For our wedding present my parents got us (or should I say, got Tommie) a Ninja Kitchen System. Let me start off by saying that sometimes Tommie finds himself captivated by infomercials...particularly food-related clips. Once he heard that this gadget can serve as a blender, a food processor and more (neither of which we have), he had me add it to the registry. And when it arrived, what was the first thing he wanted to make with it? Pie.
See, it comes with this handy little recipe book complete with some mouth-watering images, including one of key lime pie, which happens to be one of his favs. I'll admit I was skeptical about the whole pie in a blender thing. Plus, I've never made pie of any sort before (...in that case, maybe making it in a blender was a good way to start). The ingredients were simple: sweetened condensed milk, eggs, and lime juice. We poured them in, hit a couple different blending settings (this thing sounds like a lawnmower when turned on), poured the mixture in a graham cracker crust, baked, chilled, and voila!
Tommie claims it falls into his "top three best key lime pies"--yes, he rates food in his head all the time. It was easy and quick to make; a good balance or tart/sweet and had a very smooth and airy consistency. I think we should be on the next infomercial.
(The beautiful Duke Gardens--gator free...we think)
Tommie is taking a class in Durham, North Carolina this week and I followed him there over the weekend because it was a good excuse to take a break from work, weddings, and worrying. We both like North Carolina and I'm not completely sure why...maybe because it's warmer, it's cheaper, and we're usually there on vacation which puts us in a good mood. Tommie's theory is simpler: he claims he falls in love with any city that makes really good gelato.
Sugarland in Chapel Hill makes gelato that's on par with San Diego's (our favorite) and it is right next to UNC's campus in Chapel Hill which has brick walkways, weeping trees, and reminds us of a bigger Wheaton (our alma mater in Massachusetts)...only they can grow apricot trees on their campus (so jealous)!
We also took a day trip to Asheville (about 3.5 hours from Durham) because we were curious to see this hip, artsy community in the mountains. They have a bustling downtown with lots of interesting restaurants and shops and based on all the adorable mutts walking around and eating with their owners, it's a very dog friendly place. We were also going to check out the Biltmore Estate (former home of the Vanderbilts) in Asheville until we noticed that a day pass cost $70 (too rich for our blood!), so we took the free "self-guided tour" of the restroom in the visitor center and took a picture of a picture of the estate. Good enough for us! 
For our wedding present my parents got us (or should I say, got Tommie) a Ninja Kitchen System. Let me start off by saying that sometimes Tommie finds himself captivated by infomercials...particularly food-related clips. Once he heard that this gadget can serve as a blender, a food processor and more (neither of which we have), he had me add it to the registry. And when it arrived, what was the first thing he wanted to make with it? Pie.
See, it comes with this handy little recipe book complete with some mouth-watering images, including one of key lime pie, which happens to be one of his favs. I'll admit I was skeptical about the whole pie in a blender thing. Plus, I've never made pie of any sort before (...in that case, maybe making it in a blender was a good way to start). The ingredients were simple: sweetened condensed milk, eggs, and lime juice. We poured them in, hit a couple different blending settings (this thing sounds like a lawnmower when turned on), poured the mixture in a graham cracker crust, baked, chilled, and voila!
Tommie claims it falls into his "top three best key lime pies"--yes, he rates food in his head all the time. It was easy and quick to make; a good balance or tart/sweet and had a very smooth and airy consistency. I think we should be on the next infomercial.
