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Mascarpone cheese and blueberry tarts

We recently got some mascarpone cheese from Trader Joe's. I never really had it before, it's not like any other cheese I've had. I thought it would be a little tangy but it's not, it's very mild but has a great texture and tastes so good on biscuits or sweetened with agave and served with fruit. We enjoyed it with a little agave on fresh figs  with walnuts. Very good. I had some left over dough from the baby shower tarts in the freezer, and fresh blueberries, so I made these. I just added a little agave to the cheese and filled the tarts, and topped with blueberries. I ate all three in less than 24 hours!

Watermelon granita..

I have been wanting to make this for a few weeks. When we got a bad watermelon (grainy, yuck) it was the perfect way to still use it. My mom used to make watermelon or lemon granita in the summers when we were little. I think her recipe used much more sugar. This recipe I used only used 1/3 a cup. Still sweet and very refreshing!

Pregnant and walking... and walking more

Here are a bunch of pictures of me on our twice daily walks, for friends, relatives and anyone who wanted to see more pictures of me pregnant. These are all from last month.

All the walking REALLY wipes me out, especially lately. I am a little over 32 weeks along. The last Dr's appointment I found out I was still a little anemic, I think that added to the tiredness. I also think it made me really restless and unable to sleep. I started taking two iron pills a day and am making myself eat red meat, even though I was mostly vegetarian before. I feel  like it is the only way I can absorb the iron. I have felt much better since I started eating it. I have been sleeping SO much better. But two walks a day still often wip me out and I end up like this some time during the day:

NY egg cream

I am still here! I have been feeling a little more tired lately but still trying to keep up with drawing and creating. We are also still going on our two half hour -40  minute walks a day. I think that makes me really tired but I want to keep it up. That's about all I can handle.. well plus getting ready for baby- reading, getting supplies and going to classes
Here is me walking at the park, notice my shockingly white legs...

But this post is supposed to be about egg creams.

When we were visiting my family in NY my mom made Wes and egg cream..She used to make these all the time when we were younger. (Did you say you had one a day  at one time mom or was it two?) It's a NY thing and there is no egg and no cream, just chocolate syrup, seltzer water and milk. The milk has to be cold, as does the seltzer and you have to mix it the right way. It may sound weird but it is so good- drinking a few sips recently took me back to my childhood.

So it seems that it was invented in Brooklyn at a candy shop in 1890 and the original syrup  used was Fox's u-bet syrup. My mom always used Hershey's, I am not even sure they sold u-bet at the stores around us in those days. Funny enough though we spotted u-bet in the Santa Monica Vons grocery store recently..Wes has been enjoying egg creams ever since.

Apparently Lou Reed even wrote a song about egg creams..I learned that from some Yelpers (side note: do you Yelp? I think it's great)
Here are the Lyrics.

When I was a young man, no bigger than this
A chocolate egg cream was not to be missed
Some u bets chocolate syrup, seltzer water mixed with milk
You stir it up into a heady fro, tasted just like silk

You scream, I steam, we all want egg cream
You scream, I steam, we all want egg cream

Now you can go to juniors, daves on canal street
And I think theres kens in boston
There must be something in l.a.
But beckys on kings highway, was the egg cream of choice
And if you dont believe me, go ask any of the boys

You scream, I steam, we all want egg cream
You scream, I steam, we all want egg cream

The only good thing I have to say about p.s. 92
Was the egg cream served at beckys, it was a fearsome brew
For 50 cents you got a shot, choco bubbles up your nose
That made it easier to deal with knife fights
And kids pissing in the street

You scream, I steam, we all want egg cream
You scream, I steam, we all want egg cream

So the next time youre in brooklyn, please say hello for me
At totonnos for pizza and ice cream at al and shirleys
But mostly you go to beckys, sit in a booth and say hello
And have two chocolate egg cream, one to stay and one to go

You scream, I steam, we all want egg cream, ah
You scream, I steam, we all want egg cream
You scream, I steam, we all want egg cream