Okay, just take the picture and give us the cookies!!

Lemony Heaven

LEMON SEMIFREDDO RECIPE

What is a Semifreddo you ask – well - absolute heaven is my answer!

While on the hunt for a dessert that was suitable for guests, yet different from my usual offerings of chocolate and cheesecake, I came across this recipe at the Star Chefs website. I was looking for something light, and off the wall. The meal I planned was going to be a definite stick to the ribs, so I wanted something light like mousse – and to tell you the truth lemon came up because I had bought this HUGE bag of lemons just ‘cause they were so-o-o pretty and yellow. Then what the heck was I going to do them? Well, many have starred in my latest craze – sorbet - but the thought of something that might taste as bright as they looked, well… I went in search of…I found surprisingly few lemon mousse recipes on the world wide, and they all contained gelatin. Not that I mind a bit of gelatin, but I wanted light, not spongy and spongy is a pitfall (for me at least) with gelatin.

***Pathetic confession: I can not make Jello***

Even though I was really searching for was a refreshing mousse, this recipe intrigued me. I didn’t really want “ice-cream” (how boring) but I had never heard of Semifreddo before. I looked over the recipe and, stupidly, thought I could make this recipe and skip the freeze to make it mousse-like. Well, I was wrong – the thing never set, so I dumped it in the freezer and went about looking for something else. I must say I spent a good amount of time pouting about this! (Will I never learn, this guy wasn’t a Star Chef for nuthin’!)

Well, after a day of searching, I had gotten over my tantrum that this dessert insisted on being frozen. I decided that my instinct about this dessert just could not be THAT far off. Besides, time was getting away and I needed something to serve the next night!! So, I decided to give it a taste. Well imagine my surprise when I tasted the smooth creaminess that is Semifreddo. My, oh, my, I had accidentally fallen on the perfect summer confection. Light, creamy and somehow not ice-cream, yet cold and luscious just the same. I really thought I was going to get a spongy, puckery, lemony mouthful, but no it was like a sweet lemon drop cloud. So smooth; cold, but not brain-freeze cold. Lemony; but not squint your eye like Popeye lemony, just delightfully sweet.

The original recipe called for other things – tuiles, candied kumquats; all complicated additives that I gave a pass to. I topped this desert with a little raspberry sauce and served it up.

This dessert can be as simple as you like – add the extras, or not, you decide. But trust me it is worth a try!

Weekend Cat Blogging - The Amazing Miss Penny

The crowd roars as the Amazing Miss Penny prepares to perform a feat of great acrobatic ability!

A little warm up - look at that concentration...

Argh - what strength - what agility...

And there you have it folks - did you see that?!??! The fantastic, blinding speed of the patented Penny flip.

"Please, no applause - just throw catnip..."

Visit some other special kitty kats with Heather & her sweet kittens, Clare and Kiri are taking a much needed rest.

EBAY SUCKS!

Yup you read it right – eBay sucks. I got screwed.

Now, I’ve been a cynic all my life, but this time I though hey, maybe there really are honest people in the world. I mean my son has been shopping on eBay for year and has been very satisfied. I mean Christ he bought a friggin’ car on eBay – got a good deal and he loves it! So why not give it a whirl right?

I was given an exquisite – and VERY expensive – Murano Glass “Love Knot” sculpture 3 years ago by the Fabulous M as a Mothers Day gift. It was beautiful and out of character as a gift for him and I loved it like a living thing (weird right?). This piece was a limited edition signed numbered original work of art. Only 500 were made and I had number 134.

Last year, on that Dreaded Day, the thing managed to jump off its pedestal, while no one was around, and break. There was utter pandemonium in the house! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN!?!?!? We blamed the dogs – nope, they were not even in the house when the discovery was made. We blamed the house keeper – nope, she was long gone when it happened. M – Nope, he was on a different floor but heard the tell tale thump when the body hit the floor. Cat – no way the thing weighed more than her – besides that piece had been sitting on the same pedestal for nearly 2 years. I made the tragic discovery when I got home from work. A sad mystery. I cried for 2 days.

This is my original piece - look at how delicate and smooth that point is!


Yes, I really am going somewhere with this.

Click here to read more non-food related ranting....