Homemade Hazelnut Gelato

I normally don't post about food I make, but this was quite an experiment so I thought I should share. A while ago I read the book, "Under the Tuscan Sun," which is quite different then the movie. Anyway, it has lots of italian food recipies and I've been itching to try them out. Last week I make a folded peach tart with marscapone and it was quite delicious!

Tonight I tried Hazelnut Gelato.

First I had to toast the hazelnuts and chop them up.

Then I had to whisk 6 egg yolks, 1.5 cups of sugar and combine it with a pint of heated half&half.

This was supposed to be heated until it "almost" boils but when I was chopping the hazelnuts it boiled over, smoke going up and almost setting off our fire detector. I frantically salvaged most of it and toweled off the burner.

I poured this mixture into a bowl and put it in the fridge to cool down.

After I finished chopping the hazelnuts, I whisked the nuts, the juice from a lime and 1.5 tablespoons of vanilla into the mixture. Then as I was attempting to put this into the ice cream maker, I spilled even more of it on the counter. I was going for cleaning every surface in my kitchen.

So now, it's in the ice cream maker churning away and I'm anticipating it's demise.

Old Florida in it's Finest...

For my birthday my dad surprised me on Friday by taking me on a airboat tour of Lake Hatchineha and parts of Lake Kissimmee. We saw tons of wildlife; gators, birds, deer, cows, spiders and a huge hornets nest. The best part was how close we got to everything and how I got to take pictures of things that I couldn't of taken on a regular boat. Plus, it was a pretty unique experience. Here are some of my photos from the day...

Smart Creative.

So I'm loving working at my new office downtown. I have the pleasure of working for Smart Creative. A brand development/marketing agency that has a lot of fun with the whole creative process. Our ribbon cutting is going to be November 12th at 9AM, so if you're available and in Lakeland on that day, come down and see our new office! We've been painting, putting together furniture, buying quirky items, installing new faucets and of course, doing some very creative design work.

So for all of you artists and photographers out there... do you see the world in photographs? I'm constantly putting a frame around visuals that I see. I view the world in photographs and think often "that'd make a good picture". I should just duct tape a camera to my hands. Coulda, shoulda, woulda.

It's been forever...

I've neglected blogging lately. oops.

Here in a nutshell is what has been going on:

My piece, An Unlikely Solution won an Honorable Mention at Arts on the Park Gallery and will be on display until the end of October. Go check it out! Tues-Fri 12pm-4pm.

I started working with Smart Creative and we got an office downtown in Lakeland! We're at 208 Pine Street, come and see us! We've been putting together desks, painting, and daydreaming for what our space will/should look like! It's been way exciting and already I've worked on some pretty exciting things. Well, maybe for some pretty exciting clients... but compared to the monotony of website editing, it's extremely riveting work and it's keeping me busy!

We've had an artgroup meeting! Our next one is November 2nd at 6:30PM! We're also going to get together at first friday and sketch in the park. Email me at artgrouplakeland@gmail.com if you're interested or would like to be on our mailing list.

I made a logo for Oasis' new ministiry, Dirty Hands:

I created a logo for ElderPoint Ministries in Lakeland, which I'll post later.

That's about it for now. I'll write more later! I hope you're all having a creative, productive day!

Oh night sky.