movin'

I have piles of boxes in my living room that could make a pretty decent fort.  My counter has a collection of random things: spackle, magic eraser (it really is magic, have you seen what it can do?!), some snacks, a padlock, and a little plastic dinosaur I like to call Rawr.  These are all the signs of a move in progress.

After much day dreaming, and then some very serious thought and planning, my sweetie and I decided to make the move to the mountains.  We definitely feel most at home when we are surrounded by high altitude air, sweet pines, and inviting granite.  And now we are packing up our respective homes to combine our belongings and our lives (eek!) together in Tahoe.  We are pretty excited about it all and are looking forward to loading up that UHaul tomorrow. 

I'm kind of an old pro at moving.  Prior to coming to SF, I had moved something like 13 times in 10 years (its probably actually more, I lost track along the way).  There was a time when I could surely pack a UHaul in my sleep!  But this time, I've hired movers to load the truck.  No point in asking my friends to break their backs carrying my couch down the stairs in exchange for a six-pack.  I am sure the movers really probably CAN load a truck in their sleep, anyhow.   

In the past month, among our packing and organizing, we tried to take advantage of every SF thing we could: America's Cup racing,  Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival this past weekend (nearly across the street from my house!), trips to our favorite places and restaurants, visits to the museums, catching up with friends.   As much as we are excited to be in the mountains, I am sure there will be plenty that we find ourselves missing about our SF home. 

 

But tomorrow, we get to load up that truck and head up the hill for the next chapter in our lives, creating new favorites along the way.  We hope you'll come visit!  

toasted coconut ice cream

I've been on a coconut kick lately.  I don't know what it is, but I just can't get enough, in any shape or form.  Coconut in my granola, road-trip Mounds bars from the gas station, chocolate coconut ice cream. 

Recently, my sweetie surprised me with a pint of toasted coconut ice cream from the nearby grocery.  This grocery is amazing - beautiful and elusive produce, cheese, and wines.  They also make a lot of their own items, from marinades to cakes.  But their most special house-made items are their ice creams.  So special, they have a creamery across the street from the primary market, solely for ice cream.

San Franciscans love this ice cream.  In the rain, in the cold, in the dark, there will be a line of patient ice cream lovers wrapped all the way around the corner.  When it is hot and sunny (those 15 days a year!),  all of SF is getting their Bi-Rite ice cream to enjoy while lounging in nearby Delores Park.  (There is a secret, though: for soft serve and other delicious but limited selections, you can go to the window around the corner where there is virtually no line!)

Inspired by both coconut and this SF delicacy, I decided I needed to make my own version: not overwhelming coconut, but perfectly toasty and sweet.  And the best part? No line!

Toasted Coconut Ice Cream

inspired by Bi-Rite Creamery

2 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 cups 1% milk

3/4 cup sugar

4 large egg yolks

2 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut 

2 tsp. salt

Spread the coconut on a sheet pan and toast in a 325'F oven until brown and toasty, about 5 minutes.  Watch it closely, though, as it is easy to burn.

Combine 2 cups of the toasted coconut with milk, cream and salt and heat to just simmer.  Do not let the milk boil.  Turn off the heat and let sit for about 15 minutes to steep the coconut flavor. 

While the milk is steeping, combine the egg yolks and sugar in a small metal bowl.  Whisk together the eggs and sugar while holding the bowl over a steaming saucepan until fluffy and light in color,  creating a sabayon.

Remove sabayon from the heat.  

Strain the coconut from the milk.  Discard the coconut (so sad, I know!!).

Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg and sugar mixture, whisking all the while.  

Strain the base through a fine mesh strainer and chill the base for at least two hours.  Overnight is better.

Freeze in your ice cream freezer. 

When the ice cream is sufficiently frozen, move the ice cream to a freeze-safe container.

Mix in the remaining 1/2 cup toasted coconut (or save to sprinkle on top). 

Freeze to harden, 2-3 hours or overnight,  if you can wait that long!  I couldn't.

Tricks and Tips:
I used turbinado sugar for a deeper "brown" flavor that helps to accentuate the toasty notes.

You could add vanilla to your steeping milk if you like - it helps potentiate the sweetness and round the flavor a bit.  However,  I chose to keep this as coconutty as possible so I left it out this time.

When separating eggs, I put my egg whites in a mason jar to save for later.  They are great to have on hand for egg white scrambles, dutch babies or egg white cocktails like the Edith Day or Ramos Fizz.

By creating a sabayon, you are gently cooking the eggs without curdling them.  This is the basis of any custard, and the essential method for making a hollandaise.

Slowing adding the milk to the sabayon tempers the eggs and prevents them from cooking when the hot milk hits them.  But don't worry too much about it after you get the first 1/3 of your milk in, it will be more tolerant at this point.  Straining through the fine mesh helps to remove any accidentally cooked egg.

This ice cream is really, really good with some melted dark chocolate poured over top. 

part of city living

I am not a city girl.  But for the last 10 years or so, I have spent a lot of time in two major cities: Seattle and San Francisco.

With the woods, mountains and water nearby, I find I am able to manage pretty well, most of the time.  There are some things that really bother me though; I have never liked traffic. But then, who does?!  I just take a deep breath and remind myself it is all a part of living in the city.

This past weekend, in my typical weekend warrior-ing, I went up to Tahoe to ski and hang out with friends.  On my way home, I stopped in Davis (my alma matter!) for a long bike ride on the flat and rural roads.

Post bike ride, I noticed the freeway leaving Davis was backed-up.  To avoid the stop-and-go,  I chose to go the back way, through the rolling green hills, past lakes, and bisecting wine-country.

I was happy: The scenery was beautiful, the sun was shining, I had another nice weekend, and the traffic was moving pretty darn well.  That is, it was moving well until I got near the Golden Gate Bridge, where I found myself suddenly stuck in stop-and-go traffic for over an hour.  Not to worry!  I opened my sunroof, put on a podcast, and took a deep breath.  It is all a part of living in this fine area.

But then, my clutch started to shudder a bit (I was hoping that it wasn't a true shudder, but that I was just getting tired and not operating the clutch as well).  And there was the unmistakable smell of an over-heated clutch.  I hoped it was the Westfalia in front of me, but after a few more moments, it was pretty obvious that the terrible smell was coming from my car.

The next day, with fingers crossed, I called my service agent.  After describing my experience, he had me come right in (questioning the safety of my driving the distance from my office to the garage).

A new clutch, flywheel, some bearings and way too much money later, I am even more frustrated with city traffic.  I suppose this is why people drive automatics in the city - it isn't because of the hills, but because of the traffic.  All I can do though, is take a deep breath and remind myself, this is all a part of living in the city.