Larb Gai - from Kate P.

When Amie, Kate, and I said our goodbyes following our Middlebury graduation, I had no idea what my next would be.  Amie was headed to NYC for a high powered banking job, Kate was moving to Italy for love, and I was...clueless.  So, I decided to travel.  I convinced my sister Elizabeth to spend 6 months exploring Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific.  We began our journey in Thailand, where we spent a month exploring the gilded temples of Bangkok, lush jungles around Chiang Mai, and the colorful corals of Koh Tao.  Of all of the countries that we visited, Thailand remains my favorite.  The people were incredibly warm and friendly, the flavors of their cuisine were complex, and the landscape and architecture was breathtaking.  While in Chiang Mai, we took a cooking course where we learned to cook some of the delectable dishes of Thailand.  One of those dishes was larb gai, a spicy chicken (or pork) salad.  Made with lime, cilantro, scallions, spicy peppers, mint, shallots, toasted rice, and fish sauce, it is salty, sweet, fresh, spicy...wonderful...and easy to make.  Enjoy!

Thai Beef Salad - From Amie L.

As I mentioned in the previous post- I'm terrible behind on my post.  But not as late as Kate P.!  I guess we're all a bit slow this summer... So I chose lime as an ingredient- at the request of my husband- and then he was totally lacking in inspired ideas for me.  Perhaps that's why I was so behind.  Anyway- it has been nice and hot here in LA- so I went for a nice cool summer Thai salad, and I'm happy to report that Ben and my in-laws all found the meal very tasty, and felt that the lime was a very present ingredient in the dish.  Hope you enjoy!

xoxo Amie L. 

Dark and Stormy - Courtesy of Husband Ben

While I realize that the LIME week was my choosing and I'm decades late with a post... I will make up for it with two posts.  The first being from husband Ben, as he is the one that said I should do the wretched lime ingredient in the first place and then later- when I inquired about inspiration for dishes- he said- "I didn't choose the ingredient!?"  He did.  

Anyway- here is his guest posting for the famous Dark and Stormy cocktail that he thrusts into all hands that come through the door (of age of course).  

Ingredients (as quoted by Ben):

Tumbler

Ice

Ginger Beer (Reed's)

Fine dark rum (Captain Morgan Private Stock was used here... Ben also says Goslings works)

Lime

Mint leaf

• Fill your tumbler glass to the brim with ice.  Add one part rum and two parts ginger beer.  Squeeze in one large lime wedge.  Stir.  Add mint leaf for garnish.

Bottoms up!

Key Lime Pie from Kate M.

As Amie mentioned for her lemon post, she loves my Mom's key lime pie, and so when she chose limes, I knew I would make the key lime pie (especially as I am in Colorado, and can actually get things like key lime juice and sweetened condensed milk).  Very funnily, we couldn't find the recipe, so I had to call Amie to get my Mom's recipe through her!  This key lime pie is one of the easiest desserts out there, and yet it wows every time.  That said, this time around I think I had some kind of kitchen curse, as I made several mistakes which complicated and lengthened the process.  I got so excited about the delicious smell of American butter and Graham Crackers, that I totally forgot to measure the graham cracker crumbs and ended up overcooking my first crust.  Fortunately, my 20-month-old Viola was only too happy to get rid of the evidence.  In the end, it still turned out wonderfully as always, thank goodness! 

Week 20 Ingredient - Limes From Amie L.

Hey ladies- sorry for the delayed posting... lazy days of summer make me lazy.  That or the process of teaching my baby to sleep.  Either way I've been lazy.  This week's ingredient? Limes.  They are great in Mexican food, Thai food, cocktails and summery desserts.  My daughter actually loves to suck on them.  They are tart and tasty, and to be honest- my husband chose it as the ingredient for the week. 

xoxo Amie L.

Key Lime Pie from Kate M.

Dark and Stormy from Husband Ben

Thai Beef Salad from Amie L.

Larb Gai from Kate P.

Zucchini Flowers with corn, ricotta, and prosciutto

 Corn would seem like the epitome of summer, though sadly that is not the case in Italy.  Try as I might, I could not get an fresh corn for this week's dish.  I asked my trusted veggie men, and they told me they might be able to get me an ear or two (panocchie), but they seemed fairly dubious as to the taste and quality.  Anyhow, I sadly had to resort to using canned (gasp!) corn for this week's recipe, something we do have in fairly abundant supply, as it is one of the three foods my one and a half year old will eat (the other two being gelato and cookies).  Aside from getting the corn itself, I was really at a loss as to what to make.  I even considered doing something with polenta, but that seemed a bit like cheating,  and is not much of a summer dish.  Last week we had some wonderful stuffed zucchini flowers (which are easy to find here!) as an antipasto at a little restaurant by the beach, so I decided I'd go with some kind of version of that.  I love zucchini flowers, but this is the first time I'd made them on their own (they usually go into a pasta sauce), and I have to say I am pleased with the results.  I will however admit that I don't think the corn was particularly instrumental in making or breaking this dish..... I am actually writing from Colorado, where we arrived a couple days ago (hence the delay in posting, as I made this dish the night before we left), and we get lots of fresh corn here, so maybe I'll make something else in the next couple weeks.  Enjoy!

Mimi's Roasted Corn Salad - From Kate P.

This very simple dish comes from Mimi, my family's next door neighbor in Atlanta.  It is a great summer side to accompany any grilled meats and seafood.  We recently spent a weekend in Atlanta and it was H-O-T, so we were not anxious to spend hours slaving over a hot stove.  We threw together a simple dinner of grilled steak, a nice green salad, and Mimi's corn salad.  Paired with a glass of chilled white wine, it was the perfect summer supper. Unfortunately it was too hot to enjoy our meal on the patio!

Summer Corn Chowder - From Amie L.

It's definitely corn season and we've been tossing it on the grill pretty regularly out here in LA.  Ben (the sexy hubby) has mastered a new grilling method where he soaks the husks for about 20 minutes and then grills them in the husk.  Tasty.  I also like to sprinkle some lime juice and chili powder on them to give them a bit of a kick.  Another favorite corn dish of mine, is the black bean, corn salad thing-a-ma-jig?  With grape tomatoes, red onions, jalapeno, cilantro, black beans, lime juice, corn, some cumin, salt and pepper?  Great with those scooper corn chips.  

I digress.  For my dish this week, I failed at super creativity, and rather, just chose to get my dish done.  We're sleep training my baby daughter (I'm a fairly unhappy participant in this process) after 7 months of not great sleeping... It's been traumatic for all involved- maybe me the most since I'm a complete wimp and really just want to answer every cry out of her dear little mouth.  Um... I'm wandering again.  Anyway- I saw a recipe for corn chowder in the latest Cooking Light, and I love corn chowder- so I decided to start from there.  

Week 19 Ingredient - Corn from Kate P.

Last weekend, we had a wedding in Lebanon, Ohio.  It was HOT but I just started my marathon training, so we needed to get a long run in.  Thankfully, we were able to find a shaded bike path that runs for 50 miles (we only needed 12 or so).  It wound through corn fields, which looked a bit like this:

The run served as inspiration for this week's ingredient.  Corn!

Growing up, my favorite way to eat corn was raw, straight off of the cob, but I've since found a few more creative ways to prepare this summer treat.  Ladies, I will be looking forward to gathering some new ideas from each of you!  Happy shucking!

Summer Corn Chowder - Amie L.

Roasted Corn Salad - Kate P.

Zucchini Flowers with Corn, Ricotta, and Prosciutto - Kate M.

Spicy Shrimp Salad with Cucumbers, Mango and Avocado

Most of my favorite preparations for cucumbers are very simple - usually tossed with some oil, vinegar, fresh herbs, and maybe summer tomatoes.  Cucumber is not exactly the star of the dish that I made this week, instead, all of the ingredients in this refreshing summer salad play an equal role.  The cucumber adds a nice cool crunch, making it perfect for a hot July night in NYC.