i scream, you scream, we all scream for sustainably-farmed, raw-milk ice cream!

my favorite part of the week is without a doubt thursday late afternoons. why? because the next day is friday, which to me just feels like the weekend, even though i'm at work. dunno why this is, but i don't question it, b/c it means i get to have a mental 3-day weekend every weekend.

at any rate, what this perpetual mental 3-day weekend means for me is that i start thinking about what to do on wednesday nights. (see the advantages of having a mental 3-day weekend? and my friends just think i'm a planner. haha if they only knew.)

the thing i'm looking most forward to this weekend is making raw-milk ice cream. (if you think i'm nuts for drinking raw milk...well, hmph, i think *you're* nuts for drinking milk that has to be flash boiled for a reason.) i've decided to make mint chocolate chip (with NO food coloring). we've never made ice cream before b/c the freezer was too full for the ice cream maker's bowl. but now that i've emptied it of all the "food-like substances" (see Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto), there's plenty of room! if the ice cream works out well, i'm going to bring some in to work on monday so we can have ice cream cones in the afternoon.

[i "gave" my husband the kitchenaid mixer ice cream attachment for christmas / hanukkah 3 years ago. i use "gave" very loosely, as the point was never that i expected HIM to use it...i mean, really, the actual gadget was for *me*. (never accuse only men for ulterior-gadgetry motives.) this gift suited him just fine since he loves ice cream. but i digress.]

the other thing i'm looking forward to is going to a new restaurant that opened this week in SF called Orson; the executive chef is elizabeth falkner (citizen cake). the restaurant describes itself as: "innovative small plates...flirts with modern cooking techniques and ingredients round out a menu designed to encourage diners to explore." i love small-plates-style dinners; in fact, i almost always enjoy appetizers more than entrees at most restaurants. i think this is the first weekend for them, but hopefully we won't notice. (i figure the chances are good that someone who already owns a successful restaurant knows how to avoid this...at least, i hope...) they also say that "we buy great product from great people and keep it local, organic and sustainable when possible."

it's great living in the sf bay area; i get the best of both worlds: not only can i buy sustainably raised/farmed ingredients, but i also have more than just a few restaurants to choose from that do the same. my friend yutai claims that if you just subscribe to the "pursuit of deliciousness," the road inevitably leads people this way. i started down this sustainable / wholesome foods tack mostly b/c of the ethics and health considerations, but i think that thinking of it as a pursuit of deliciousness might be the best, long-term way to look at things. after all, guilt doesn't work 100% of the time, as most catholics (esp. priests who like little boys a little too much) will tell you.

i'll post the ice cream recipe this weekend if it turns out well. (although, frankly, if it doesn't, it's probably not because of the recipe ;).