It's a warm Sunday afternoon here, the first really warm day of the spring, about 80 F. Winter was just here days ago, but already it seems like the distant past. Now we get to look forward to spring rains, pleasant mornings, and longer days.
This coming weekend I will be taking time off from cooking for everyone. I will spend the weekend recreating with chess and baseball and movies ... and also testing a few new recipes. Whenever I take time off, part of that time off is spent with new recipes.
The following weekend I will be offering almond-hazelnut cookies and light lemon sablés. Both of these cookies are small, almost bite-sized but not quite. They have wonderful light flavors and are perfect with a cold glass of milk, a cup of tea or whatever else you can find to put in a mug.
Today I made some mint chocolate chip ice cream mix. It's chilling in the fridge and will be frozen tomorrow. And I've been thinking about making some brownies to go with it. Brownies and mint chocolate chip ice cream are a perfect combination, in my opinion. But something else, not the ice cream, made me think of brownies. I was rummaging through my chocolate basket looking for some yummy chocolate to snack on. Yes, I have a chocolate basket. It's filled with many different kinds of chocolate that I use in my baking. As I browsed the contents, the aroma was forceful. And that made me think of brownies in the oven. There is a moment when brownies are cooking when suddenly one can breathe in the aroma of intense chocolate. It's a great moment. I love that moment. When brownies are in the oven, I wait for that moment. First there's nothing and you couldn't tell anything was baking in the house. Then all of a sudden, the chocolate seems to fill the air as the brownies reach that point in their baking when they come alive. It is an amazing moment. And that moment made me feel like I must make some brownies sometimes this week to go with that ice cream.
A day spent in the kitchen working with food is filled with many such moments. Every sense is activated when one spends a day making their favorite foods: seeing the colors, breathing in the aromas, hearing the sizzle in a skillet, feeling the texture of a smooth frosting when swiping the beater with a finger, and of course tasting everything as much as possible.
On this warm pleasant day in early spring, not many things sound better than a day making wonderful foods and experiencing all those wonderful moments.
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