First up was to make some Lemon Buttermilk Sherbet. Last week when we had guests for dinner, I made a berry cobbler which required a half cup of buttermilk. Of course, the store only had the quart containers in stock! So I had a Whole Lot of buttermilk left. I made blueberry buttermilk pancakes over the weekend (for dinner!) but that didn't put much of a dent in it. I'd made a similar sherbet before with buttermilk and pineapple, but I didn't have any pineapple in the house, so I googled and came up with this. Simple enough! I didn't have any real lemons either, so instead I added about 2 tablespoons of Key Lime Juice. The result was delicious, if I do say so myself! So tangy and refreshing!
 |
| This ice cream maker was a wedding gift. We'll be married 15 years tomorrow, and we still use this thing! |
 |
| Yes, you may have some. But you have to eat your dinner first. |
Next up: Blueberry Pie. Mmmmmm . . . pie. I love pie. And blueberry is my second favorite (number one being cherry, and number three being Key Lime. Number four is Lemon.) Last Friday I popped into Whole Foods to get a loaf of bread, and they had pints of organic blueberries on sale for $1.99! Unheard of! I bought three. One became the pancakes and some smoothies, the other two became this:
 |
| Would you like a slice with your sherbet? |
 |
| OK, so it's not the most gorgeous pie you've ever seen. Thankfully, Martha Stewart doesn't read my blog. I'm pretty sure. |
As it was sitting on the counter to cool, I kept wondering if a hobo would come along and steal it. Good thing we have an alarm system.
So that's dessert settled. How about some dinner? I made a main dish salad of brown lentils, potatoes and garlic-sauteed spinach with green onions, parsley and red wine vinaigrette, a summer favorite of ours. Delicious (and healthy) to eat, but not so beautiful to photograph. It's very brown.
Its accompaniment is brown too, but I did take its picture. I made some garlic crostini, on top of which we put this Sardine-Tahini spread:
 |
| I taste much better than I look. Honest. |
And some fresh tomatoes on the side. Way back in the dark ages, when I was in my early twenties, I decided it would be a good idea to eat a macrobiotic diet. It didn't last long. This was the only macrobiotic recipe from my macrobiotic cookbook that I actually liked. It's super simple to do: a can of sardines, approximately 1/3 cup tahini (the cookbook is long gone, so I just eyeball it) and about 1-2 tablespoons of soy sauce. Mush it all together and you're good to go! Fishy and salty - yum! And full of calcium too. (In case you were wondering.)
And now, if you're still reading, I really ought to invite you to dinner!
Uh, where exactly do you live? I'm in for a dinner invite - it sounds and looks delish!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Andrea! If you make it to Chicago, let me know!
ReplyDeleteYum! I think the pie looks great! And I hate that you can't get buttermilk in small sizes. Who needs that much? I've been known to mix milk and yogurt or to sour some whole milk with lemon juice...
ReplyDeleteI've done those tricks too, but I really prefer the taste of buttermilk. I do like to eat it on granola. But sherbet is a lot more fun!
ReplyDeleteIt all looks fabulous! Someone gave us an ice cream maker too, but I gave it away after years of not using it. Now I wish I had it back! ;-)
ReplyDeleteWhen we've made butter from heavy cream, the residue left over is like what was originally called buttermilk (not the cultured stuff), and I did use it in a buttermilk recipe. I'm not sure if it tasted the same as cultured buttermilk from the store, but I still liked it. We use both heavy cream and butter all the time, so no waste! (It does lead to more *waist* though.)
Hope you have a great anniversary!
Ah, I wish I could still use butter and cream like I used to. The old metabolism isn't what it used to be!!
ReplyDelete