May 31, 2011

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream With Hot Fudge Sauce

Yesterday we had some friends over to help celebrate Memorial Day. We decided to do the standard picnic fare, only our picnic ended up being inside due to heat and air quality, but that's ok too. We had fun, so that's all that matters.

I did most of the cooking on Sunday afternoon, except for cooking the hot dogs and hamburgers and setting the ice cream. On Monday morning all I had to do was organize and few last minute details and put everything together.

I decided I wanted to put a tablecloth on the table, but the problem is that I don't actually have a tablecloth that fits our very long table, so I decided to make one! I took a piece of material that I've had for forever and could never decide what to do with the piece and used part of that. I was very happy with the results!

I thought it turned out really well! Martha has nothing on me! That's my little sous chef in the background dancing away.

I had an assortment of drinks as well:

I had Virgil's Orange Cream Soda, Izze Grapefruit soda, Old Dominion Root Beer (It's made with honey! And it's ironically listed on their beer list even though it's non-alcoholic.), Sprite (Jamison's drink of choice as of late), lemonade, unsweet green ice tea and of course water. We had some Corona, hard lemonade and hard limeade in the fridge, but we ended up not diving in to that.

We had a buffet style set up with fruit, veggies, hamburgers and toppings, hotdogs, potato salad, baked beans and chips:

And for dessert we had homemade ice cream and hot fudge sauce! Which are both just perfect on a hot, hazy day like yesterday! We had a very pleasant day. I hope your afternoon was as fabulous as ours!

Now let's talk a little vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce!

What You'll Need for the Ice Cream:
1 quart of heavy cream
1 quart of half and half
1 half gallon of whole milk
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups of organic cane sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla powder
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
6 egg yolks

In a large stock pot stir together cream, half and half, whole milk, sweetened condensed milk, sugar, vanilla powder and vanilla extract. Cook over medium heat stirring often and let the mixture become hot. Be careful, you don't want this to boil or scald.

When the milk is hot, ladle out some of the hot mixture into a bowl with your egg yolks whisking quickly to temper the eggs. Add this mixture back to the pot and whisk constantly until the mixture becomes slightly thick.

Remove mixture from heat and run through a sieve several times to make sure there are no lumpy egg bits. Cool mixture completely. Overnight is best.

Once mixture is completely chilled add to a large ice cream maker and set according to your ice cream makers instructions.

Notes: I had a bit of the custard mixture left over when I made the ice cream. I'm going to use my small Cuisinart ice cream maker to freeze the rest.

What You'll Need for the Hot Fudge Sauce:
4 squares of unsweetened chocolate
4 tablespoons of butter
1 cup of evaporated milk
1 1/3 cup of organic cane sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

In a medium sized pot melt chocolate and butter together until completely melted. Slowly add milk and sugar and stir until mixed.

Bring to a slow boil and cook stirring constantly for 3-5 minutes until mixture starts to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Use to top ice cream or any other way you would use chocolate syrup.

Notes: This is the hot fudge sauce that my mom used to make. It brings back so many memories of my childhood all with one little taste!

Posted by Dianne at 5:16 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

May 25, 2011

Tomato Tortellini Soup

I love tomato based soups, whether simple or complex, and this time of year I often have a few jars of tomato sauce and diced tomatoes that I canned the previous summer that I need to use up in preparation of the new season of tomatoes right around the corner. This soup is a very simple soup that I came up with to utilize some of my homed canned bounty from last year.

The great thing about most soups is they are quick and easy and take next to no time to throw together, this one especially. The onion, garlic and herbs give it just the right combination of flavor, while the tomatoes bring it all together in a soup that is relatively healthy and most definitely tasty. It's perfect for a quick weeknight dinner where quality and time are the key.

As the weather gets warmer people often wander away from soups, but I myself love soup anytime of the year. This soup would be perfect on a cold winter day, but it also is fabulous in the summer as well because making a quick pot of soup doesn't heat up the house that badly. Either way be sure to try it...This one is really a winner!

What You'll Need:
Extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, minced
A pinch of sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of dried Italian Seasoning
1 tablespoon of dried oregano
1 tablespoon of dried parsley
1 quart of tomato sauce (Note: As I mentioned above I used home canned tomatoes, but if you don't have those handy you can use a large can of tomato sauce bought from the store.)
1 quart of diced tomatoes (Note: See the note above.)
1 cup of broth or water, optional (Note: You can use chicken or vegetable broth or water or leave this out all together.)
1 - 8 ounce package of Barilla Three Cheese Tortellini or a stuffed pasta of your choice

In a large stock saute onion and garlic in extra virgin olive oil along with a pinch of sea salt, some freshly ground black pepper, Italian Seasoning, dried oregano and dried parsley until onion is just tender.

Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and broth or water if desired and bring to a quick boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook covered for 15 minutes to let the flavors meld, stirring occasionally.

Next add the package of tortellini and allow the soup to cook uncovered for 8-10 minutes until tortellini is tender.

Serve immediately.

Notes: This soup is great paired with a grilled cheese sandwich or a simple salad.

Posted by Dianne at 3:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 18, 2011

Creamsicle Martini

Last month Lex's Brownie troop had a Friday night activity at a Paint Your Own Pottery studio. There is a restaurant up the street from the studio that is one of my favorites in the area and since she was to be occupied for a few hours we thought we'd make a date night out of it after we dropped her off with her troop.

After I figured out what I wanted from the menu I was perusing their drink menu and they had so many different varieties I wanted to try, one of which was a Creamsicle Martini. That night I ended up trying their Lemon Drop Martini and their Chocolate Martini, but the Creamsicle variety kept popping in to my head. The description of the drink was intriguing, and it mentioned the addition of whipped cream vodka. Whipped cream vodka? I had never heard of it! It sounded too good to be true! So after that night I started asking around to see if anyone had ever heard of it. I didn't find anyone in my immediate acquaintance that had in fact heard of such a delight. I wasn't deterred though and decided to see if anyone in our area carried this mysterious vodka.

The next time I was on the other side of town I stopped by the liquor store, which ironically is across the parking lot from a very popular local church. One of the doctor's at our doctor's office, who actually attends to the church, jokingly refers to their church "the liquor store church", which is neither here nor there at the moment, but amused me greatly.

Anyway......

When I went in I not only found the whipped cream vodka, but I also found that the same company made a cotton candy variety as well, which you'll hear more about in the future I am sure. Needless to say both bottles made it home with me and I was happy to discover that both of them taste great alone, but why would I want to stop there?

A few nights ago I decided to play around with the whipped cream vodka and see if I couldn't come up with a creamsicle martini of my own and I was completely satisfied with what came about. This has a similar taste to those creamsicle bars some of enjoyed as children, but it most definitely has that adult kick that makes it a fabulous martini. Trust me, if you like orange, this is the drink for you!

What You'll Need Per Person:
1 bottle of Izze Sparkling Clementine fruit soda
~OR~
1 cup of tangerine juice with 1/2 cup of club soda or seltzer
~AND~
2 shots of whipped cream vodka
1 shot of vanilla vodka
A generous dollop of whipped cream

In a martini or cocktail shaker add all ingredients minus the whipped cream and shake well. If you don't store your vodka in the freezer you'll want to add some ice cubes too to chill the mixture.

Pour the mixture into a glass and top with a generous dollop of whipped cream.

Serve immediately.

Notes: There are so many possibilities with this drink. If you like you can mix the whipped cream in to the drink before drinking, or you can simply leave it at the top. I've tried it both ways and it's fabulous either way.

As I mentioned before if you don't have or can't find the Izze Clementine soda then you can simply use tangerine juice and mix in club soda. It has the same effect, though it does change the taste slightly, but either way you won't be disappointed with the overall result.

You could also add the zest of an orange on the whipped cream topping the drink, or an orange slice to add a little pizazz.

Posted by Dianne at 3:16 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack