Summer and Fresh Mint Ice Cream

What does summer mean to you? To my little family it means trips to the farmers market, long sunny days outdoors, fresh basil and tomatoes, home-made ice cream. . . and most of all our annual trip to northern Michigan. We rent a 1920s-era log house (that's the view from the dock, above) and meet up with a whole host of extended family members at a beautiful lake not far from the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. There are cousins and parents and kids and uncles and siblings to total about 25 of us in several houses around the lake.

We meet up on boats, by jet ski (like the teenage cousins, above) or around a big campfire at night, where we inevitably play charades or a game called Hollywood. As the sun slips down beyond the lake on the horizon, the parents sip wine and the teenagers (see them, below) make s'mores and go for an evening swim, perhaps piling into cars to head for the 1950s-ish drive-in movie theatre, the Cherry Bowl, to catch a late night show. It is perhaps the perfect week of the whole summer.

Now that we're back home in Ohio, I captured a little bit of summer magic by making home-made mint chocolate chip ice cream with mint plucked from my little herb garden by my pond. It's gluten free and summery-good!

Fresh mint chocolate chip ice cream

3 cups fresh mint leaves, rinsed and dried on paper towels
1 cup milk
2 cups heavy cream (divided)
2/3 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
5 egg yolks
6 ounces semisweet chocolate or dark chocolate, chopped fine

Put the mint leaves in a heavy saucepan with 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of cream. Heat until steaming but don't boil. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a medium size bowl, set in a larger bowl filled with ice.

Strain the milk / mint mixture into a separate bowl, pressing the mint leaves to get the most liquid out of them. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Add sugar and salt. Heat until steaming, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat.

Whisk egg yolks in a medium bowl. Slowly pour the heated milk cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly so as not to cook the eggs. Return to saucepan.

Stir this mixture over medium heat until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon, about 10 min. You should be able to run your finger across the back of the spoon and leave a trail in the custard.

Remove from heat, and pour through a sieve into the cold cream (over the ice bath) to stop the cooking.

Chill mixture for a couple of hours. Freeze in your ice cream maker. Fold in chopped chocolate. Place in your freezer in air-tight container until firm. Enjoy!

Farmers Market Lasagna with Basil Lemon Sauce

Rio the Dog has become a frog hunter. She stealthily patrols the tiny pond next to our patio, sniffing out the two small bullfrogs that call it home. Once spotted, she pounces and joyfully watches them leap into the water.

Tonight Barista and I made a gluten free farmers market lasagna -- a beautiful, summery dish with a lemony basil sauce. It was the perfect follow-up to our trip to the cheap movie house -- Letters to Juliet for $1.50 each!

Farmers Market Lasagna

6 gluten free lasagna noodles

1 zucchini, sliced
1 yellow squash, sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
2 Italian chicken sausage links, sliced
2 tomatoes, sliced

8 oz part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 box frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry.

1 cup mozzarella cheese

Juice from 2 lemons
3 T olive oil
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Cook gluten free lasagna noodles, drain and set aside. Saute zucchini, yellow squash and red bell pepper; set aside. Saute chicken sausage; set aside. Mix ricotta and spinach together; season with salt and pepper and a dash of nutmeg.

In blender, combine lemon juice, olive oil, basil, garlic and parmesan cheese.

In gresed, 9-inch square baking dish, place 1 T of basil sauce in bottom. Layer 3 lasagna noodles, 1/2 of spinach mixture, 1/2 of sauteed vegetables, 1/2 of sausage, 1/2 of tomato slices, half of basil sauce, 1/2 cheese. Repeat layers. Bake 30 min at 350 degrees or until hot and bubbly.

Perfect Summer Day. . . and Unbelievable Chili Sweet Corn

Oh, it's a bit warm here in Central Ohio -- in the mid-90s. But as they say, it's not the heat it's the humidity. Muggy it is. Really muggy. Like all-you-can-do-is-sweat-while-your-hair-frizzes muggy.

Nevertheless, it was a brilliant day around here. Son Chip had a 7 on 7 football "passing" scrimmy for 6 hours. I doused him with sunscreen, filled a huge canteen with ice water and packed him lunch before he headed to a local college with his high school team and about 14 other schools. He is annoyed with how many times I reminded him to DRINK LOTS OF WATER! Barista and I watched him for awhile from the shade of a tiny tree, and then headed out to do some pre-apartment shopping for her senior year of college. Serendipitously we parked near a mom-and-daughter garage sale on the weekend before they moved to Massachusetts. We lucked out on: a checkered mother-of-pearl bathroom set for Barista. I bought a little metallic hall table that looks fabulous in my foyer AND a pair of Italian suede boots with rabbit fur cuffs (for $5 !!!!). Who cares if it's hotter than blazes, I can imagine those boots at a winter cabin in the snow!

We also hit the local farmers market, snaring some really nice sweet corn, tomatoes, green peppers and grass-fed hamburger patties. Our gluten free dinner menu? Grilled hamburgers with cream cheese/jalapeno (from my garden) topping on buns (my kids) and gluten free Udi whole grain bread (me). And the best corn on the cob I've ever had. Seriously. My whole life I've enjoyed fresh Ohio corn that's been boiled and plopped on a plate, ready to be doused in butter and salt. Barista tried something different tonight -- brined sweet corn that's char-grilled and topped with a chili/cumin butter. All I can say is OMG.

Here's the instructions:

Husk 4 ears of sweet corn (or more, just adjust other ingreds). Fill a large pot or bowl half way with water. Add 1/4 cup salt and 1/4 cup sugar; stir until dissolved. Add corn and let sit for a half hour or more.

Prep charcoal grill. Remove corn from brine, place on grill rack above hot coals. Cover grill, but uncover about every minute or two to turn the corn (it chars easily). Continue cooking for about 10-12 minutes until corn is tender and lightly charred. Serve with chili-cumin butter:

Bring 3 tablespoons of butter to room temp. Fold in 1/2 teaspoon of Mexican hot chili powder and 1/4 teaspoon of cumin.