Daytime Dreams

I have a list of all of the fun things I get to make with our new wedding-related booty. I'm very excited to cross 'em off one-by-one over the next year, but for now must content myself with referring to list and smiling in anticipation because very few of 'em are going to make the time cut before August. The wok has already been seasoned and well-used, but that's because Asian food is efficient for a high-stress life. (In recognition of that fact, we took a trip to Ranch 99 last weekend and loaded up on all sorts of quick and easy food for finals and the bar.)

But, I digress. Here's what I'm looking forward to enjoying as a result of the wedding gifts:

1. Espresso Drinks made with the espresso maker (need to get a grinder with a superfine setting or buy some espresso grounds)

2. Panini grilled on the panini grill (We broke it in on some pugliese rubbed with olive oil and garlic to go with the Tuscan Bean Soup the other night. But I'm really looking forward to the day when I can lay some fresh-cut prosciutto, fontina, and fresh summer tomatoes between two slices of bread...).

3. Evenly rolled and cut linguine made with the pasta roller attachment for the kitchenaid. (Yes, I have made homemade pasta by hand ever since living in Italy and do consider kitchen gadgets to be somewhat unnecessary. But, I've never even attempted to hand cut linguine. I'm not crazy. Okay, I am. But not that crazy.)

4. Creme Brulée. (Two words: Blow torch. Apparently, it takes a few times before you get it right. How fun is that going to be?)

5. Baking with the pyrex, silicone, and various other bakeware we received. (I already made some perfectly moist and structurally sound homemade cornbread in the silicone bread pans. [yeah, I was skeptical about the oil instead of butter too... try it, you'll be thrilled] But I'm looking forward to cakes, souflées, casseroles, breads, tartes, pies, cookies, and well, you get the idea.)

6. Ice cream in the ice cream attachment for the kitchenaid. (E's mother makes the best lemon ice cream ever. I may have to start with that and then branch out if she's willing to part with the recipe.)

7. Pizza from scratch, on the pizza stone. (Mmmmmm...home made pizza.)

8. Salad in our new serving bowls (okay, in fairness, this one should be able to get itself off the list just as soon as I can figure out where they will be stored.)

9. Chips and salsa or cruditée with dip in the gorgeous party platter (this will probably cross itself off the list when barbeque season rolls around.)

10. Custard or chocolate molten cakelettes or something else wonderful in our new larger ramekins.

11. Something (or many somethings) from each of our recently acquired cookbooks (including a local women's club collection which appears to have some fabulous offerings).

12. Margaritas in our new margarita pitcher and glasses. (Need a good recipe. We love the ritas, but thus far, we only drink 'em at Mexican restaurants or in Mexico.)

13. Martinis in our new martini glasses. (I admit, we don't drink much in the way of hard alcohol around here, so if you have any suggestions for variations on the theme that may appeal to us like chocolate martinis, or something the boys may like, I'd love your suggestions.)

14. A dinner party where we break out all of our new china and stemware with friends. (It's likely we'll need to acquire some additional table-like apparati in order to fit all the placesettings at once, check back sometime in the fall.)

How's that for a short list of great things to which I look forward? Trust me, I've got a million other lists of things I'd like to do (friends to visit, books to read, places to travel, restaurants to try, wine to try, languages to speak, experiences to have), but this one is easy and focused. I have all of the necessary equipment, I just have to find the time. And I will. Soon. Ahhh... here's to looking forward while I go back to my con law reading (update, I'm only behind in 3 classes now! Woo hoo!)