The Pony family eats some darn good eats. A few weeks ago Mr. Pony made a fabulous lemon tart {yes, that is candied lemon peel and homemade whipped cream you see on top- be jealous}.
Then I made knock-off Samoa Girl Scout cookies (Caramel Delights for you young 'uns) using this recipe and they were FABULOUS. We ate the entire pan of bars in less than 3 days {Mr. Pony- "But I don't like coconut. Whaaaa"}. We didn't put any chocolate on the bottom- just an extra heavy drizzle on top and it worked out well {i.e. we were lazy}.
Then tonight, I decided to surprise Mr. Pony. You see, he went gallivanting to the frozen North. Without me. To Chicago. One of my favorite U.S. cities. {runs away crying} I'm not bitter.
So to make sure that he never, ever again chooses to leave me behind while he goes to visit the Windy City {and gorges on fabulous noms that are out of my reach}, I'm schmoozing him with madeleines. To be exact, I made a lemon-glazed madeleine recipe from a fabulous chef David Lebovitz {he lives in Paris now. *le sigh*}.
Ok, so the truth is I've owed these cookies to Mr. Pony for the last several months. Since October. Ok, 6 months. High time to give him a mini taste of Paris. And to make sure that he takes me there again as well.
Some might say that I'm actually rewarding him for having been gone, but I prefer my way of thinking. Seriously- this way I get cookies. Duh. To all you naysayers, here- have a cookie!
having hors d'oeuvres for dinner. Only hors d'oeuvres. Mr. Pony said that he was going to try a new recipe with smoked salmon, and this is what he came up with. It was simply delicious! Now we just need to move forward to having only dessert for dinner!
Tell me what you eat, I'll tell you who you are. - Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
The Pony family is on a summer drinks kick. Yesterday Mr. Pony said 'We have all the ingredients, but we've never made you bubble tea!'. You see, a few weeks {months} ago we visited a large Asian market near my in-laws and purchased whole lychees in syrup, tapioca balls (the bubbles in bubble tea) and lichee black tea. This trio has sat, twiddling their metaphoric thumbs , in our pantry since January. Finally, 7 months later, we have mended this travesty and *tadaaa*!!! Bubble tea!
If you haven't had bubble tea, you really are missing out! The version we made may not be totally 'traditional' (if there is such a thing), but it is really easy (3 ingredients easy) and super tasty for an at home treat on a hot summer day!
Lychee Bubble Tea (makes 2 large cups)
To make tapioca 'bubbles', you need:
6 tbsp tapioca balls (available at most Asian markets)
3.75 cups water
Bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, add the tapioca balls while stirring (this keeps them from clumping). Let the tapioca balls boil until they start to float to the top and look plumped up. Once this happens, lower the temp to medium and cover pot for 5 minutes. Double check the directions on your package of tapioca balls- a 1 cup tapioca to 10 cups water ratio is normal, but for home use, 1 cup tapioca is a LOT.
While the tapioca is cooking, brew up a strong batch of your favorite black or green tea (we used tea flavored like our ingredient, but you can use whatever kind you like).
Next prepare your fruity ingredient. We had lychee's in syrup sitting around which we blended to make 3/4 cup of liquid. I'd recommend using a canned fruit with syrup because then you get a lot of flavorful liquid to add to the bubble tea, but I'm sure using real fruit would be tasty (just make sure its juicy!). Once your fruit ingredient is ready and the tapioca balls have rested, strain out the tapioca and put them in the fruity ingredient. This will help them gain a bit more flavor. If you just want them to be sweet, you can soak them in a simple syrup or coconut milk and it will add a nice flavor as well.
Now for the hard part- you have to wait. I know, it sucks, but trust me- warm bubble tea is not such a great treat as cool bubble tea. My suggestion is to pour 1.5 cups of tea into a container with a lot of surface area (for faster cooling) and put the tea and the fruit ingredient in the fridge for a while so it gets cool quickly. You are nearly done!
Once cool, blend together:
1.5 cups of tea
3/4 cup of blended fruit ingredient (lychee in our case)
6 oz. vanilla ice cream (this adds a pleasant creaminess to the beverage)
Pour into 2 glasses, plop in an extra fat straw (so you can actually suck up the tapioca bubbles as you drink) and enjoy!
Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world. - T'ien Yiheng *all photos by me
The 4th of July marks the epitome of summer- a celebration of color and joy that makes me feel a bit warm and fuzzy {even as I inwardly curse the fools setting off bottle rockets in the parking lot at 2am}. After all, summer is the time for catching fireflies in Mason jars, grilling hotdogs by the armful and sipping fruity drinks on the porch swing. Fresh cut grass on a summer evening is still one of my favorite scents, and I can still feel the grass between my toes as my childhood friends and I ran through a sprinkler giggling uncontrollably. Of course, the high point of summer also tends to go hand in hand with the highest temperatures, so to combat the heat, Mr. Pony proposed a solution.
Sound good? I thought so too! So without further ado-
Mr. Pony's Strawberry-Lemon Smoothie
1lb. fresh strawberries, de-stemmed and sliced up 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 4-5 good sized lemons) 1/2 cup simple syrup*
De-stem and cut up the strawberries and combine them with the lemon juice in the blender of your choice (we used a stick blender in a tall, narrow container and had great results). Blend until smooth. At this point you can choose to strain the mixture to remove the strawberry seeds- we left them in because I like the authenticity they add, but you might not like them! Add simple syrup to taste- we used 1/2 cup, but depending on your preference and the sweetness of your strawberries {because we can't all be this lucky}, more or less may be needed for maximum taste-bud relaxation. Chill and serve.
*Quick note- please make your own simple syrup- combine equal parts water and sugar, bring to a boil, and you're done. Really. Let it cool before mixing into a drink to speed up your drinking enjoyment.
This recipe makes about 22 ounces, which is good for 2 servings if you are greedy, or 4 if you are being reasonable.
We were greedy.Mature persons only- this would be great in a mimosa, or add a splash of vodka, and you have a delicious adult beverage.
I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade... And try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka, and have a party. - Ron White * all photos by me
