tiramisu ice cream

• 2 cups mascarpone
• 1 cup half and half
• 1/4 cup kahlua
• 3 tbsp. brandy
• 2/3 cup sugar
• pinch of salt

mix. 

chill. 

freeze. 

um, hello. 

could this be easier?

but of course you need to add the mocha ripple too.

• 6 tbsp. cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup espresso
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

mix every thing but the vanilla.

heat it,

let it boil for 1 minute 

and remove.

add vanilla. 

chill. 

it should be cold cold 

so when you add it to the ice cream

it won't melt it

(found that out the hard way)

and it will mix well.

freeze the ice cream part,

add the mocha ripple part, 

freeze in freezer. 

awesome.

i love when ice cream is crazy easy to make.

and when it's boozy.

love.

made this for vd,

it was his birthday and he loves tiramisu.

(who doesn't?)

i also recently made chocolate ice cream again,

this time without eggs.

(and also for vd --

he watched my children while i was in the CZ.

thanks!!)

and it was also crazy easy.

love times two.

spring breeeeaaaak bitches!

so i just got back from the czech republic --

i went there with jb and his family. 

and had a great time. 

there will be more updates as the pictures are developed, 

but i wanted to share the first part now:

the 17 million hour flight from new york to prague.

we checked in nice and early, 

got some hot wings at the airport, 

and went to the gate.

where we were bumped up to business elite. 

hollar.

that's right, 

champagne.

 the chairs are so far away from each other 

that we couldn't reach the ones in front of us.

 

 why?

cause we can recline and sleep the whole time if we want.

 

rockstar.

plus, 

we got a fancy menu.

we got to choose what we wanted for our main course -- 

there were four courses. 

crazy pants.

and we got a goody bag:

toothbrush, toothpaste, floss

socks and eye visor

chapstick and lotion

mints

ear plugs

and you know that i stole that adorable champagne glass.

i mean, 

it's a flute,

but with a tiny stem.

crazy awesome.

just another weekend...

i hate blogs that go through what you did in a weekend

cause, really, no one cares -- 

they really just want to see the pictures, 

and even that is stretching it sometimes.

but

i had a great weekend. 

dm came to town, 

which is always a good time.

but since i hate the 

"and then we did this..." nonsense

i will just add the pictures below

with some minor explanations.

pouring rain 

+

broken windshield wipers 

= 

manually wiping the windshield at every red light.

hilarious.

momofuku ssäm bar.

sharing food with
(read: taking food from)
a group of guys who ordered the bo ssäm prix fixe
(5 courses which include a pork butt)


amazing.


seriously,
that pork was so flipping good.

broccoli rabe

so i recently discovered broccoli rabe.

um, awesome much?

 pretty sure i'm going to eat this for every meal 

(at least until it goes out of season)

 and obviously this is the best outfit to cook broccoli rabe in.

rockstar.

(the broccoli rabe and the outfit)

is this it?

is this the beginning of the end?

the end of winter? 

the beginning of spring?

perhaps even a peek of summer?

i went to the union square farmers market this past weekend

(the first time in weeks)

and they had all of my old favorites --

beef

tomatoes

arugala

goat cheese

and a couple of new favorites --

sunchokes

broccoli rabe

(um, delicious)

and it was even a little warm out.

(a little -- 65 is no 85-90)

and dinner last night felt a little like summer time.

now if only the berries and corn would hurry up. 

cause then it would really be like summer time. 

and i would be really happy.

does tenure rhyme with manure?

it should.

cause it is.

well not tenure.

tenure is awesome.

but the tenure process is definitely a big steaming pile of...

let me explain. 

i have to make a tenure portfolio.

which is essentially a list of everything i have done for the past 3 years.

um...
insane, much?

i mean,

i'm organized.

or at least i thought i was.

but this is ridiculous.

i am going through file cabinets, emails, other people's documents,

all in attempts to prove that i am awesome at what i do.

the amount of work i am putting into this document is astounding.

(i have a job, and yet i am working on my resume. wtf?)

and the kicker is,

i'm awesome.

the kids know it,

i know it,

my administrators should know it,

and now i have to make sure the state of new york knows it?

bananas.

i mean,

i'm crazy.

but what teacher isn't?

(you'd have to be, right?)

and i have bad days.

(but who doesn't?)

but for the most part,

i think, anyways,

i rock.

so the fact that my life is being turned upside down by this,

blows.

and sometimes i'm not even sure i can handle doing this job another year

so there have been more than a few times

(today)

that i have wondered if it was all worth it.

and then i remember the kids.

damn them.

they are so flipping cute.

and want to learn so much,

that i know it is worth it.

but sometimes that doesn't make this whole process any easier.

and i wish it did.

what does though,

is knowing that the administrator that gives me hell on a daily basis

also has to do this.

the tenure portfolio, i mean.

awesome.

times a million.

in 10 words...

the senior trip.

(i'm going to try and oreo this -

cause it really was a good time,

despite all of the negative press.)

amazing.

pool party.

drama.

exhausting.

chaos.

good friends.

dance party.

(that's right, 

i got my merengue and bachata on.

adorable.)

(ps. there is a student in the middle of that picture eating an ice cream sundae.
cause that was an option.
rockstar.)

it really was fun.

but totally exhausting.

because we had to do this.

but really,

the kids were great. 

(i mean, how freaking cute.)

my fellow chaperones were great.

dancing fiends. 

love.

and i got to finish my weekend with almost 12 hours of sleeping.

love.

and i won this at bingo:

rockstar.

plus, 

watching groups combine 

and everyone ending up friends at the end of the weekend. 

priceless.

totally worth the extreme exhaustion.