Freak Show

I adore people with minimal filters. Tact is a good accessory to have in your arsenal, but use it too much and YAWN...I'm bored by you. And while I have put some effort into improving my own filter, both for decorum and to retain some shred of mystery to myself, I'm still more or less going to speak my mind and be myself in 95% of circumstances. I realized a long time ago (um...sorority rush in college, to be exact) that because of this, I'm a polarizing taste. Like meatloaf and anchovies, people don't tend to sit on the fence about me. You like me. Or you don't. (The sororities, they did not. In retrospect...thankyoujesus for that.)

The same goes for dating. Even with internet dating, I don't put on a show. I tend to make goofy jokes and obscure allusions to pop culture in early emails. A man who thought he was being cute asking if I ever sang in the shower got a response of "absolutely. I mostly stick to Shakira, but I throw a little MJ in there every now and again. I like to keep it upbeat but a little racy." Too much? Apparently, it was. Another dude who was frequently referring to his ultimate frisbee and roller blading hobbies prompted me to say, "so, what do you do when you're not participating in sports of the 1990s?" And don't even *think* about trying to play coy games with me, because I'll call you on that shit immediately.

I appreciate men who are the same. They aren't afraid to tease me, show off their quirky sense of humor, make risky references that I may or may not get. To me, chemistry is someone who gets my weirdness. Likes it. Laughs at it. Returns it.

If you've ever met someone who instantly comprehends your humor or follows your thought patterns without needing to have them explained (and I sincerely hope you have), then you understood Silver Linings Playbook. I finally got around to seeing it this week and loved it. (First movie ever of his I didn't find Bradley Cooper completely off-putting in. And Jennifer Lawrence?! Girl crush!) What's it about? Well, I'd say this quote pretty much sums it up:

When we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness -- and call it love. -Robert Fulghum

Yes, please.

Still using recipes from last year. Hence, still using crappy pictures from last year.

RECIPE
Ok, so ice cream is kind of a crowd pleaser. However, this is not your average ice cream. This mint chocolate chip is made with real mint. Nothing artificial. Some may prefer that fake, chemically-tasting, more common, green flavoring stuff. But not me. Give me the authentic version any day of the week.

MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP ICE CREAM

1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream (divided)
pinch of kosher salt
2 cups packed fresh mint leaves
5 large egg yolks
5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1. Warm milk sugar and 1 cup cream along with salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Before it boils, add mint leaves and stir. Turn off heat, cover with lid and allow to steep at room temperature for about an hour.
2. Strain out mint leaves, pushing leaves against sieve to extract as much of the mint liquid as possible. (Discard leaves.) Return flavored milk/cream mixture to the stovetop and heat along with remaining 1 cup cream.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks. Slowly add heated milk mixture to temper eggs (you are trying to bring them to the same temp as the milk mixture without cooking them), whisking constantly. Add in about 1/4-1/2 cup increments until egg yolks are warmed. Then, pour entire mixture back into the sauce pan.
4. Stir mixture on stovetop over medium heat with a heatproof spatula (be sure to scrape the bottom where eggs/milk tend to stick and overcook!). Mixture should thicken and begin to coat the spatula.
5. After mixture has thickened enough to coat a spoon, pour into a bowl and chill in refrigerator thoroughly.
6. Meanwhile, heat chopped chocolate slowly over low heat in sauce pan until melted. (Good quality chocolate should not require a double boiler.) Cool.
7. Prepare ice cream according to ice cream maker instructions. Once cream mixture is in the ice cream maker, slowly drizzle in cooled chocolate to form stracciatella. Freeze entire mixture to desired consistency in ice cream maker.