Flickr Friday

I made this collage on this website using my favorite photos from Flickr.

None of these are my pictures. Click on the individal photos like this and this to see who took these great shots.

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Still Screaming For Ice Cream

I know that I just did an ice cream post for a blog event, but I found yet another ice cream blog event and decided that it was a good excuse to make some more ice cream. The deadline for submissions is today, so I will just make it. This is the reason for so many consecutive blog posts. I think I'm all blogged out! Nah! Not really. I have several other posts planned that will be coming up soon.

For Nikki's event over at Nik Snacks, I decided to change up the flavors from the last recipe and try coffee and chocolate chips. I eliminated the coconut milk, which I now know made the ice cream really creamy. The new flavor is still very good, but I do miss the super creamy texture. All my recipes are works in progress and this is no different. I'll continue experimenting with the ingredients and their proportions. For now, here's the recipe as is, which I think you will still enjoy.

Coffee Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
4 cups WestSoy Vanilla Soy Shake
1/2 cup coffee
pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Whisk ingredients (minus the chips) together in medium bowl. Put in ice cream maker for about 45 minutes or until you have a somewhat creamy consistency. Scoop out and put in freezer safe container. Stir in chocolate chips. Store in freezer. Enjoy!


*Updated* For more ice cream tips, click here. He literally wrote the book.

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Another Scone Bites The Dust

Did you know that the first draft of this song by Queen was really about scones?

When Jon Deacon was penning the lyrics, he was really hungry - thinking about the perfect chocolate scone with white chocolate chips.

Deacon imagined himself eating them one by one. You got it. Another scone bites the dust. But then he decided that not everyone likes scones, so he should make the lyrics appeal to a wider audience. He changed "scone" to "one" and the rest is musical history.

Now if you believe that, I'll bake you a dozen scones for a million dollars. Either way, these scones were really good.

Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2008. All rights reserved.

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Joyeux Quatorze Juillet!

Bonjour mes amis! Okay, if I try to write much more French here, Bastille Day will be over. And those of you who are fluent in French will wonder why I'm destroying the language.



I thought that I'd share some very old pictures from when I visited Paris. I had the best time. What a beautiful city. Strangely, I never felt more American than when I left the United States.



I studied French in high school and for a couple of years in college. I realized that I actually did remember more French than I would have thought. But I also carried three English to French dictionaries with me at all times! I always spoke French first, no matter how horrible I sounded.

Many people took pity on me and spoke back to me in English. But some spoke to me in French and I relished the chance to practice and get outside of my comfort zone for a bit.

The first sentence, if you can call it a real sentence, that I remember speaking in French was this. "Une serviette, s’il vous plaît?" I was getting something to eat. Of course I was! And was so excited when I actually received what I asked for - a napkin. I guess it didn't take much to make me happy.

At one point, I was talking to someone and trying to say "over there." It took me about a half an hour to figure out that it was "la-bas." For as long as I live, I will never forget that!

And this picture below, was from my second day there. I went on a group tour, but took off on my own for the rest of the trip.



C'est moi!


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You Scream, I Scream - The Roundup!

It's up! Check out the delicious roundup of ice creams, sorbets, granitas, and all types of frozen desserts.

If you've been thinking about buying a cookbook for frozen desserts, here's a virtual one for you and it's free!

Grab a seat at Mike's Table. Quick, before they're all gone!

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What would you you do-o-o ...

Nope. Not for a Klondike Bar. What would you do for some homemade ice cream?

Would you consider jumping out of a plane?
Would you actually jump out of a plane? For some delicious Vanilla Coconut Ice Cream?



No? They didn't either. My cousin C sent me some pictures of him skydiving on the 4th of July and I had to find a way to use them. Pretty cool huh?

Well, I wouldn't jump out of a plane for this ice cream, or for any other reason actually. But I have to say that this is some really good ice cream. I finally figured out a way to make a vegan and dairy free ice cream with a super creamy texture.

What's the secret? Coconut milk and WestSoy Vanilla Soy Shake. I used rice milk before and it was good, but not creamy enough. I'll be trying some more flavors now that I've got it figured out.

*Updated* Mike just informed me that I can be a little late in submitting my recipe to his latest blog event - You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream for Frozen Desserts! I'm looking forward to the roundup for this delicious event.

Vanilla Coconut Ice Cream

2 cups WestSoy Vanilla Soy Shake
1 cup coconut milk
pinch of salt
1 T vanilla extract
3/4 cups sugar

Whisk ingredients together in medium bowl. Put in ice cream maker for about 45 minutes or until you have a creamy consistency. Scoop out and put in freezer safe container. Store in freezer. Enjoy!

Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2008. All rights reserved.

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The Foodie Blogroll - Updated

Finally! I've updated The Foodie Blogroll. I first joined the blogroll last June, but many more blogs have been adeed since then and Jenn has done so much work updating the website. Thank you for all your hard work Jenn!

I realized that I had the wrong code, so I've fixed it. Now on my right sidebar, you can see the blogroll in its full and delicious glory. If you're interested in finding out more about The Foodie Blogroll, click here.


Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2008. All rights reserved.


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El Greco To Velazquez

This past Wednesday, my mother and I went to a wonderful exhibit at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts - El Greco to Velazquez. See this exhibit if you can. It doesn't end until Sunday, July 27th, so you still have time to get there.

If you're a member, you get at least two tickets for free. I have the individual membership and my mother and I attend several exhibits a year for free. The membership really ends up paying for itself. Plus there is a discount at the MFA stores and restaurants.

The art that you will see is from the Reign of Philip III. Seeing this exhibit is like reading a good book. I'd like to guide you through the exhibit and describe it in detail, but part of the joy of it is experiencing the surprises yourself.

The curator for this exhibit did an outstandingly superb job. He or she seemed to take extraordinary care in selecting each piece, the lighting and making everything flow in a way to have the maximum visual and emotional impact. This is one of the best exhibits I've ever visited.

There is a holiness to the exhibit. I felt like I was in church at certain points and found myself saying little prayers and feeling spiritually overwhelmed. Part of it is that there is a great deal of religious art. If you remember this post, you'll know why I feel a special connection with Saint Theresa. Sometimes it really is about the little things in life that make a big impact.

Also, I'm not even Christian, so my feelings really surprised me. But being in the presence of what brings you close to the divine surpasses our human labels about belief. Holiness just is. I wish I could express this in a better way, but I guess my spiritual vocabulary is lacking.

After the exhibit, we went to the museum shop and found some really nice things. I found some pretty napkins and a trivet that you'll be seeing in some food pictures and this cookbook called Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain, by Penelope Casas. I cannot wait to try some recipes! Also, there was some really nice stationary and paper.

Part of the reason I may have been feeling overwhelmed too is that my mom is having more surgery tomorrow. If any of you could say some prayers, they would be very much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

*Updated* Thank you for your prayers! The surgery went well.

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A Pizza Promised

Your pizza is here! Well, not actually at your door like delivery, but shaming myself in front of you did get me going with this pizza recipe post. I don't know why it took so long.

First let me me tell you that this recipe made more than one pizza. I made a different pizza each night for three or four nights and G and I shared each of them. They were all different depending upon the ingredients that I happened to have at the time.

But there was one thing in common with all the pizzas. An expected ingredient is missing. Can you figure it out from the picture? It's actually pretty easy to guess. I'll give you a little time to figure it out.

Don't worry. I'll occupy myself with other things while I'm waiting. ... La la la la ...

Oh have a great July 4th, if I forget to tell you at the end. I think that G and I will be going to a barbecue over my aunt's house. I'll probably be making a dessert. What are your plans?

I didn't try grilling this pizza, but it would be something kind of different to try this weekend. I recently saw this post, which reminded me of grilled pizza again.

Okay, time's up. Did you guess what's missing? CHEESE! Yup! I had forgotten to buy soy cheese at the store, so we just tried the pizza without. For toppings, I put olive oil on the dough, then added some pasta sauce. Yes from a jar!

Depending upon the night, we added chopped onions, black olives, cut up turkey meatballs, peppers, and some seasonings - usually a little lemon pepper and basil. But season your pizza to your taste and add whatever you like. We really enjoyed these pizzas and I'll have to make some again soon. I cooked the pizza on a heated pizza stone in the oven at about 400 degrees for around a half an hour. Below is the recipe for the pizza dough.

Pizza Dough
(adapted from the book Italy in Small Bites by Carol Field)

1 package yeast
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. sea salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 T lemon olive oil

In a small bowl, whisk the yeast into the warm water. Let sit for about 10 minutes or until foamy at the top. Stir in the olive oil. In a large bowl, combine flour, sea salt and yeast mixture. Stir with large wood spoon until a dough. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until easy to work with - about 10 minutes.

Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover the top with plastic wrap or a tea towel. Let rise for about an hour and a half.

After rising, punch the dough down and separate into 3 or 4 balls. Leave one ball of dough out for immediate use. Wrap the others separately in plastic wrap. You can leave these in the fridge for several days. When you take the dough out of the fridge, you can just roll it out and top as you like then bake.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. If you are going to use a pizza stone, put it in now.

For the dough that you use right away, place in the bowl again for a second rise - about 30 minutes. Roll out dough and put on pizza stone. Be careful, stone will be very hot! Add olive oil, pasta sauce, and other toppings and seasonings of your choice. Bake for about 30 minutes. Let cool before you cut into slices. Enjoy!


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Pizza Recipe Coming Up ...

I really mean it this time. Remember this post from over a month ago?

Maybe if I shame myself in front of all of you, I'll finally post this recipe. It will be up by the end of the week. I promise.

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