A Baby Came to Visit + Strawberry Ice Cream

A little pink lady

She looks just like her mom in this picture

Last week my mom, sister, and Tomoko came over to help me work on wedding decorations. Julie was babysitting Emma, my cousin's little girl, so she brought her over, too. It was really strange to have a baby in the house, but Emma was well-behaved and fun to play with. When she got fussy we laid her down on this blanket, which she thought was pretty much the best thing in the world. She seemed happy by herself and giggled like crazy when we tickled her.
Then, what did I see sticking out of her carrier? The little pink hat I crocheted for her while she was being born. The hospital waiting room was a great place to be that night. Everyone had so much anxious energy (a baby was coming into the world!), so we were crafting like madwomen. I made this hat, my mom crocheted dishcloths, and the new grandmas needlepointed and cross stitched a quilt. I didn't get any pictures of the hat that night, so of course I had to have a photo shoot when Emma was over the other day. I think she looks adorable. I love those little scallops. I'm not sure who made her blanket, but it's crocheted, too.

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Dreamy pink and oh-so-sweet. It smelled like strawberry cotton candy.

Later that night K and I made some Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream, again from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop.* It's definitely the best, most ice-creamy we've made so far. The recipe starts with slicing the strawberries, tossing them with sugar and a little alcohol (we used homemade pear brandy we had on hand) and letting them macerate for an hour. In that hour the berries became other-worldly. Their color intensified to deep scarlet, their juices pooled in the bowl, and the scent! So sweet and fragrant. I could have eaten them right then.
Instead, we gave them a whirl in the blender with a cup of cream and a cup of sour cream and a little bit of lemon juice. After we chilled the mixture for an hour, we put it in our lovely ice cream maker for 20 minutes. Glorious pink ice cream fluffed up in no time! I absolutely love this recipe and will definitely be making it again.
Oh! And the tray in the picture is Orla Kiely for Target. I went to Target several times in February when the collection was first released, but they never had the trays in stock. I had given up, but ran across the trays when I was at Target last week. However, I talked myself out of getting it because I had already splurged on 2 cross stitch books (I know, I know, superdork, who splurges on cross stitch books?). A couple days later K came home from work a little late becuase he had stopped to get the tray for me on the way home. How sweet is he?

*This is seriously a book worth investing in. All of the ice creams we've made have been hits. Unfortunately, our copy is really the library's book. I think we're going to have to buy it for ourselves, though. I'm going to go through withdrawal when I have to give it back.