Snow, Aldo

Once, I was in New York,
in Central Park, and I saw
an old man in a black overcoat walking
a black dog. This was springtime
and the trees were still
bare and the sky was
gray and low and it began, suddenly,
to snow:
big fat flakes
that twirled and landed on the
black of the man's overcoat and
the black dog's fur. The dog
lifted his face and stared
up at the sky. The man looked
up, too. "Snow, Aldo," he said to the dog,
"snow." And he laughed.
The dog looked
at him and wagged his tail.

If I was in charge of making
snow globes, this is what I would put inside:
the old man in the black overcoat,
the black dog,
two friends with their faces turned up to the sky
as if they were receiving a blessing,
as if they were being blessed together
by something
as simple as snow
in March.

by Kate DiCamillo

Ginger-Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Makes about ten 1/2 cup servings

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cup whole milk
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1 whole vanilla bean (about 6 inches in length)
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
large pinch of kosher salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine milk and heavy cream in medium saucepan. Use a chef knife to split vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Use the blunt edge of knife to scrape out "seeds". Stir seeds and bean pod into milk mixture. Bring mixture to a slow boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Meanwhile, combine eggs, yolks, and sugar in a medium bowl. Use an electric standing mixer or hand held mixer on medium speed to whisk until the mixture is thick, smooth, and pale yellow, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.

3. Remove the vanilla bean pod from the milk mixture and make sure heat is off. Pour 1 cup of the hot liquid into a liquid measuring cup (or any vessel that pours easily). With the mixer on low speed, pour the hot liquid into the egg mixture in a slow steady stream. After thoroughly combined, pour the egg mixture, grated ginger, ground ginger, and salt back into the saucepan and stir to combine. Cook stirring frequently over medium heat until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Transfer to a medium bowl and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap placed directly onto the custard, and chill completely.

4. Turn your ice cream machine on and pour the custard into the frozen freezer bowl and let mix until thickened, about 28 - 32 minutes.

** The easiest way to "peel" ginger is using the back of a regular kitchen spoon. Simply scrape the skin off - it's almost miraculous!

Recipe by Cristina Paul

Blah-Blah-Blahg: Food For Nought

Honest to God... I ONLY watched the last episode of The Bachelor this season and Jason Mesnick aka THE biggest d-bag aka The Bachelor has made me totally lose hope. I don't think this is a problem that Obama can fix. Interestingly enough, Hoover or some other vacuum cleaner had a lot of commercials on this 2 hour episode (plus the After The Final Rose shocker). The commercials were set to the tune of Etta James' "At Last". The juxtaposition of Jason's terrible indecision and these 30 second blips about people, romantic music, and mechanical cleaning devices has led me to this conclusion: it is more plausible for people to sustain a healthy relationship with a hunk of Hoover than to carry one out with another human being. It's just a hypothesis. I truly hope that I am proven wrong... but wait, this awful show has made me lose all hope.