coconut ice cream and artisan bread

There have been a couple of things I've been really wanting to give a whirl in the kitchen. Coconut Ice cream (like the Larry and Luna brand I LOVE) and artisan bread. But there is always other more pressing stuff, you know. Like unpacking my suitcase from Texas. Seems I just don't need any of those clothes here yet (although somehow we're mysteriously supposed to jump from overcast and cold to 85 degrees tomorrow, yeah sure) so I am lacking motivation. But, anyway, with Sela home sick today, she and Nina have been upstairs playing school for hours so I gave it a go.

The ice cream ingredients on the ice cream from Larry and Luna's are just coconut milk, unsweetened coconut, agave, and vanilla. It may have coconut extract, I can't remember and Zig ate my last remaining pint in one sitting. I wonder if I should tell him they cost almost 6 dollars;) I savor mine, he devours it, or so it seems. Anyway, the ice cream came out really really good! I have a couple of things I might tweak next time, but overall I was surprised. Two cans of coconut milk made a lot of ice cream. The kids loved it and it's very low sugar and healthy so it was a nice treat. I drizzled chocolate on theirs, and they thought it was super delish.

I have my first batch of artisan bread dough, that supposedly I don't have to knead, rising on the counter. I am so excited about the prospect of making my own artisan bread. It's so hard to find good bread, not to mention it is also expensive usually for very mediocre stuff. There is only one brand I like and that is Macrina(from the bakery in Seattle), but sometimes it's hard to find. So, I have placed much hope in my new book called "Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day." I heard about this recipe on NPR and many people have raved about the simplicity of making amazing bread this way. So, I'm very hopeful. I'll report later.