Cloth Covered Rope Basket

Where did it come from? Who made it? Amos asks these questions all the time. My answers range from: I don't know to A farm or A cow or, often, probably a factory. Sometimes the answer seems simple, I made it. As I've gradually sewn things for our home, I can look around and see many things I've stitched together for the place that I spend most of my time. It is gratifying to make things I love for the place and people that I love, but sometimes it seems like so much patchwork!

As someone who rarely measures and often cuts more than once, I have a huge basket of small scraps of fabric. Many of these are from trimming off an edge or a little extra fabric, others have found their way there when they are not big enough to iron and fold neatly on the shelf. Cloth covered rope baskets are currently my favorite way to turn many of these scraps into something that is as useful as it is lovely to look at. I have often wanted to be able to make more baskets and containers for storage and was delighted to discover a kind of basket that I could sew instead of learning the more complicated skill of basket weaving. Making fabric covered rope baskets is a slower process with a few extra steps than just coiling and sewing the rope alone but it is a fun way to choose color combinations and use up scraps.

I have a lot to learn about shaping the baskets and I still can't be sure they will turn out exactly as I envision. This one was headed away from what I had hoped, but adding the little handles made all the difference and I am quite happy with the final result. This basket will be just the spot for keeping a few toys for the baby separate from all the other toys in baskets, drawers and strewn about.

Mascarpone Vanilla Ice Cream

More adventures in inspired re-purposing, which seems like the appropriate term when reducing waste is really about making the most delicious thing I can. Truthfully, there are some foods that have almost no chance of going to waste in our kitchen. Others must be carefully monitored and kept front and center so they will not stay in there long past their prime, but mascarpone, ricotta, or just plain cream will always be put to good use. And, when I say good use, I mean that I will probably  choose the most appealing option of the moment. Leftover ricotta will become gnocchi or orange ricotta cake. Cream must be whipped and eaten as soon as possible (or maybe, made into creme fraiche). Since I tend toward indulgent recipes for these spare amounts, it is probably good that these things are in our kitchen only occasionally and mascarpone may be the rarest of all. I made some mascarpone butter to put on french toast for brunch and before that I was over, I had a plan to make ice cream with the rest of it. 

It might seem silly that in using up one thing, I need more of other ingredients but this is one reason why I love the challenge of using up what you already have -- it doesn't have to be completely practical or boring. The mascarpone gives this ice cream a subtle, but welcome tang. I think substituting creme fraiche or greek yogurt would do the trick nicely as well. And if you are concerned about what to do with the leftover egg whites, look no further: these cookies are amazing.

Mascarpone Vanilla Ice Cream

Adapted from this recipe. I enjoyed this ice cream on its own, but it goes very well with chocolate, caramel or berry sauce. Makes about 1 quart of ice cream.

2 cups milk

3/4 cup sugar

Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean

1 pinch salt

4 egg yolks

1 cup mascarpone

Bring the milk and sugar to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat, whisk in the vanilla bean seeds and salt. Whisk together the eggs and slowly add 1/2-3/4 cup of the hot milk to the eggs while whisking constantly. Return the pot of milk to the stove over medium low heat. Slowly pour in the egg mixture and continue to whisk. Once it is all incorporated, stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until it thickens enough to coat the spatula. Remove from heat, pour through a strainer into a bowl. Stir in the mascarpone and refrigerate until completely chilled. Freeze in your ice cream maker, according to the manufacturers instructions.