Strawberry Lemon Sage Popsicles
     Makes 6 4oz Popsicles

Ingredients:

• 1 16 oz container of strawberries, stems removed
• 1 lemon, juiced (should yield 3 Tbsp)
• 10 medium sage leaves (2-3 inches in length)
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1/2 Tbsp grated ginger
• Edible Flowers (optional)

Method:

1. Combine all ingredients into blender and process until smooth.
2. Pour into popsicle molds of choice. If using edible flowers, place flowers in mold before pouring in mixture. I placed one flower at the bottom of the mold and filled IT 3/4 of the way. I then put in another flower and filled the mold to the top.
3. Freeze until solid (it should take 2-3 hours, but freezing time will depend on individual freezer temperature).

After receiving Kaitlin’s text suggesting we use lemons for our first post, I made the assumption that she in part wanted to do it because produce in New Zealand is outrageously expensive and she was trying to be thrifty. I agreed, thinking, unlike her, I am privileged enough to be able to just go to the store and buy a lemon without having to barter off my first born child to be able to afford it. (I know, it’s barbaric. Then you learn they don’t even have an Ikea in over there and their barbarianism reaches a whole new level.) When I explained this to her, she indignantly defended the little island country, “Christy! Lemons don’t cost THAT much!! …only limes.” Excuse me. You only have to sell your soul to buy limes, not lemons. And either way, they still don’t have an Ikea. Barbarians, I’m telling you.

The reason that I chose to make popsicles is that I’ve been in Florida for the past month for work, and even though the first day of Spring was just last week, it’s full on Summer here already (don’t you dare tell me how lucky I am or I will reach this computer screen and pull you into the literal hell that is Florida ALL THE TIME. Nevermind, you’d probably like that you weird masochist you). While most of the country is waiting for the winter to finally be over, I decided a popsicle recipe was exactly what I needed to cool off. It’s either that or lie naked on my bedroom floor with the AC turned low and the fan on high. Obviously (I should hope), only one of those choices both involves lemons and would be blog appropriate.

I made the decision that I absolutely needed flowers in my popsicles because SPRING, ya know? Yes, in the words of Miranda from The Devil Wears Prada, "Florals for spring? Groundbreaking." But I don’t need my food to be groundbreaking if it’s gorgeous and delicious.

I began my hunt for edible flowers at Whole Foods where a perplexed employee led me to the FLOUR aisle and said with a shrug, “maybe you can find what you need here?” I was tempted to snarkily ask is if this is the edible flour aisle, in what aisle can I find inedible flours, but I was focusing too hard on not bursting out laughing to even try to form a complete sentence. Fortunately, I found edible flowers in the end (in case you’re wondering where, Publix had them in the produce section with the herbs).

The great thing about this recipe is how easy it is to modify. You could replace the sage with thyme or basil, the lemon with orange or lime, or even add a few shots of vodka or white rum (because the only thing better than popsicles are…well, a lot of things, actually, but one of those is popsicles that get you a little tipsy).

HOMEMADE LEMON CURD

Homemade Lemon Curd
    Makes 1 Cup

Ingredients:

• 3 egg yolks
• 1 whole egg
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ cup lemon juice
• zest of two lemons
• 4 tablespoons butter, cut into squares

Method:

1. In a small saucepan, whisk together the egg yolks first and then the whole egg until combined.
2. While whisking, pour in sugar, lemon juice and zest and continue whisking until creamy and well incorporated (1-2 minutes).
3. Place over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the custard thickens and can coat the back of a spoon (8-12 minutes). Remove the pan from heat and stir in the butter, one cube at a time.
4. Pour the curd into a jar and let cool. Then chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.

*Homemade lemon curd can be used for up to a week if stored in the refrigerator, or a few weeks in the freezer.
*Serve on ricotta pancakes, toast, waffles, scones, etc.

When I returned from a recent trip to the States, I walked in the house and wandered about the rooms, taking stock of how my partner had fared by himself for three weeks. Everything was tidy and even semi-clean in the home. Then I walked out to the deck to check on my small container garden, and the Meyer lemon tree, in particular:

“MY GOD, WHERE IS MY LEMON? Did it die? Did a large bird make off with it? Have you seen it? Have you?!” The truth is, the tiny lemon in question had all my gardening hopes and dreams pinned on it. After two years of toiling in the soil, buying citrus fertilizers of various varieties and organic pest-control sprays, and constantly whispering sweet nothings into its many fragrant blossoms, I had managed to promote the growth of only ONE nearly fully-ripened lemon. And now it was missing. I really needed a lemon win to soothe my failing aspirations of orchard-ownership for the future.

“The lemon? Uh, I picked it. It was ripe a couple days ago,” boyfriend said, looking chastised.

I found the little gem nestled safely in the fridge, looking rather small next to store-bought lemons. I promptly photographed my wee prize and texted Christy back in the States, “our first blog post will be about lemons.”

So here we are.

I originally planned to make a simple lemon cake, because then I could take it to book club where I would proudly announce, “GIRLS, I made this lemon cake with lemons from my OWN garden.” And then sit there smugly, eating cakes made by girls with store-bought produce. Amateurs. But, then, by fortuitous happenstance, I tried lemon curd for the first time ever and a decision was made. Because, bake a lemon cake-- have cake for a few days. Make lemon curd-- make everything taste like lemons for weeks!

In this case, I made Lemon Ricotta Pancakes (originally here) and smothered them with my lemony curdy goodness. You’re welcome, lemon lovers.

ENCHANTEZ BLOG WORLD

Wine tasting at the gorgeous Mercury Bay Vineyard at Cook's Beach, the Coromandel, New Zealand

Kaitlin:

On my visit to the States in March, Christy and I managed to meet up for a wee girls' weekend in Naples, Florida. Among the highlights were the nights we spent drinking champagne under the stars and making up for lost time of best friend proximity by chatting and giggling well into the late hours.

Riding around Naples on Brooklyn Cruisers

Even before I moved to New Zealand three years ago, our friendship was mostly long-distance as Christy and I are both endless wanderers. As a result, we have a lengthy history of epic emails sent and received from around the world. We've now had twice as many years spent in different countries than we ever had in the same city. Long-standing physical separation would be a challenge to most friendships (and indeed my other pre-NZ friendships have suffered for distance); however, because of our mutually revered nomadic lifestyle, we long ago established familiar rhythms of electronic communication, prezzie packages, international visits, and intangible communions that drive our connection closer, even as the miles separate us.

On this unusual togetherness episode in Naples, that sparkling bottle of bubbles inspired a creative burst which formed itself into the words: "we should start a blog together!" I don't know whose idea it was, but we were certainly in wild agreement instantly. How brilliant! A blog together! A place to share our food and design interests from our respective corners of the globe, and another vehicle of connection to drive our friendship forward.

For it.

Queen's Wharf, Wellington, New Zealand

Christy asked me to write these few paragraphs as an intro to her intro post, but it's hardly necessary--her eloquent writing here requires no preamble (and she thinks I'm the writer, puh!)....


Christy:

I've always loved reading those lists of “untranslatable” words and this list of Norwegian words and phrases was no exception. I knew when I read the second word on the list that it was the exact term I was looking for to perfectly describe this blog:

Kos(elig): A word to describe the feeling of warmth and friendliness that arises from sharing simple pleasures of life with people you like.

We often try to translate it into words such as "nice" or "cozy," but those only describe parts of what is "kos" or "koselig." Kos means cuddling with your friend. Kos means being snowed in at your cabin in the mountains, in front of a roaring fire with cocoa, pastries, and a good crime novel. Even working hard can be koselig, if you’re doing it with people you like.

Hobbiton in Matamata, New Zealand

If you’re doing it with the people you like. If that’s all it takes for something to be koselig, then, even though I don’t speak a word of Norwegian, I know exactly what koselig is:

To me it's sitting under the midnight sky drinking champagne and painting your nails while you giggle about the most ludicrous and glitter-packed ways to get revenge on an ex. It means waking up the next morning and donning tulle skirts to bike to a cute café downtown for breakfast.

Naples chic

It means making delicious vegan treats, and digging a shovel hot tub, and getting out of your car at a red light so you can swap your favorite CDs NOW (God forbid we wait until both of us arrive at our mutual destination). It means midnight Brandy Alexanders, and drunken acro yoga (photo included here for obvious reasons), and packing the car Tetris-style after a trip to IKEA. It means having unexpectedly intimate conversations over pizza in the student union and crying into microwave burritos at 2am. It means giggling over poached eggs for breakfast while seated on the floor of the table-less dining room. It means countless emails sent from multiple countries, full of pictures, music, encouragements, pity parties, silliness, and life.

Party acro in Hamilton, New Zealand

Hot Water Beach, the Coromandel, New Zealand

It means starting a food and lifestyle blog with your friend who lives in a different hemisphere because 8,776 miles (yes, I looked it up) isn’t nearly such a daunting number when you can create an online space for koselig to happen.

Her Winter, My Summer will involve fashion, travel, cooking, and everything in between. But, ultimately, it’s about doing all those things because you love doing them with your best friend, even if she lives a hemisphere away. It’s about sharing simple pleasures of life with people you like without regard to the thousands of miles that physically separate you. To sum it up in one untranslatable word: Her Winter, My Summer is about koselig.

Halloween Party, Gainesville, Florida

Hike to Kite Kite Falls in the Waitakeres; Auckland, New Zealand

Sunset in Naples, Florida