Cinnamon Ice Cream

I just realized I never posted this recipe. Apparently I haven't posted a bunch of my basic recipes. Because I keep coming here to find my recipes and can't find them. And I'm too lazy to go through my recipe 'file' to find them. Sigh. Well, fortunately I remember this one enough to do it/make it up.

This recipe comes out pretty cinnamony. If you are a normal person, you may want to cut back the amount of cinnamon, like in half. When I tested it after it had steeped I thought it was way too cinnamony and that I should've checked the recipe rather than going off memory from probably 2 years ago. Whoops. But after it's frozen, the flavor isn't as strong so I think this is a pretty good amount.

It also has a pretty high fat content so it coats your mouth like a premium ice cream should but if you have a different ice cream base that you like better, you can of course use that but this is the one I chose today.

I like it drizzled with honey but it's also good straight up.

Cinnamon Ice Cream

2 cinnamon sticks

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 cup sugar

a pinch of salt

4 cups light cream (or 3 cups cream and 1 cup milk, or 2 cups half and half and 2 cups milk or whatever other combination you like)

5 egg yolks

Put the cinnamon sticks, ground cinnamon, sugar, salt and cream in a pot and heat over medium until it comes to a simmer. Turn down to low and allow to steep for 30 minutes. Slowly the egg yolks with the cream mixture and then return to the pot. Cook on low, stirring occasionally, until it coats the back of a spoon. Strain mixture into a bowl and chill overnight. Churn in your ice cream maker. Freeze.

Decapitated Giant Lego Men

So I was intending for my next post to be lots of pics of my house after everything is unpacked and stuff. Or of the built in shelving that I am putting in, all shiny and happy and pretty. As the title suggests, that's not what this post is. 4 trips to Home Depot and the shelves still aren't done.... but I think I have everything now.... I hope... Of course I said that after each Home Depot trip so I guess we'll see. And I need these shelves so I can unpack boxes and put stuff in places. At one point it made sense to build the shelving rather than buy some random shelf.

So I decided to do something else. Why finish that project when I can start something else instead?

Now before you even consider thinking that I am creative and came up with a cute thing, I definitely stole this from someone else. Right down to the spray paint. And if I hadn't closed the window, I would give credit where credit is due but I don't remember and I don't feel like trying to find it.

So here are my decapitated giant lego men.

One will be a candy dish at work. Not entirely decided what the other two will be.

PS That is not some random crap stuck on my counter on the left side of the picture. It's the granite. I swear. I even checked when I saw it in the picture.

Linen Closet

Project #1 in my new house: Painting the linen closet. When I moved in, it was completely usable but not pretty.

Before: Bare drywall and particle board

While I guess I could've just put my stuff in and then I'd be closer to unpacked but I decided I needed to paint it first. So that's what I did. And that probably explains why there are still boxes everywhere.

I had to trim the boards down a bit. The fit of the shelves was really tight before the paint. As in use a hammer to get it out tight. I was rather confused for a bit. Apparently the closet is not quite square. Who builds a closet that isn't square? By square I mean 90 degree angles, not L=W. Because lots of closets aren't squares. Usually they are rectangles. Why am I still typing?

So I trimmed off about 3/8" off the boards. By I trimmed, I mean I had J trim with the table saw at work. The boards are square (90 degree angles) so they don't fit 100% perfect but oh well.

After: 3 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint later.

Yes, that is a fan that was blowing on the closet to help it dry. No, it didn't bother me enough to move it and retake the picture.

Lesson of the day: Buy decent paint. Bought a quart of Kilz Casual Colors Semi-Gloss Interior/Exterior paint at walmart for $5. Used it as is since I was going for a crisp white. The paint has no coverage. I may end up repainting it again with better paint eventually but I give up for now.

And when you do that many coats of paint, they take forever to dry. Especially in the summer and the humidity is through the roof. As in 48 hours+ with a fan blowing on it and it is still a bit tacky.

Also, it's a pain in the butt to paint the inside of a linen closet. The closet goes up another couple feet or so above the door frame. And I wasn't going to just paint the back and sides even though no one will ever see the inside of the wall above the door. The door is too narrow for a step ladder so I stood on a bar stool inside the closet. Every time I moved, I'd get paint in my hair or on my arm, etc.

Oh well. At least it's painted and I can put stuff in it now. On to the next project.

I'm baaaaack

*chirp chirp*

Hellooooooooooooo

Hellooooooooooooo

Hellooooooooooooo

Hellooooooooooooo

Hellooooooooooooo

Anyone out there?

That was an echo, by the way. In case you're wondering.

So I figure the only people who might read this are people who accidentally subscribed to it in a reader and never got around to deleting it. So you probably didn't notice that I haven't blogged anyway because you have 10000 other things in your reader and this isn't exactly anyone's top blog.

Well, I'll explain my absence anyway. Because I know you care deeply. hah. I amuse myself.

I'm lazy.

Did you really think there was going to be more of an explanation than that? Well then clearly you haven't actually been reading my blog.

I have a few excuses to go with it. I got a new job. Moved out of my old house. Sold my old house. Lived in a hotel. Couldn't afford the hotel. Lived in a short term rental house. Might be getting kicked out of short term rental. Buying a new house. But really, I haven't posted anything because I'm lazy.

But, I'm back. At least for the moment.

So I have a few thoughts with regards to my new house. I figure I'll throw them out there and see if anyone has any suggestions. I'll post more pics of the house... eventually.... after I actually own it.

1. Anyone used a reel mower? How hard are they to push? How well do they mow? My property is 0.1 acres and I'm figuring I'm going to turn most of it into a garden so I don't need much. And a reel mower is small and light and won't take up much space in the garage.

2. Building raised beds. How tall do they need to be to do you any good? I'm thinking I'm going to make them with either 1x12 or 2x12 boards, depending on my mood and the price so maybe 10" tall. Is that high enough? I am thinking I'm going to paint them to keep them from rotting. The other option I'm considering is concrete blocks. The raised bed kits are insanely expensive. It needs to be as cheap as possible. With all my savings getting eaten by the down payment, the budget's gonna be pretty tight.

3. Right now the landcaping on the house is very nice. I'm thinking of ways to ruin it. I am thinking I want to gradually replace the front yard with perennial edibles. I think raised beds would look weird in the front yard. And then build raised beds in the back for annuals (a lot of the stuff I grew last year and more)

1. I think I want to build a strawberry bed in the front yard. Maybe as a patch in the middle of the main part of the lawn?
2. I would like to put something else with the strawberries, so it's less farm like. Any suggestions? I am thinking a tree or bush. I want an interesting fruit, the ones I've thought of so far are blueberries, raspberries, cranberries, figs, persimmon, lychee but a lot of these will be tough to grow in zone 6. It probably should also not look ridiculous as a front yard plant in the middle of a strawberry bed. Although according to some random documents I read on my town, you cannot plant fruiting trees, nut trees or flowering bushes. I'm deciding how to interpret that.
3. I'm also thinking about interplanting some herbs with the strawberries: thyme, rosemary, mint. Maybe start them indoors through the winter and plant them in the ground in the spring.
4. I also want to grow asparagus. Maybe a row of asparagus next to a row of strawberries running from the curb to the fence on the left side of the house?

4. I really want some form of citrus tree. Again, in zone 6 my options are limited. Maybe a potted Meyer Lemon tree?

5. I guess I'm accepting that I'm not going to be growing anything this year but I can have everything ready for next year. Build raised beds, get a good compost going, turn the soil, kill the grass....

6. I want a compost heap. I figure in a back corner of the backyard. I am too cheap to buy one of the fancy ones. I've seen lots of homemade ones made from pallets that I may try my hand at.

7. I'll be repainting a number of rooms. I think I want to paint the upstairs rooms gray. Of course the last time I tried that it came out closer to light blueish purple than gray. So I'm taking recommendations on color.

8. Is it a bad idea to buy a 5 gallon bucket of primer? I figure I'll need 2 gallons to prime the 2nd floor (currently offwhite and pink, I think), at least 1 gallon for rooms (1 of the rooms has kids coloring marks on the wall) on the 1st floor and another gallon for the basement (currently bright yellow). And anyone have a reason why I should choose one brand over another? While we're at it, I'm taking recommendations for the other room colors as well. Of course I might decide halfway through that I just don't care enough and leave the room their current color or if I manage to prime them before I give up, white.

Here's a couple pictures from the original listing, because I know you are anxious to see the house. Hopefully I'm not jinxing the purchase by posting these and calling it mine now. Cross your fingers that nothing will screw up my closing date!

How sexy is that kitchen? You know you are jealous. Think of all the yumminess that's gonna come from this kitchen.

Broiled Grapefruit

I had seen the episode of Good Eats were Alton Brown made Grapefruit Brulee. It's a fairly simple recipe. Cut in half. Sprinkle with sugar. Brulee. Sprinkle with salt. Eat. So naturally I had to mess with it.

Well the reason I didn't follow the recipe is I don't have a torch. I've thought about getting one but haven't yet. One of these days.... but then I'll brulee everything. Creme brulee, bread pudding, pumpkin pie, gratins, steak.... So maybe I shouldn't.

Anyway. Broiling didn't come out exactly as his did. I didn't get a nice crunchy brulee top. Instead the sugar melted down a bit and really seeped into the grapefruit. I thought it was pretty good anyway. And it's really easy. And you can call it healthy. It only has a 1/2 tsp sugar on each half.


Broiled Grapefruit

Cut a grapefruit in half, across the equator.
Cut off a small slice off each of the poles so that the grapefruit sits up on its own.
Place the halves on a baking sheet with the center of the grapefruit up.
Using a paring knife, cut along the edges to loosen the fruit from the peel.
Sprinkle about 1/2 tsp of sugar on each half of the grapefruit.
Put it under the broiler until the top starts to brown. The juices will probably start to boil up too.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle a touch of sea salt on top.
Eat immediately.

Roasted Sunflower Seeds

I was told that you need flowers to attract bees to pollinate your stuff so that you get fruits/veggies. Naturally, I opted for flowers that I could eat. So I chose sunflowers. I decided to grow Mammoth Russian sunflowers. Then, when they didn't sprout after a few days, I got seeds for a couple others as well.

Well, the sunflowers grew in a couple weeks later and I had a lot of sunflowers. They are actually shading some of my other plants, which is probably not good, but a bunch of them are at least 9 ft tall.

Well, since I chose a flower I could eat, I figured I better figure out how I could eat them. Let me tell you, getting the seeds out of the flower takes FOREVER. One flower (and probably 2 hours of picking seeds out) gave me about a quart of seeds.

Next step, figuring out what to do with the seeds. I had gotten a couple of the smaller flowers a few days before. They sat in a plastic container for a couple days and got moldy. So I figured I needed to dry the seeds. I left them spread out on 2 sheet pans for a few days. Also, it was during the week and I had other stuff to do.

Last weekend I got back to them. I kept them simple. I just wanted a light coating of salt so they would make a good snack. Google led me to a few recipes. Then I didn't follow them. Based very loosely on this post. Most people probably want more salt on them than this. I snack on them randomly. I hear they make a good long car ride snack.


Sunflower seeds

1 large sunflower (1 quart of seeds)
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Dry the sunflower seeds.
Rinse the sunflower seeds and drain off the excess water. Let them be damp but let anything that drains away go.
Sprinkle with the salt and toss until the salt is dissolved.
Toast in a single layer of a skillet until they dry and turn light brown. This could also (probably more easily) be done in an oven. 350 probably 20 mins but check regularly until slightly browned.

Garden Update

The garden is doing well. I get about 3 gallons of assorted stuff but mostly tomatoes every 2 days. That's typically because I stop picking because it's a pain. At least at this point most of the lower branches have ripened and been picked so I don't have to stoop over as much.

My family visited recently. I sent them home with close to 50 lbs of produced from the garden. Which pretty much wiped out everything I had. I should have taken some pics but for some reason have not in a while. Oh well.

K has been on my case to post something about this so he can send it to D. *wave hi* Don't you feel special, you are D? If it makes you feel any better K is only K and at one point was K-Ram, like K-Fed except nerdier. You should call him that by the way. Also, I told him to tell you to plant pineapple tomatillos but I bet he didn't. It's probably too late now but next year you should. Those are by far the most popular item from my garden.

Anyway, so these are some of the organic ish home remedy type alternatives to pesticides. I have found them by googling/word of mouth.

Beetles - they were going nuts on the soy beans. I believe this applies for other beans too but who knows. The soy bean plants were doing well and then one day I came out and there were probably thousands of beetles on my half a dozen or so plants. I guess they are japanese beetles. Get a bucket and put a couple inches of water and a squirt of dish soap in it. Swirl it around to get the dish soap dissolved. Alternatively, put the soap in first and fill with a hose so it takes care of it for you. Put the bucket under the plant where you see a bunch of beetles. Knock the plant and the beetles fall into the bucket. The dish soap keeps they from getting out and they drown. Then smash the drowned beetles (I used a large branch I found on the ground) so their guts get all into the water. It was recommended to actually put them in a blender but I'm not getting a blender just for this. I left the bucket in the garden. When the beetles die they release some pheromones or something that repels other beetles. They recommended spraying this solution all over the garden but I just left the bucket there. Since I did that, there have only been a couple beetles out there each day.

Mosquitos -
1. it was recommended to plant garlic sporadically throughout the garden or around the perimeter or something.
2. another option is to make a garlic solution. I heard garlic, ginger, onion, cheyenne pepper with some wator in a blender. Then spray this all over the garden. I haven't done this but one of my garden neighbors did.
3. listerine. get a spray bottle and spray the whole place. i actually did this one. haven't gotten a bite since but i still douse myself pretty liberally with bug spray before going out.
4. grow mint. or catnip. or citronella. only trouble is they may take over your entire garden. and you need to have it spread around, like the garlic in #1 which helps with the whole taking over the world thing.

Slugs - they say this is for slugs. they also say it helps release calcium to make your garden grow nice and tall. like milk for kids or something. crush up some egg shells and sprinkle them all over. the sharp edges are supposed to keep the slugs out. don't know if this really makes a difference but I had some eggs so I crushed up the shells and put them out there when my plants were still pretty small. Didn't seem to hurt anything.

OK that's not that impressive of a list but that's all I got.

Also, if your gardening shoes are fairly open and your feet are exposed, when you are harvesting stuff with a knife, make sure not to drop it on your foot. It hurts. And leaves a mark. And is hard to deal with when you have packed your garden really really tight and you are standing in the middle of it. You end up hopping on 1 foot trying not to let that foot move because you don't want to step on your plants but you end up grabbing the cages so that you don't fall down and crush about 5 of them. It's awkward.