my latest un-guilty pleasure (almost)

I've discovered something magical. I don't know how I didn't see it sooner. A sweet snack nearly free of the remorseful hangover. I've been on a smoothie kick of late and keep a variety of frozen fruits in the freezer. I also have 3 pints of premium ice cream purchased from 7-Eleven by my friend Kerry at around 1:45 a.m. last weekend when we had a 2-woman dance party. The ice cream stares at me every time I open the freezer door to grab my frozen blueberries and bananas, and I know it's only a matter of time and too much alcohol until I'm polishing off one of these puppies in the wee hours of the morning while lying in bed listening to The Lemonheads.


Tonight I got back from the gym, and having decided to stay in started thinking about the least damaging way to satisfy my craving for something sweet.

One scoop of vanilla surely can't hurt. This time when I opened the freezer in search of ice cream, I saw the blueberries.

Aha...

I zapped a handful of these sweet, miniature Maine berries in a small bowl for 30 seconds and then topped them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.




Like the final bites of a sloppy slice of blueberry pie with vanilla ice cream, it was so rich and silky, I really only needed a little ice cream to hit the spot. It would also work great with raspberries or strawberries. You may have to add a small splash of water to loosen things up and create a bit of a syrup. The only way I could have improved this creation would have been to top it with a few slivered almonds. And the color produced when the ice cream and blueberries meet is one of the most beautiful violets I've ever seen!


I'm not much of a calorie-counter, but I figure this set me back about 220 calories. Plus, I got a little Vitamin C and antioxidants. I thought of doing the same thing with 2% Greek yogurt such as Fage which would bring the total to about 160 calories for a generous 7oz, or 8oz. serving. Not bad when you consider the flavor and nutritional benefits.

Enjoy!

love and lilacs

Happy Mothers Day to all! I am so very lucky to have a beautiful, elegant and generous mother of my own, and was able to spend a lovely day with her and my niece and nephew today. My sister and her husband were traveling back from a wedding in New York, so my mother and I took the kids to the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain. Aside from boasting an endless variety of native and foreign trees and plants year-round, the Arboretum comes alive in May when they host Lilac Sunday. Never before have I seen more beautiful and fragrant lilacs, which are truly some of my favorite flowers. They have 400 lilac bushes and over 200 lilac varieties in bloom every spring. Today they highlighted 20 varieties, some of which I've shown here.










When we got home, I surprised my mother with a citrus almond cake that I decorated with some creeping myrtle I clipped from the front yard.


After I went to grab a few plates, I came back to the table to find this: My lovely rascal of a niece, Athena, could not resist the lemony scent of the cake, and stole a small bite when I wasn't looking. After gently scolding her for eating before her grandmother, and hearing her small voice say, "I'm sorry!", I couldn't help but forgive her.

home v.2

Hello! I've decided to continue this blog even though I am now back in Boston. I'm hoping the blog description will remain relevant as I truly fell in love with Austin and would love to find some way to make my life there more permanent than a three month stint. The past three months have been, in all sincerity, a turning point in my life, and have helped me to put so many things into perspective. Where I go from here is still to be determined, but I'm lucky to be returning to Boston at the peak of its beauty. The birds are singing out my window right now, and when I got out of the cab from Texas, I was greeted by my neighbor's beautiful window boxes in Beacon Hill.