A Valentine from Me and Driscoll’s

Three weeks into motherhood and I’ve noticed how time has taken on a particularly elastic quality. I spend literally the entire day at home: I’ll go through several rinse-and-repeat cycles of feeding, changing, and lulling baby to sleep, and yet somehow it’s always a surprise to look outside and see the sky darkening already. Has she already fed that many times today? What did I have for lunch? Did I even eat lunch? Is that a half-written e-mail on my computer from this morning? Or was it from yesterday? What day is it, anyway? (Very fitting that Groundhog Day was a few days ago, as that’s how I feel these days!)

Of course, I’m sure most parents know that babies run by no clock but their own, rendering your own sense of time weirdly inconsequential. If I find myself taking a nap at 8 in the morning because the baby is sleeping in, I guess that’s what I need to do. Or if I somehow think that during the 30 minutes the baby is napping I can actually accomplish some chores but instead spend it all checking Facebook or reading celebrity gossip because that’s all I have the mental capacity for, I’m coming to terms with that. In all honesty, Isabelle is a pretty great baby so far. I feel like we’re starting to know each other, she feeds well, is only fussy for parts of the day, and usually sleeps really well at night, which as far as I’m concerned is like winning the baby lottery. It’s just the change in my daytime productivity I have to get used to:)

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m still working on getting back in the kitchen (or at least coming up with recipes that can be made in 10 minute increments over the course of the day). That’s why I’m excited that I was able to accomplish this recipe project with Driscoll’s before I had the baby, so I now have a Valentine’s Day post to share!

Driscoll’s asked if I’d like to develop a Valentine’s Day-themed recipe for their website. I’ve enjoyed working with their berries since I won one of their contests with this blackerry lemon cupcake recipe. Driscoll’s approached right as I was going on maternity leave, so I was very motivated to be efficient and finish this before I had the baby (I did, just barely!) They gave me free rein to come up with whatever dessert I wanted, so I also decided to challenge myself and come up with something outside the usual suspects for a Valentine’s Day dessert. I was excited to end up with this triple semifreddo, with layers of toasted almond, raspberry, and chocolate hazelnut, which accomplishes the goals of looking suitably fancy and impressive, and isn’t too difficult to make – it doesn’t even require an ice cream maker!

Please click on over to Driscoll’s blog to see my post and the recipe. I hope you enjoy it and best wishes for a sweet Valentine’s Day from me and my little valentine Isabelle!