A Week of Surprises

So this has been a pretty good week. Loaded with surprises.

New book, gift tags, and recipe cards

On Sunday I started a new cooking club with a group of friends. Some are friends from high school. One is my biking buddy; we met while training for a century ride four years ago. One is a relatively new friend, and she brought an old friend of hers. I love mixing friend groups and seeing how easily friends from different parts of my life fit together. All of these friends hit it off smashingly. It was wonderful. We had lots of good food (our theme for the dinner was "Mushy Foods" since one person had oral surgery about a month ago and is still recovering).

But to start the day off, Biker Friend, who is also a knitter, gave me a small gift from when she went to Stitches back in the fall. They are tags for knitting gifts. Without a good macro lens (and I can't even find my regular lens right now), I can't get a good clear shot of them. They have a cat tangled up in yarn and say, " Now I know this may be hard for you to believe but...I MADE THIS! Don't just stand there dumbfounded, get excited or something!" I can't wait to give my next knitted gift.

Tuesday night I found a package in the mail. My used copy of EZ's Knitter's Workshop. This wasn't exactly a surprise, since I had ordered it, but it was coming from a non-major retailer, so I had no idea when it would arrive. Like some other people, I'm just now really appreciating EZ. To cap it off, several friends have recently announced pregnancies, so Baby Surprise Jackets for everyone!

Then there was today.

A few years back, Geek Boy came home one night with this joke:

A guy gets on an elevator with a beautiful woman. Desperate to make conversation, he smiles broadly at her and says, "T.G.I.F."
She smiles ruefully and says, "S.H.I.T."
Confused, he replies, "T.G.I.F."
Again, "S.H.I.T."
Desperate, he says to her, "Thank goodness it's Friday."
She shakes her head and says, "Sorry, hon, it's Thursday."

Now, almost every week, on Thursday, one of us will look at the other and say, "T.G.I.F." just for the fun of the response. But today was a good Thursday. I finished interviewing candidates for the open position I have at work, and my top choice accepted. I have several community groups who have agreed to partner with us for a grant I'm writing, and write letters of support (there is the downside that I have only a few days left to write the grant, but I'm not focusing on that now). Another grant, that I have more time for, is coming together. Best of all, when I got home and looked at the mail pile, there was a little package for me. I didn't remember ordering anything, but since I've recently developed an addiction to Etsy, maybe I forgot about something. Nope. Return address: Secret Pal. Inside I found a great pack of recipe cards. Perfect for organizing the new variations on soup and new cooking club recipes. So, thank you, secret pal! You made my Thursday!

Now off to curl up with my mega-biography of Caron McCullers (one of the pending grants is for a community read of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, so I thought I'd brush up on all things Caron McCullers).

Move Over Ben and Jerry!

About a year ago I joined a cooking club. It's a lot of fun. If you're not familiar with the concept, basically, we rotate houses each month. The person who hosts is responsible for coming up with a theme and making the main entree. Everyone else contributes appetizers, side dishes and desserts. We have had some great themes: Greek BBQ, Farmer's Market Fresh, Cooking with Booze. Our hostess for August has come up with the theme Healthy Junk Food. We are supposed to lighten up our favorite fast food or junk food treats. People are bringing calzones, plantain and zucchini chips, pizzas. And I offered to bring dessert.

Now, sometimes I bring an old standby for these dinners. Like Cooking with Booze...I made Manhattan Mushrooms (mushrooms cooked in sweet vermouth). And sometimes I try something new. When it's new, I try it out a week before to make sure it's palatable. For our junk food fest, I decided to try my hand at a light version of my favorite vanilla ice cream with cherries and chocolate chunks.

Geek Boy agreed, it's better than the $4 pint.

Bookwoman's Cherry and Chocolate Ice Cream (approx. 9 servings)

2 1/2 cups 1% milk, divided
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1 bag frozen cherries, each cherry cut in half (I was going to use fresh, but these babies are already pitted)
juice of half a lime
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1 big Hershey bar, chopped

Combine half of the milk and both egg yolks in a pan over medium heat. Heat until bubbles form around the edges, but do not boil. Stir frequently.

Remove from heat and add cream cheese, stirring until smooth.

Combine cream cheese mixture and all the remaining ingredients except the chocolate bar. Cover and chill completely.

When it's cool, dump it into the freezer can of your ice cream maker and let it rip.

The final product is a bit more purple than the original, the cherries bleed into the mixture. But it still tastes pretty darn good. Can't wait for Sunday!