Girl in House

I'm not a "Sex and the City" fan, but everyone remembers Carrie Bradshaw in her ridiculously short shorts standing on one leg in the kitchen eating jam off of crackers (if I recall that correctly). Well, I think everyone has their "single behavior" (things they do when no one is looking). When I have the house to myself it quickly becomes a party - party of one that is. And what this party of one usually consists of is some combination of champagne, "Murder She Wrote", Hawaiian Pizza, French macarons, and three hour long conversations about my friends' relationships. Scott hates Hawaiian Pizza, so this seems like a good choice. Also when I am alone I seem to lose all track of time and make a batch of lime sherbert, and just eat that all weekend not realizing meal time came and went. It is all very hilarious.

So I came home from work today and Scott had gone to San Francisco for a conference. There was a piece of pizza from Smith's Tavern (Hawaiian with cherry peppers funny enough), which was very good. But then I went a little crazy. I went in high brow and low brow directions at the same time. I made something new and something retro.

First, I decided to make lavender sorbet from this book. I bought some lavender flowers from here. I thought I would make lavender lemonade or lavender shortbread. This recipe is delicious, and I think it would be very good in a glass of champagne. It's very light and is just enough to refresh you and cleanse the palate.

In a medium saucepan bring 2 cups of water and 2 cups sugar to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add a lavender branch. Cover and let infuse for about 20 minutes. Remove the lavender and let it cool. Add 2 tablespoons of lavender flowers (you could put a little less for a little less potent flavor, but I really happen to love the flavor). Pour the syrup into your ice cream maker for half an hour, put it in an air tight container and let it harden completely for about three hours. Mmmm totally refreshing for a hot night. The recipe says you can also substitute thyme or rosemary flowers. This was part of why I wanted an ice cream maker so I could make weird things you can't find everywhere.

Then in a totally different direction, I decided to go retro and make Rice Krispie treats. I cannot say that I have made these in my adult life, in fact I don't think I have eaten one since college maybe circa 2001. First of all, you could probably do a lot worse health-wise for a snack than Rice Krispies, marshmallows, and not even that much butter. Second, there is something to be said about classic flavors that you just can't argue with. To change them at all is usually to take away from the delicate balance, like BLTs and grilled cheese with tomato soup. The recipe is right on the box:

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in large saucepan over low heat. Add 10 oz. marshmallows, and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat and stir in 6 cups of Rice Krispies. Stir it well and smash it into a 13x9 pan sprayed with cooking spray. Let cool and cut into 2 inch bars. Ok, maybe this is obvious but since we don't have a 6 year old in the house I had totally forgotten how to make them. Also I forgot the undeniably delicious and some how distinctive smell that marshmallows, butter and Rice Krispies have when melted together. That right there could be bottled and sold as the smell of childhood.

So the question is which one is better? The retro or the new? The recipe from the side of the box of a mass produced food stuff or from Amanda Hesser's book made with organic lavender flowers? The American or the French? Not sure, I guess I'll have to sit here watching the Mets in order to come to some kind of conclusion. Just kidding, I don't just lounge around aimlessly when left in the house alone eating sorbet all day - that would be lazy, and also bad from a nutritional perspective. Right.