Dark Chocolate Cherries

Cherries are still in season people! If my pie and sorbetto haven't tempted you, these dark chocolate cherries are guaranteed to. They are incredibly easy to make and the hardest part is just waiting for them to be ready. I came across this recipe when Kate In The Kitchen posted about her adventures with cherries and I knew that I couldn't pass them up. Simple syrup is created by heating water and sugar together. Dark Chocolate is then melted into the syrup before being poured over cherries packed into a quart jar. They're then sealed for up to two weeks to create a beautiful dark chocolate treat!

Cherry-Lime Sorbetto

You remember those 8lbs of cherries from last week? Well that cherry pie was just one of the recipes created. Today I've got a refreshing dish that's perfect for summer. It's only got a few ingredients so it lets the sweet flavor of these beautiful cherries shine through.

Cooking The Market

One of our favorite date nights is to go volunteer at Kitchen In The Market, a local commercial kitchen and cooking school. When I was thinking of ideas to submit for a Foodbuzz 24x24 event, I immediately thought of taking a spin on one of their most popular cooking classes; Cooking the Market.

The idea behind the class is to create a meal based on whatever is currently available in the market, no matter what season it is. It's a fantastic class that always produces something different and fun to cook.

It has been a beautiful, early spring here for us Minnesotans but we're still not into the full on farmers markets quite yet. That doesn't mean that there's no local product available however. One of my goals in sharing this event with some of our friends was to show them the amazing products we have available right here in our local area, all year round as well as get them excited about the great food season to come!

Sweet Corn Ice Cream

I'm really not on a mission to come up with obscure ice cream flavors, really, I promise. They are just presented to me and I have an obligation to make sure they are known to the world. This year we took the family to the Minnesota State Fair. On a Saturday. The first Saturday of the Fair. Not the best idea. I don't usually mind big crowds of people, and it wasn't so much a people issue, it was just that there were SO many people. Throw in a double wide stroller and it took us almost 45 minutes to meet up with some friends just down the main street. We honestly didn't get anything done in the 4.5 hours that we were there except the farmhands activity for the kids, grabbed some food and watched a few minutes of a dog show. For someone who likes to spend his time efficiently, I left somewhat frustrated. The only saving grace was the ice cream. One bowl shared between the family. It was Sweet Corn Ice Cream and I've been dreaming of it since we left.

Bacon Ice Cream

We just had one of the most beautiful 4th of July weekends that I can ever remember. Having grown up in Seattle, there weren't many years that the holiday wasn't spent in the rain. While we usually still enjoyed the holiday, there's just nothing like spending the weekend at the beach, grilling and enjoying the beautiful outdoors. That also means that our ice cream maker is making up for its long winter in the cupboard. I love experimenting with flavors but I was never expecting the challenge I received from my mom. A month or so ago I received an email from my Mom daring me to make an attached Bacon Ice Cream recipe. I'm never one to pass up a good challenge, and so my love affair with Bacon Ice Cream was born.

Coconut -Piloncillo Ice Cream with Coconut Tortilla Chips and Fruit Salsa

I mentioned last week that while I was shopping in the Thai grocery store that I found some beautiful mangoes. I had seen this recipe for ice cream with the fruit salsa that looked so good but usually mangoes are so expensive. When I saw these I couldn't resist.