I’m a bit late on adding this post. (About a month late to be exact.) But the good news is that I can add tempering chocolate and making absolutely delicious homemade ice cream bars (akin to Klondike bars) to my list of culinary skills.
For this goal I had two partners in crime: Emily and James. Emily is one of the women in my book club, and James is in the Gentleman’s Auxiliary (what we call the husbands and boyfriends of our book club members).

As with pasta making, it was incredibly helpful to have multiple sets of hands for this first round of ice cream bars. I had pre-made the ice cream and frozen it into loaf pans, then cut into bars and put them back in the freezer. Here’s how they looked:

When Emily and James came over, we tempered the chocolate in a makeshift double boiler. Then it was time to dip. Needless to say it was a messy process, and our bars weren’t perfectly shaped or smooth, but they had character!

Yes, they are a bit time intensive (it takes a while for everything to freeze properly), but overall chocolate covered ice cream bars are a cinch to make. I’m going to be experimenting with lots of variations because I’m determined to make 2013 the summer of gourmet homemade klondike bars. Who’s with me?!
If you want to make your own, I recommend these recipes from Chow.

Until starting this project I hadn’t cross stitched since I was about 8 years old. Back then the only project I remember completing was an alphabet sampler bookmark with a teddy bear on it. (Pre-packaged cross stitch patterns clearly leave little to be desired.)

For this project I decided to mimic a poster my sister and I had loved from an Apartment Therapy house tour. The line comes from this Talking Heads song. We aren’t necessarily Talking Heads fans, but there was just something about the poster that we both loved. This version is one of my sister’s Christmas presents this year, and I’ll be making a duplicate one (just with a different color for the EVER) for myself.

I sent out almost 60 holiday cards this year. If I were counting those toward my goal, I’d be set for the next year and then some. But since I’m not, it’s time to update No. 29 to make it a bit more realistic.

So I’m revising it to simply be: Send more handwritten letters and thank you cards. When I spend all of my time staring at a computer screen, it’s necessary to remember that letters written by hand are better, albeit slower, than e-mails. So look for more letters in 2013. And remember, you can request one on my connect page.

Earlier this month, I attended the beginning meditation instruction at the Zen Center of New York City Fire Lotus Temple Branch of the Mountains and River Order. (Phew, that’s a name.) Since moving to my current neighborhood in early 2010, I’ve been walking by the Fire Lotus Temple and have been consistently intrigued, but it wasn’t until I put attending on my list that I was gutsy enough to go in. (Being intimidated by such an inclusive place is silly, I know. But that’s what happens when you’re so in your head about things.)

So here’s what they don’t tell you on the website when you decide to attend a beginner’s service—which they have every Sunday—you’ll be attending the liturgy first. What surprised me about the liturgical service was how much it felt like a Western religious service. (Or maybe it’s how much Western religious services mimic Eastern services.) There was some chanting, some kneeling, and then we went upstairs to learn about Zazen.

The monk who lead the beginner’s service that day was lovely. I could have listened to her talk for longer than the half an hour that she did, but in the end, I don’t think I got that much out of it. Maybe I need to give it a second chance, or just try to incorporate some of the things she spoke about into my daily life, but I don’t think Zazen is what I’ve been looking for.
It was fascinating though, and I loved seeing all of the different people who have made it a part of their daily lives.

[photo of the Zen Center of New York City Fire Lotus Temple Mountains and River Order]

Sometimes it’s nice to be quiet just to remember to listen things other than the sound of your own voice.