Golden Years

Now that I've entered my thirties (officially 30 as of last Thursday!) and am wiser and more articulate in this new decade of mine, things are clearer to me.

 For example, my palate has reverse-leapfrogged the last few decades and returned to me, at age ten, lover of BBQ and summertime.  At my awesome friend T's house, we threw a clambake, which I guess is a Chesapeake ten-year-old's version of BBQ? I can't tell.  Anyway.

The Anthropologie-inspired living room.  Also known as the calm before the crab storm.

Somewhere along the Potomac

 Oh! And we had a crab-steam! Or steamers? Whatever eating Old Bay-sprinkled crabs is called, with a mallet. Hey, I'm not from around here, mkay?)

They really are blue.  Who knew.

Alongside steamed Maryland blue crabs, I whipped up my mom's famous baked beans, a roasted tomato salsa, and jalapeno cornbread (southwest meets Chesapeake, folks), while Roni made potato salad, manned the clambake pot, and created a wicked green pea dip (all recipes to come, I promise you). And...this. A lemon ice cream cake.  Er, ice cream pie.  No. An icebox cake?  Frozen pie?! What IS this deliciousness actually called??

I really can't describe, in easy dessert terms, what this is exactly, but I will tell you about it.  It has a crunchy baked crust of gingersnaps and almonds, and is full of only one thing: tangy lemon custard ice cream.  You freeze the whole shebang together, and badda-bing, bada-boom, once it's set, you have dessert, my friends.  But it is so much more.

Crunchy, slightly spicy in a gingersnappy-kind of way, the crust is heavenly.  And the ice cream?  This sweet, sour, summery, and creamy lemon custard?  Heaven.  But when you combine the two?  Hold on to your 30, or 20, or 10 year old hats, my friends because this one's a winner.  And I've decided to call it Lemon Gingersnap Icebox Pie.

It was a perfect afternoon, full of good friends, family, and laughs.  While it may have been raining outside, the inside of this spectacular house was full of jokes and sangria, iced-tea spiked vodka, lemonade, and the constant knocking sound of mallet upon crab.  I can't think of a better soundtrack to enter my thirties with.