I can’t believe that summer is already half over. I feel like we really just got started, yet it’s already half done. My summer cooking list has barely been touched, and the list keeps getting longer the more I read my favorite food blogs and newspaper food sections.

Two of the more ambitious things that are high on my cooking list this summer are rasmalai, or Indian milk-soaked cheese balls (the description sounds odd, but these little things are so good) and Japanese milk bread. The rasgulla, the cheeseballs of the rasmalai, require milk curdling and straining through a cheesecloth, while the milk bread requires yeast and lots of waiting. But during the times when we aren’t traveling, I want to experiment with new recipes as much as possible to diversify the foods we are eating. It makes home-cooked meals more interesting when you know you aren’t eating the same thing over and over again.