probably should.

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Thoughts on Summer

Bird of paradise in Cancun

I think it’s summer. I’m sitting beside an open window, in a skirt, sipping on lemon water, listening to Joy the Baker’s new podcast and loving life. Anyone else listen to it yet? Anyone else find that bloggers’ real voices never, ever match up to how you imagine their voices? It’s disconcerting.

I’m back in the downright gorgeous city of Montreal for the remainder of the summer. I’m in the process of looking for a new apartment, and I may have located just the one! I don’t want to jinx it though, so I’m going to keep mum on how much I like it until I can figure out how to acquire it. Tomorrow the job hunt begins – I get nervous about handing out resumes, but it’s got to happen and I’ve got to stay confident.

For now, though, I get to fantasize about the rest of the summer. Concerts, festivals, dinners al fresco, farmer’s markets, reading in parks. If the last couple days are any indication, the next few months are going to be heavenly: free, breezy, relaxed. Work and play in equal parts.

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Super Bowl Salsa!

Okay, no. It’s really not like I celebrate The Super Bowl (it is a holiday, right?), but I will admit to having a soft spot in my heart for Super Bowl food. All the greasy, cheesy goodness, all the beer, all the good grub. Yum. I won’t be watching this year, but in honour of the SB, I whipped up a surprisingly easy and delicious salsa a la Pioneer Woman.

Salsa can be mucho expensivo, especially if you’re like me and prefer Garden Fresh (which costs a fortune but is the tastiest thing on the planet). A simple alternative is to make it yourself! I was pleasantly surprised at how yummy and quick this was to make.

The recipe I tweaked is here, but I fear I probably did a disservice to the great PW by neglecting the jalapenos. My excuse? It’s freezing outside here, I didn’t want to go to the store!!! (weak). Anyways, feel free to follow her recipe more carefully, but my version turned out very tasty nonetheless.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 can diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 lime
  • 1/4 of a red onion, diced
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp sugar
  • Big handful cilantro

I basically eyeballed this recipe, since I didn’t have PW’s suggestion of Rotel Tomatoes & Green Chiles either, and I only have a very small food processor. But it still turned out really nicely! Just taste after adding some of the onion & garlic, and season to your liking.

The recipe is incredibly simple. Just chop up what needs to be chopped…

…throw it into a food processor & pulse a few times…

…and serve in a pretty dish! Voila!

The consistency was wonderful: smooth and uniform. Just the way I like it.

Oh wait! Don’t forget the chips, or you’ll be sorry.

Yum yum yum.

Here’s to celebrating the Super Bowl the only way I know how! Not with sports knowledge, or cheers, or being a football fan. But with food. Wonderful, amazing food.

xoxo,

Frozen Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

It’s been a while since I made this absolutely delectable treat (before Christmas!), but I loved it so much that I needed to share it with you.  Although I just finished reading Kris Carr’s absolutely outstanding and inspiring lifestyle book, Crazy Sexy Diet (read it read it read it!) which eschews sugar, dairy and processed foods, I’m having a hard time kicking my long-time habits. Until I get my hands on my boyfriend’s juicer and a basket full of greenery, I’m going to try to my best to use up the bad things in my pantry and fridge. So maybe that yogurt could be put to good use in this dessert? I’ll be posting about Crazy Sexy Diet (and my Kindle!) just as soon as I catch up on some readings..school’s been taking a backseat lately.

But in the meantime, I give you Joy the Baker‘s frozen chocolate chip cookie dough balls. Not only are they the tastiest cookie dough I’ve ever consumed, they’re also safe (no salmonella!) and take about 10 minutes to prepare.

Either click the link above for the recipe (I didn’t change much) or see below for more!

Baking up a storm!!

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick unsalted butter (that’s 1/2 a cup, and FYI I used salted butter..oops!)
  • 1 cup + 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup Greek yogurt/applesauce (I used Balkan-style yogurt, which was delicious)
  • 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips, melted for dipping

Cream butter and sugars together.  Beat in yogurt and vanilla extract. Mix together the flour, salt and baking soda; add the mixture to the creamed butter/sugar. Once combined, mix in the chocolate chips.

Scoop out little balls onto a baking sheet, put in the freezer for a few hours. I found that the balls never really froze through, just got nice and cold, so I don’t think it matters exactly how long you put them in for. Then you can melt some chocolate chips, dunk the dough balls and put them back in the freezer for a little while. I was too busy eating them to take a picture of that step!

Oh my gosh, I may just have to run into my kitchen imminently and whip these up again!!

Or, alternatively, you could make me some and I could eat them?

Bon appetit!!

xoxo,