Happy Labor Day!

Today Matt and the cats stayed in and slaved over house and home, while I went to work from 11 in the morning until 7pm. It's a nice shift because it doesn't throw off my sleep schedule in either direction, and I still get home and have a little evening left. Work went really well, and I came home to a spotless house and one of the best dinners I've ever had--Matt had made tamales, which are always a favorite, and this time, in addition to sour cream and homemade salsa, we had leftover pibil which he had the brilliance to grace them with. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. What a husband! And then, what better to chase away the burn of a few too many tamales with spicy pork, than a dish of semifreddo? Nothing that we could think of, so that's what we had. The semifreddo ended up with more the consistency of a permanent milkshake, which I'm not sure is what's intended, but we aren't complaining. We feel like one could almost decrease the honey from 3/4 of a cup to a 1/2; the flavor isn't overwhelming, but it's certainly a very, very rich presence, especially in the presence of all that butterfat. Yum. Life is so good, even if I did temporarily forget that this morning in my despair over the fact that the (eczema/dermatitis/staph--it depends on who you ask) under my nose hasn't gotten any better... but. You can only ask for so much in life.

From Tom Philpott at Grist, an excellent source of environmental news, commentary--and, occasionally, recipes.

Honey semifreddo
3/4 cup raw local honey
3 large eggs, yolks and whites separated
2 cups chilled heavy cream
A pinch of sea salt

With a whisk or electric mixer in a small bowl, beat the honey and yolks until thick and pale. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk egg whites until they hold stiff peaks. In a large chilled metal bowl, whip chilled cream and a pinch of salt until cream holds soft peaks. Gently, carefully fold in the egg yolk-honey mixture until fully incorporated. Gently and carefully fold in the egg whites until fully incorporated. Transfer to freezing container and freeze for at least four hours.

Yields about a quart and a half of semifreddo.

Note: To adapt this recipe to other flavor schemes, replace the honey with about 3/4 cup raw organic sugar, whipping it into the egg yolks. Fold in other flavorings at the end: ground nuts such as pistachios, cooled, melted chocolate, loosened with cream, fruit purees, etc.

And last but not least, here's Patches helping Matt practice the horn.