ice cream a go go

When it comes to sweets, I have a well-developed hierarchy: ice cream reigns, sprinkles are the queen and frosting is the prince (very manly).

Then come your less valuable, but still tasty, friends like Candy (the princess) and strawberry shortcake, who serves as the king’s right hand man, but is only called upon at certain times.

Somewhere, far down the line, possibly at jester status, comes cookie cake. While I’ll eat, it’s primarily to get to the frosting, and it holds no trump value.

However, on Valentine’s Day, I made an iron skillet cookie cake that rocked my monarchy. It’s unbelievably thick, with crispy edges and a chewy center. I topped it with vanilla ice cream (the king of kings) and – oh wow. Let’s just say, I’m considering some promotions.

let it shine

Today is the Chinese Lantern Festival, which marks the last day of their New Year celebration. It is also a day celebrated for love.

While we don’t celebrate it in the US, I recently fell in love with these lanterns, and figured it was an appropriate time to post them. They’re vintage submarine bulkhead lamps and I think they’d be pretty fabulous in the right home.

Consider this another reason to celebrate.