Too many thoughts in my head...

and no real place to let them run around and sort themselves out. I told Jim yesterday that I'm just agitated. For no real reason and at no one in particular, I'm just in an agitated state right now. Too many things to think about all of which require too much brain power. Blah!

I'd chat about my weekend, but really, it's just more of the headache-y craziness from above. Oh, but I did spend some time in the kitchen, which was fun. Let's talk about that shall we?

I read a post from Ruhlman's blog last week about homemade mayo. I've never really considered the substance to be all that inspiring, but well, take a look at the pictures from his post and you'll see where I became a bit enamored with the idea of making mayo from scratch. So, I tackled the project first thing when I got home Friday night. Like his recipe said, I started with an egg yolk, some salt, a little lemon juice and water. Simple, right? Well, yes, but after whisking those together, it was still pretty liquid-y, a bit creamy, but definitely not able to hold its shape. Poo.

I started again. Same ingredients, same liquid-y, vaguely creamy substance. At this point, I just kept going. If it broke, it broke. I'd just try it again. I dribbled in my vegetable oil - drip, drip, drip. And whisked the hell out of it. And it still didn't hold its shape. Ah, for the love of.... But, I kept at it. Drip. Drip. Drip. Whisk. Whisk. Whisk. My arm was starting to burn, but I just kept going. And all of the sudden, it started to get thick. And wouldn't you know, by the time I had about a 1/4 cup of oil whisked in, it looked like mayonnaise! I started squealing like a little girl and Jim just looked at me like I was crazy. But, really, it was SO COOL! Okay, maybe I'm a big dork for being this excited about mayo, but oh well. It tasted great and I had a real sense of accomplishment by the time it was done. Yay!

To eat that delicious mayo, I made sliders for dinner using the "Nancy Silverton" buger blend I picked up at the Farmer's Market. The meat was delicious and made even better with some sharp cheddar, grilled maui onion and that lovely mayonnaise. So yummy.
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To keep the kitchen activities flowing, I also tackled a banana ice cream recipe that I've been meaning to try for at least the last couple of years. Why in the world it took me this long to christen the ice cream maker we got for the wedding (almost 3 years ago!) is beyond me. Anyways, Alton Brown's banana ice cream recipe has always looked delicious to me and I finally made it this weekend. The recipe itself is pretty good, although it is a very strong banana flavor and leaves a bit of an odd after-taste. I think next time I'm going to try adding mini chocolate chips and some chopped walnut, kind of an homage to Ben&Jerry's Chunky Monkey if you will. If you love banana, you'll love this recipe!

I also learned that I am in desperate need of a real, honest to god food processor. My little mini one is just not cutting it, like at all. It's on the top of my list for my next kitchen purchase.

And lastly, speaking of kitchen purchases, a couple of weeks ago, I bought a new cutting board. Not just any cutting board, mind you, a big, beautiful Boos board that takes up almost the entire width of my counter. It's absolutely gorgeous and beyond functional. I'm not sure how I made due without one quite frankly - it holds a ton of stuff, so you don't find yourself with items constantly rolling off the board. Yes it requires regular care, but so do good knives and pots and pans. If you're in the hunt for a new cutting board, I can't recommend the Boos boards highly enough.