saying hello to june and olive oil ice cream

Oh, my. It’s June already. Wasn’t it just January?

I’m sitting here in a mostly quiet house, waiting for my family to get home from swimming lessons. It’s not completely quiet, you see, because we have a new addition to the family. Our little 4-month old, a fluffy grey Maine Coon kitten named Maggie, is darting back and forth under my feet as I sit at this desk, chasing a little ball and chirping at me, trying to get my attention. And she’s definitely getting attention. While she will never replace our Fritz, I’ve already fallen in love with the crazy little thing. We’ve all fallen in love with her.

I’m looking forward to this month. I’m headed to Chicago this weekend, a trip I look forward to each year – not only because I get to sleep in a hotel room all to myself, but because I get to hug my sister for the first time in months. We’ll celebrate Father’s Day towards the middle of the month. We’re making a quick weekend trip to Disney, and we’re staying at one of the hotels that I’ve had my eye on for a while. My mother and her twin sister celebrate their birthday at the end of the month, on the same day that Sam and I will have been married for 14 years.

And one last little thing to start June off right – the new website design.  I was in the mood for some serious spring cleaning around here, and the talented Lindsay of Purr Design and the blog, Love & Olive Oil, is behind this beautiful makeover. We’ve been working together for the last couple of weeks, and I’ve been lucky enough to meet her in person twice over the past two months. Not only is she incredibly creative but she is completely adorable and sweet as sugar.

And this month of June? It’s going to be a good month.

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Speaking of olive oil, I made this olive oil ice cream over the weekend. If you’ve never had olive oil ice cream, you are missing out on quite a treat. I first had olive oil ice cream in Seattle last August when I was there for the IFBC. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did, but over the past several months, especially as the temperatures have climbed into the 80s and 90s, I have not been able to get it out of my mind. A quick internet search revealed that the easiest way to satisfy this craving was through David Lebovitz‘s recipe, found in his book, The Perfect Scoop.

The recipe requires a great olive oil – one with real fruitiness. If you use a cheap, bland olive oil, you’ll be really disappointed in the result. I had a free sample of Roland olive oil (sent to me by Roland Foods) that worked beautifully, resulting in a well-balanced, perfectly creamy and lightly sweetened ice cream.

Do yourself a favor. Make this ice cream.