Getting Greens Into Her Diet.

Greens?

That looks like ice cream to me.

But it’s GREEN ice cream.

Basil ice cream!

That counts as a vegetable serving, right?

Yes it does, shut up. And make it. And then feed it to your toddler who won’t eat her vegetables.

(Even if you don’t count basil ice cream as a vegetable serving, you should still make it, because David Lebovitz made it and he is an ice cream genius and this ice cream is delicious. Come on, if a toddler will eat it, you know it has to be good. OK, so maybe this toddler eats ants off the floor, perhaps disqualifying her from becoming the next Gael Greene protégée, but who knows, some people think ants are delicacies, and maybe David Lebovitz should figure out a way to make ice cream out of them so I can feed it to my toddler and she can get a little more protein along with her greens.)

Basil Ice Cream

From The Perfect Scoop, by David Lebovitz

• 1 cup packed basil leaves
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• Pinch of salt
• 5 large egg yolks
• 1 lemon, preferably organic

Using a food processor or blender, grind the basil leaves, sugar, and one cup of the cream until the leaves are ground as finely as possible. Pour half of the mixture into a large bowl and add the remaining cup of cream. Place a fine-mesh sieve on top of the bowl.

Warm the milk, salt and the rest of the basil mixture in a medium saucepan. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warmed basil mixture into the eggs, whisking continuously. Then scrape the combined egg and basil mixture back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens into a custard and coats the back of the spatula. Pour the custard through the sieve and stir it into the cream. Zest the lemon directly into the custard, and stir the custard over an ice bath until cool.

Chill the mixture in the refrigerator (this usually takes a few hours), then freeze according to your ice maker’s instructions.

Alice Sucks at Jenga

Just a little glimpse into what Alice and I are doing these days when we're stuck inside the house waiting for springtime...

Three Reasons Why I am Grateful to Be Able to Stay Home with My Baby During the Day

Alice plays and eats crumbs off the floor while I make chicken broth. Yum.
Just kidding about the crumbs. Actually, not kidding.

Espresso with a wee bit of half & half. Shot pulled by loving husband.
Just kidding about the 'wee' bit of half & half.


Making out all day long with this cute thing. Just kidding.
Actually, not kidding.

Tough Love

Tough Love is giving your baby a carrot while you get to eat coffeecake.

Thanks for at least TRYING to delay the development of my sweet tooth, Mom!

When you bundle up your baby up for a blustery Chicago morning, even though she fights every layer, that's Tough Love, too.

When are we moving to Mexico?

Also falling into the category of Tough Love is when you demand that your baby stretch out before her first 10K so she doesn't get leg cramps.

Tough Love also includes not letting your baby play with the toilet plunger, even if she REALLY REALLY REALLY wants to.



No, I do not have any pictures of my baby chewing on a toilet plunger because that wouldn't be Tough Love, that would actually be Exploitation Of Your Infant For Your Blog.

If A Tree Falls In The Forest...

If a baby wakes up from a nap and no one is around to hear her because her mother is in the shower, does the baby make a sound?


Well, Erielle, if you had used your baby's 20-minute nap time wisely and efficiently, you could be pondering that century-old philosophical riddle while enjoying a hot shower.

But instead (and quite predictably), you got on the internet and used up your allotted 20 minutes and now the baby HAS woken up and it is DEFINITELY making a sound and you definitely CAN hear it and you'd better go get it before it gives itself a hernia.

Just What the World Needs

Shit.

It is just too difficult to get this food blog going again with a non-napping baby underfoot!


Therefore, I am happy/ashamed/excited/embarrassed to announce that Fancy Toast will be transitioning from a Food Blog into a Baby Blog With Occasional Food Posts.

Shit is right. Right?

Your options for continued participation are outlined below:

Option 1:
If you hate babies and you hate baby blogs even more, I understand. I was once like you.
No hard feelings if you need to kiss Fancy Toast goodbye.

Option 2:
If you like babies but you don’t really care about my baby, I implore you to keep checking in for a few months; I think you will come to love my baby after awhile.
How can I be so sure about this?
Well, between you and me, it's only during the past 2 weeks or so that I've started to like her. And if I can do it, so can you!

Option 3:
If you like babies and/or you like my baby, then please enjoy what will hopefully be a fun chronicle/celebration/defilement of Alice's entire childhood (or until she learns to read, whichever comes first).

Another photo of Alice helping in the kitchen.

"OK Red Pepper, here's the plan. Next time Mom tries to set up that tripod to take pictures of her food, let's get 'er! I'll start crying while you knock over the tripod, and then she'll HAVE to put down her camera and play with us."