Beauty Abounds

My favorite thing about April is all the colorful blooms-

from the tiniest petals...

 ...to the most magnificent flowering trees.

Easter Sunday Outing

Easter Tulips

Pretty in Pink

Silver Bells and Cockle Shells

I love these flowers, but have no idea what they are called.  They are what I imagine the silver bells would look like in the poem about Mary and her garden...Mary Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow? With silver bells and cockle shells and pretty maids in a row. 

I love spring so much.  I'm so inspired by the colors I see on my walks everyday.

Sunday, Lovely Sunday

I "heart" Prospect Park

Penne Pasta with Spinach and Ricotta

This recipe came from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food.  I was looking for something easy and vegetarian when we were making dinner for some vegetarian guests.  This was perfect and we were surprised that it turned out to be so delicious considering how simple it was.

1 lb spinach penne pasta

1 lb fresh spinach

olive oil

salt and pepper

1/3 cup toasted pine nuts

ricotta cheese

fresh grated parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta and add the spinach during the last 2 minutes of cooking.  Drain spinach and pasta and return to pot.  Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper.  Serve pasta into each bowl and top with pine nuts, a dollop of ricotta cheese, and a sprinkling of parmesan.  Each guest can stir the ricotta into their pasta. Makes about 6 servings.

I made this again the next week and added crumbled bacon which made it even better...but not vegetarian!

Beautiful Flowers Everywhere!

Sweet Date

While my mother-in-law was here earlier this week, she was more than willing to do some babysitting, which gave John and I the chance to have a sweet little date at Sweet Melissa in the neighborhoood.  We indulged a little (a lot, actually) on decadent sundaes.  I had the Apple Bread Pudding Sundae with rum raisin caramel sauce and John had the Peanut Butter Decadence Sundae.  It was a sweet little date!

Walking to the Grocery Store

I was walking to the grocery store the other day and noticed that these yellow flowers are everywhere.  It's our first spring in this neighborhood, so it's fun to see for the first time what flowers are blooming.

Shadows and Clouds

Strawberry Lavender Ice Cream

Strawberry Lavender Ice Cream

Lavender Simple Syrup:
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp lavender buds

Combine sugar, water, and lavender in a saucepan and bring to boil.  Let boil for 1 minute and then remove fom heat.  Let stand for 10 minutes.  Strain syrup to remove the lavender buds and chill the syrup.

Strawberry Ice Cream:
3 cups strawberries, sliced
1 cup sugar, divided
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla

Combine strawberries, 1/2 cup sugar, and lemon juice.  Allow strawberries to macerate in the juices for 2 hours.  Strain the berries, reserving the juices.  Mash or puree the strawberries (depending on how chuncky you want the ice cream.)  Add the lavender syrup to the reserved juice.

Combine the milk and remaining 1/2 cup sugar with a hand mixer on low speed for about 1 minute or until sugar is dissolved.  Stir in the heavy cream, reserved strawberry lavender juice, mashed strawberries, and vanilla.

Pour the mix into an ice cream maker and let mix until thickened, about 25-30 minutes.  Transfer the ice cream to an air tight container and freeze overnight before serving.

*I used the strawberry ice cream recipe that came with my ice cream machine.  I had the idea to add the lavender syrup which I used from another recipe.  The lavender flavor is very subtle and almost too subtle for me.  I think next time I make this, I'll use 1 tsp of lavender buds instead of 1/2 tsp to increase the flavor.