Ice Cream is Delicious: Blueberry Coconut

As the saying goes, the heart wants what the heart wants. The other day I was buying a new food processor online. It was turquoise, one of my favorite colors. When I put it in my "cart," Amazon interjected, "You may also like this: Cuisinart ICE-21TQ Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker, Turquoise." As you can imagine, I am now the proud new owner of an ice cream maker.

So now I feel obligated, ahem, I mean inspired to make ice cream. I decided that my first endeavor should be something simple. It's blueberry season here in Tennessee. Have you ever read the poem "Blackberry Picking" by Seamus Heaney? Well that's how I feel about blueberries- greedy, like a pirate hoarding treasure. They're just so good!

I found this recipe for blueberry coconut ice cream on Roostblog.com. It only has three ingredients: blueberries, coconut milk and raw honey. And since I just read "Ratio" by Michael Ruhlman, I will explain it to you in ratios: two parts blueberries, three parts whole fat coconut milk, honey to taste. Can you believe something so plain can be so delicious?

We had one perfect afternoon this week. It was 75, sunny and not too humid. I can't imagine a better time to eat ice cream (that's not saying much; I've been known to eat ice cream during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade). I felt so lucky to work in an office that has a balcony!

Thai Food is Delicious: Coconut Coffee

Oh my goodness gracious, do I ever love Thai food.
It reminds me of long, cold winters in Boston when it would snow so hard that I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, and yet the Thai restaurants would deliver to my apartment, always with a smile on the delivery man's face. My roommate and I would sit in the middle of our tiny living room in our pajamas (as far away from the drafty windows as possible) and let the spicy goodness warm us up from the inside out.
Last night I visited my favorite Thai restaurant in Nashville, Thai Phoo Ket. While we were waiting for our dinner I told my boyfriend, "This is one of the things that I am very thankful for- to have a delicious Thai restaurant so close to my house that is open late!"
We shared summer rolls and Tom Kha and I had some Pad See-Ew, most of which I took home for dinner tonight.
My boyfriend, thoughtful as he is, actually bought me Thai cooking lessons at Whole Foods in Green Hills for Christmas last year. It was a great time and I would recommend it to anyone, but the lesson I learned from it is this: let the Thai restaurants handle the Thai cooking! Finding the ingredients alone is enough to make a lazy person like myself go crazy.
What I like best about Thai food is its balance of, well, things. It is sweet, spicy, salty, tangy, subtle, fresh, slow-cooked, light and rich all at the same time. How is this possible? I don't care how, it's delicious. The only Thai ingredient that I dare to use at home is coconut milk. It's excellent poured over fried rice or in chocolate pudding. But lately it's been hot here in Nashville and today was the first truly muggy day, a sign that summer is upon us.
I made coffee this morning and didn't have time to grab any before I left for work. When I got home, it was cold and stale. But do you know what? I poured it over ice with some coconut milk and agave nectar and it was...delicious.