Smoked Salt & Pepper

I have basil overload in my garden right now.  After making a bunch of pesto, we've been making caprese salad almost every other night.  This caprese pasta was a way to incorporate the basil, tomato, mozzarella and balsamic tastes of the salad into a dinner meal.  The sauce was a little sweet, so it is a bit different than what I would typically make.  This is great warm, or as a cold pasta salad (chop the mozzarella and toss with rest of cooled ingredients instead of melting). Caprese Pasta Ingredients: 1 lb. penne pasta 1 c. balsamic vinegar 1 tbs. brown sugar salt and pepper 1 tbs. olive oil 1 pint baby bella mushrooms, washed and sliced 1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved 1/4  cup packed basil leaves 1 16 oz. mozzarella cheese, sliced in 1/4" slices Directions: Boil pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, combine balsamic vinegar and brown sugar in small saucepan over medium heat until reduced about a half, about 6-...

Nothing goes hand-in-hand quite like hot summer days and ice cream.  I love ice cream.  I probably have an unhealthy addiction to ice cream.  But it's not like I can help it.  It's in my genes!  My dad's family used to own an ice cream shop in Vietnam.  I look back fondly to the moments my dad and I shared watching Tom and Jerry cartoons and eating ice cream after dinner when I was younger. One of my favorite things on ice cream is a nice, ooey-goeey melty salty caramel sauce.  So let's make some caramel chocolate ice-cream!  The sweetness of the ice cream and chocolate go well with the salty caramel flecks.  This recipe was inspired by this Tasting Table recipe for Snickers ice cream. Twix-Style Ice cream Ingredients: Caramel: 2/3 c. sugar 3/4 c. heavy cream, heated but not boiling 1/2 tsp. sea salt Ice cream base: 1 c. whole milk 3/4 c. sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 2 c. heavy cream 5 large egg yolks pinch of salt ...